What is Judo?

When friends, family, or acquaintances find out that I do judo, I find that most people have the following knowledge about it:
- Judo is some sort of martial art.
- ......
There, that's it. I know they think it's a martial art judging from the "judo chop" hands they make and when they ask me to break a board with my fist. So here's a brief little bit of info for the judo deprived.

Judo is:
- a martial art that was developed from the ancient Japanese martial art of jujitsu. Jigoro Kano was the creator of judo, which means "gentle way" as opposed to jujitsu which means "gentle art". The name of the school he founded is the Kodokan.
- a grappling sport that is practiced worldwide and is included in the summer Olympics.
- a valid form of self-defense for men, women, and children.
- a great way to get fit.
- a general philosophy and way to improve yourself.
- practiced by men, women, and children of all ages. It can even be practiced by the blind.
- Fun (to me, anyway)

Judo is not:
- MMA or Ultimate Fighting, though many of the techniques learned are useful for both.
- a martial art focusing on punching, kicking, and/or other forms of striking. Some striking may be taught, but you won't be breaking any boards or concrete blocks.
- a religion.
- mystical, new age, or spiritual. No chi cultivation, secret death touches, or other paranormal abilities are taught.

What will you typically learn in a judo class/club?
- Ukemi, or falling techniques. You learn how to fall to prevent injury when learning throwing techniques. Learning to fall also translates well to the real world.
- Throws. How to use your strength, balance, and movement against your opponent to effectively throw them off their feet and onto the ground.
- Ground techniques which can be broken into three categories.
a.)Pins - how to immobilize an opponent on the ground using your weight and leverage.
b.)Chokes - how to cause unconsciousness with a well applied choke.
c.)Joint locks - how to immobilize or incapacitate an opponent by putting pressure on or dislocating their joint.
- Strikes (punches and kicks) are taught at some clubs, but only when teaching self-defense applications. Strikes aren't allowed in judo tournaments.

Different clubs have their own ways of warming up, drilling techniques, assigning ranks, and teaching transitions and applications. But most judo clubs teach the same types of techniques. Also, some clubs focus on judo as self-defense or a complete martial art, while others tend to focus more on the sport of judo, or how to be a good judo competitor.

So there you have it; a little primer on judo. If you want more information, click the Judo Info link here or to the right side of the page to be overwhelmed with judo information, pictures, and videos.