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Judo as a Budo Art
There are several interpretations of what Judo is. Some are right, others are based on an one-sided and very western minded understanding of Judo.
People in the west have grown up in a time, which bears the impress of competition, and this cultural mark will also be reflected in their understanding of Budo and Judo as a whole.
Judo is Martial Art like the other Budo arts.
Kano Shihan developed Judo as a system by removing some of the positively dangerous and brutal techniques from the ancient forms of Jiu Jitsu that he had studied. This meant, that everyone despite age or sex was able to perform his system of Ju Jutsu.
His two elementary theses on Judo show this too:
"The maximum efficient use of physical and mental energy" and "Mutual welfare and benefit".
Here I put out a question: Where in these lines is hidden the competition and the hunt for medals?
As an example: an egg - the egg yolk is Kata - the egg white is Randori - the egg shell is Shiai - yet not with the same substantial function, as Shiai only was meant for the quite young people, so that they could use some of their extra energy under supervised conditions. Contest rules have been given for Shiai, and they have to be so well known to the competitors, that the presence of a Shinban nearly is unnecessary, so his function should be more an instructor than a referee.
Randori is the method used for training technique and reactions under free conditions. Any attempt of competition is banned, as free practice means a kind of practice where all the students gain from this - despite their mutual abilities.
A 6th Kyu should be able to learn from a Dan grade without feeling total downtrodden. Despite your level you should be able to learn from each other, nobody is so capable, that he can't learn from others.
Kata is the method which is used for teaching the student the basic methods and techniques and put the finishing touches to these through intensive studies of Kata.
Unfortunately people of today are more focused on competition than on learning and knowledge. Kano Shihan was an instructor and educator. He used this education to develop his system, which he called Judo. A writer interviewed Kano and asked him, what kind of martial Art, he taught. He answered that he taught his students Jujutsu, but he called his system Judo.
If you put a question to Japanese people, who are practicing Judo, if Judo is a sport, they normally answer evasively, that it can be a sport too.
It's a way of expressing, that Martial Art is no game or sport, but considerably more serious, even dangerous at flippant handling and careless use.
Chief instructor at the Katori Shinto Ryu, Sensei Risuki Utake, says that Budo contains the possibility of competition, where the ancient Bujutsu didn't have this element within it. Competition implies that the relationship between teacher and student also becomes a kind of competitive, and this could prevent the true understanding and confidence between them, which is necessary for the teaching of all aspects within the Martial Art.
Shihan Jigoro Kano was a pioneer in several things. He introduced baseball in Japan as well as Karate was shown in Japan in 1926 at the request of Jigoro Kano. He introduced the grading system with Kyu and Dan grades and he also used the concept Do instead of Jutsu, when he named his system.
At his time there were several schools of Jiu Jitsu, therefore it was essential to distance himself from these schools, so he named his system Judo. This was a way for Kano too, to point out the connection between the physical as well as the mental development, which was his aim with his new system.
It was from the Tokugawa era on that Jujutsu literature began to be compiled, yet the first record of something like Jujutsu is quoted in Judo-higaku-sho (Important Records of Judo) as "grapple was in vogue since Eisho era." In the Eisho era (1504-20), Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was the Shogun in the reign of Emperor Go-Kashiwa-Bara and the Ashigaka era drawing to the closing years. It was the age of civil wars and about 500 years ago.
About 1910 Judo was accepted and acknowledged by other Japanese Jiu Jitsu schools as modern Japanese Jujutsu.
Shihan Jigoro Kano's understanding of education produced the Gokyo System and the Nage No Kata, Juno Kata and not to forget Kano's most important work, the Itsutsu No Kata. It was originally Kano's intention to include a large number of techniques in this Kata, but it was never completed and it comprises only five movements, therefore its name (Itsutsu means five). The first two movements have some connection with the Kata of the Kito School of Jujutsu, but the last three are original. It is an artistic and meaningful Kata calling for natural movements (the movement of water, heavenly bodies, etc.) to be skilfully expressed by the human body. It gives knowledge of the universal understanding, which is essential in much of the Japanese philosophy and in the physical laws of the universe.
The idea Ki is not only reserved for Aikido but it is also an essential part of Judo/Budo - (the inner force Neiki, which Kyuzo Mifune, 10th Dan, refers to in his book Canon of Judo).
You could say, that with many of the forms of Budo, which have come to the west, the Japanese have sold us, what we thought we wanted, and thereby kept the most important parts to themselves. Today the two theses have shrunk to:
"Maximum-efficient use of power"
and that's that - no human understanding - no technique - nothing, and we are left with our know-all attitude - and kept in the dark. "The western understanding of the eastern way of life and philosophy."
It's like going to a French restaurant and believe you order a meal with wine and dessert, and then you get potatoes, a glass of water and a toothpick! But at least, you can see, what you get.
Therefore in the IBC we must look back and seek knowledge in the thoughts which Abbe Kenshiro Docho wrote in a leaflet, he published at the foundation of his organization. These thoughts are fully in keeping with the thoughts and philosophy of the old Japanese masters:
"The present organization has been unfriendly to me and my Judo, they have been too exclusive and dogmatic. They have not been open to a mutual exchange of ideas, therefore they have not adhered to the most important factor of the true Judo spirit. It is important that we all work together in great harmony, enjoying our Judo by mutual aid and understanding."
"We must strive to build a comfortable and upright society, thereby making our life a happy one. The understanding of the Universal truth, and the highest aim of the human race can be attained through KYU-SHIN-DO."
It is a heavy burden on the shoulders of all members of the IBC to follow these rules of conduct.
A part of Budo is loyalty - loyalty to your self - loyalty to other persons - and loyalty to fundamental ideas given to us by Abbe Docho.
Martin Pedersen,
8th Dan Kyoshi.
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