Competition Kata and Art of Judo.pdf

I LLUSTRATION BY O SCAR R ATTI .

Art of Judo

Llyr C. Jones

C OMPETITION , K ATA

AND THE A RT OF J UDO

L LY R C. J ONES , P H .D.

sts

I NTRODUCTION

The word “judo” comes from a combination of two Japanese words— ju

meaning gentle or supple and do meaning path or way. This literally defines

judo as the “gentle way.”

At the level of first principles, the essence of Kodokan * judo is turning an

opponent’s strength against himself and overcoming the opponent through

skill rather than sheer strength (Kano, 1986). This theory is captured by the

Japanese expression ju yoku go o seisu —usually translated as “softness over-

comes hardness,” “flexibility overcomes stiffness,” “gentleness controls

strength,” or “win by yielding.”

Watching the seemingly effortless combination of grace, technique, and

power of a true judo expert in action, it would be very easy (but very wrong) to

underestimate the intense physical and mental demands that judo makes upon

its exponents. Achieving excellence in judo demands considerable single

mindedness. Achieving mastery of all of the throwing, grappling, and striking

techniques that makes up the system demands intensive and demanding train-

ing over an extended period of time under the guidance of an experienced and

knowledgeable teacher.

Judo has been well established in the West since the early 1900’s and is

now practiced in almost every country in the world. The aim of this paper,

however, is to question the direction that judo has taken in the West (espe-

cially in the United Kingdom) and to challenge whether a significant re-ori-

entation is now required. Where specific statistics or statements are used to

support an argument, data and examples from the British Judo Association

(BJA)—the national governing body for the Olympic sport of judo in the

United Kingdom—are used.

*K ODOKAN : THE HEADQUARTERS

OF JUDO , ORIGINALLY FOUNDED

IN 1882 BY K ANO J IGORO WHO

HIMSELF HAD ESTABLISHED JUDO .

Journal of Asian Martial Arts

Volume 14 Number 3 - 2005

T HE S TATE OF J UDO T ODAY

As a starting point, it is worthwhile stating the definition of judo as pro-

vided by the Kodokan New Japanese-English Dictionary of Judo (Kawamura &

Daigo, 2000):

Judo: A martial art formulated by Jigoro Kano based on his

reformulation and adaptation of several classical jujutsu systems

as well as his own philosophical ideals.

Such a definition may not resonate well with the image of judo promoted

by the official accredited national governing bodies—i.e., those belonging to

the International Judo Federation (IJF)—the majority of whom seem to be

actively encouraging the distancing of judo from its martial arts origins. In

these early years of the 21st century, it is difficult to challenge the view that in

the West (and in the United Kingdom in particular) judo is promoted one

dimensionally, as a combat sport—organized around championships and com-

petition—often for competition’s sake. To reinforce this sporting dimension,

the competitive style of judo is often referred to as Olympic Judo or Performance

Judo (a style in its own right).

A direct consequence of the leadership and policies of the accredited

judo governing bodies is that, for the majority of judo practitioners, judo is

now just about medals and prizes. These bodies measure the health of their

country’s judo simply in terms of results at major championships and accord-

ingly focus their investment only on the handful of elite athletes who have

the potential to be World or Olympic medalists. Bethers (n.d.) recognizes

this issue:

It seems that some modern judo leaders have narrowed the

objective of judo to only “Contest Proficiency.” For many,

world-wide judo has become equated with contest proficiency.

Although this belief is today wide-spread, it is the very thing that

Dr. Kano warned against throughout his life. Dr. Kano stated,

“Judo should only be a means to the end of skill and principles

for higher self-development, and any ‘drift’ toward ‘contest’ judo

as the ‘sole’ interpretation of judo should be carefully regulated.”

This “drift” has become a major focus among many well intended

judoka [practitioners], but in the minds of many sensei [teachers],

technique has suffered and judo has become (more often than not)

a sport in which “win at all costs” is the underlying objective.

It is evident that the strategy of focusing on Performance Judo must

now be challenged, as judo today is an activity in decline. In the United

Kingdom, this is manifested by decreasing adult membership of the British

Judo Association—75% of the BJA membership is under the age of 16

(British Judo Association, n.d.)—and the continuing lack of consistent and

substantial success of British judo players in international competition

despite all the effort directed to this end.

Art of Judo

Llyr C. Jones

It is a matter of additional concern that the governing bodies have

overwhelmingly biased their rank promotion structures (i.e. grading) toward

accelerating the grade advancement of those who are successful in competi-

tion, with often only lip service being plaid to the breadth and depth of an

individual’s technical judo knowledge. Again, Bethers (n.d.) writes:

This emphasis on “Contest Proficiency” has caused the true meaning

or purpose of judo to be unclear and somewhat out of proportion to

what was intended by Dr. Kano. This problem is surfaced nowhere

more clearly than in “notion” that contest victories are rewarded with

rapid rank promotions.

Currently there is little prospect for grade advancement for those who

(through age, physical condition, or personal preference) wish to practice

judo as an art as opposed to a sport. This is, of course, with the notable excep-

tion of the promotions that governing body officials and administrators seem

to receive as a matter of course. The risk one runs with such a policy is a

resultant judo hierarchy that is both one-dimensional in its knowledge and

skewed in its priorities.

It is especially disappointing that those judo players who prefer to focus

their study on the more traditional and technical aspects of judo (e.g. forms

or kata ) have become tagged with the label recreational players—implying

that they are somehow inferior to contest players and not worthy of attention

or recognition.

B ACK TO B ASICS

This author and other writers (Watanabe, 2003; Burkland, 1998) advo-

cate the thesis that judo in the West has lost its way and that there is a real

need for it to return to its martial art roots. In doing so, the author’s aim for this

paper is not to decry the considerable merits of Performance Judo—indeed suc-

cess in contest over several traditional jujutsu schools was key in establishing

Kodokan judo as an effective combat system (Kano, 1986). Rather, it is to

argue that judo based solely on sport is not judo in toto and that the original and

arguably truer meaning of the art lies elsewhere.

Elementary research will reveal that the underlying concept of judo as

envisioned by Kano was that it was to be a means of (cooperative) physical and

social education—in simple terms, a training for life. Kano captured this prin-

ciple of mutual welfare and prosperity via the maxim: you and I shining togeth-

er ( jita kyo ei , mutual welfare and prosperity) (Kano, 1986).

Indeed, with the overwhelming majority of those now practicing

Performance Judo, it is reasonable to conclude that mainstream contempo-

rary judo has now deviated significantly (and quite possibly permanently)

from Kano’s original ideas. Smith (1999: 221) notes:

The popularization and spread of judo has weakened Kano’s base so

greatly, I see no chance of it ever recovering. Judo is now merely a

jacketed wrestling sport. The competitive has ousted the cooperative.

Journal of Asian Martial Arts

Volume 14 Number 3 - 2005

Figure 1

Nage no Kata

Bob Willingham.

bob@twoj.org

Bates (n.d.) argues that judo has two essential components—martial and

art. The martial component of judo can be related to combat through the way

of the warrior ( budo )—the contemporary representation of which is competi-

tion ( shiai ). In preparation for contest, the modern judo player focuses on the

development of physical conditioning and fitness, motivation, tactics, and

technique for the sole purpose of securing victory. Conversely, art can be

defined as technical excellence and understanding of techniques developed

through repeated practice ( uchi-komi and nage-komi ), free-practice ( randori ),

and kata.

Judo is, of course, both martial and art, but today the concept most peo-

ple have of judo is martial. Martial represents but one small element of judo,

yet almost without exception, most judo teachers focus on developing their

students’ contest prowess and many believe it unnecessary to practice or even

know any kata.

R EDISCOVERING K ATA

In the most general sense, any cooperative judo training between part-

ners—e.g. a sequence of combinations or counters etc.—can be considered

kata. However, a greater degree of focus is provided in a dictionary of judo

(Kawamura & Daigo, 2000), which defines kata as follows:

Kata: Formal movement pattern exercises containing idealised model

movements illustrating specific combative principles.

Kata is not unique to judo—it is recognized as a valuable training drill

in most Japanese martial arts. The exact nature of kata training, however,

Art of Judo

Llyr C. Jones

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: