The Contribution
of Judo to Education
by Jigoro Kano
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The
object of this lecture is to explain to you in a general
way what Judo is. In our feudal times, there were many
military exercises such as fencing, archery, the use
of spears, etc. Among them there was one called Jujutsu
which was a composite exercise, consisting principally
of the ways of fighting without weapons; using, however,
occasionally daggers, swords and other weapons.
The kinds of attack were chiefly throwing, hitting,
choking, holding the opponent down and bending or twisting
the opponent's arms or legs in such a way as to cause
pain or fracture. The use of swords and daggers was
also taught. We had also multitudinous ways of defending
ourselves against such attacks. Such exercise, in its
primitive form, existed even in our mythological age.
But systematic instruction, as an art, dates only from
about three hundred fifty years ago.
In my younger days I studied this art with three eminent
masters of the time. The great benefit I derived from
the study of it led me to make up my mind to go on with
the subject more seriously, and in 1882 I started a
school of my own and called it Kodokan. Kodokan literally
means a school for studying the way, the meaning of
the way being the concept of life itself. I named the
subject I teach Judo instead of Jujutsu. In the first
place I will explain to you the meaning of these words.
Ju means gentle or to give way, Jutsu, an art or practice,
and Do, way or principle, so that Jujutsu means an art
or practice of gentleness or of giving way in order
to ultimately gain the victory; while Judo means the
way or principle of the same.
Besides the acquisition of useful knowledge, we must
endeavor to improve our intellectual powers, such as
memory, attention, observation, judgment, reasoning,
imagination, etc. But this we should not do in a haphazard
manner, but in accordance with psychological laws, so
that the relation of those powers one with the other
shall be well harmonized. It is only by faithfully following
the principle of maximum efficiency - that is Judo -
that we can achieve the object of rationally increasing
our knowledge and intellectual power.
Can this principle be applied to other fields of human
activity? Yes, the same principle can be applied to
the improvement of the human body, making it strong,
healthy and useful, and so constitutes physical education.
It can also be applied to the improvement of intellectual
and moral power, and in this way constitutes mental
and moral education. It can at the same time be applied
to the improvement of diet, clothing, housing, social
intercourse, and methods of business, thus constituting
the study and training in living. I gave this all-pervading
principle the name of "Judo". So Judo, in its fuller
sense, is a study and method in training of mind and
body as in the regulation of life and affairs.
Judo, therefore, in one of its phases,
can be studied and practiced with attack and defense
for its main object. Before I started Kodokan, this
attack and defense phase of Judo only was studied and
practiced in Japan under the name of Jiu-jitsu, sometimes
called "Tai-Jitsu", meaning the art of managing the
body or "Yawara", the "gentle management." But I came
to think that the study of this all-pervading principle
is more important that the mere practice of Jiu-jitsu,
because the real understanding of the principle not
only enables one to apply it to all phases of life,
but is also of great service in the study of the art
of Jiu-jitsu itself.
It is not only through the process I took that one can
come to grasp this principle. One can arrive at the
same conclusion by philosophical interpretation of the
daily transaction of business, or through abstract philosophical
reasoning. But when I started to teach Judo I thought
it advisable to follow the same course as I took in
the study of the subject, because by so doing I could
make the body of my pupil healthy, strong and useful.
At the same time, I could assist him gradually to grasp
this all-important principle. For this reason I began
the instruction of Judo with training in randori and
kata.
Randori, meaning "free exercise", is practiced under
conditions of actual contest. It includes throwing,
choking, holding the opponent down, and bending or twisting
his arms or legs. The two combatants may use whatever
methods they like provided they do not hurt each other
and obey the rules of Judo concerning etiquette, which
are essential to its proper working.
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Kata, which literally means "form",
is a formal system of prearranged exercises, including
hitting, cutting, kicking, thrusting, etc., according
to rules under which each combatant knows beforehand
exactly what his opponent is going to do. The remaining
hitting, kicking, cutting and thrusting techniques are
taught in Kata and not in Randori, because if they were
used in Randori cases of injury might frequently occur,
while when taught in Kata no such injury is likely to
happen because all the attacks and defenses are prearranged.
Randori may be practiced in various ways. If the object
be simply training in the method of attack and defense,
the attention should be especially directed to the training
in the most efficient ways of throwing, bending or twisting,
without special reference to developing the body or
to mental and moral culture. Randori can also be studied
with physical education as its main objective. From
what I have already said, anything to be ideal must
be performed on "the principle of maximum efficiency."
We will see how the existing system of physical education
can stand this test. Taking athletics as a whole, I
cannot help thinking that they are not the ideal form
of physical education, because every movement is not
chosen for all around development of the body but for
attaining some other definite object. And furthermore,
as we generally require special equipment and sometimes
quite a number of persons to participate in them, athletics
are fitted as a training for select groups of persons
and not as the means of improving the physical condition
of a whole nation.
This holds true with boxing, wrestling, and different
kinds of military exercises practiced all over the world.
Then people may ask, "Are not gymnastics [calisthenics]
an ideal form of national physical training?" To this
I answer that they are an ideal form of physical education
from their being contrived for all-round development
of the body, and not necessarily requiring special equipment
and participants. But gymnastics are lacking in very
important things essential to the physical education
of a whole nation. The defects are:
• Different gymnastics
movements have no meaning and naturally are devoid of
interest.
• No secondary benefit
is derived from their training.
• Attainment of "skill"
(using the word "skill" in a special sense) cannot be
sought for or acquired in gymnastics as in some other
exercises.
• From this brief survey
of the whole field of physical education, I can say
that no ideal form has yet been invented to fill the
necessary conditions for such physical education.
This ideal form can only be devised from a study based
on maximum efficiency. In order to fulfill all those
conditions or requirements, a system of all-round development
of the body, as a primary consideration must be devised
as in the case of gymnastics. Next, the movements should
have some meaning so that they may be engaged in with
interest. Again, the activities should be such as require
no large space, special dress or equipment. Furthermore,
they must be such as could be done individually as well
as in groups. Those are the conditions or requirements
for a satisfactory system of physical education for
a whole nation. Any system that can meet successfully
those requirements may, for the first time, be regarded
as a program of physical education based on the principle
of maximum efficiency.
I have been studying this subject for a long time and
have succeeded in devising two forms, which may be said
to fulfill all those requirements. One form is what
I named "representative form". This is a way of representing
ideas, emotions, and different motions of natural objects
by the movements of limbs, body and neck. Dancing is
one instance of such, but originally dancing was not
devised with physical education for its object, and
can therefore not be said to fulfill those requirements.
But it is possible to devise special kinds of dancing
made to suit persons of different sex and mental and
physical conditions and made to express moral ideas
and feelings, so that conjointly with the cultivation
of the spiritual side of a nation it can also develop
the body in a way suited to all.
This "representative form" is, I believe, in one way
or other practiced in America and Europe, and you can,
I think, imagine what I mean, therefore I shall not
deal with it any further here.
There is one other form, which I named "attack and defense
form." In this, I have combined different methods of
attack and defense, in such a way that the result will
conduce to the harmonious development of the whole body.
Ordinary methods of attack and defense taught in Jiu-jitsu
cannot be said to .be ideal for the development of the
body, therefore, I have especially combined them so
that they fulfill the conditions necessary for the harmonious
development of the body. This can be said to meet two
purposes: (1) bodily development, and (2) training in
the art of contest. As every nation is required to provide
for national defense, so every individual must know
how to defend himself. In this age of enlightenment,
nobody would care to prepare either for national aggressions
or for doing individual violence to others. But defense
in the cause of justice and humanity must never be neglected
by a nation or by an individual.
This method of physical education in attack and defense
form, I shall show you by actual practice. This is divided
into two kinds of exercises: one is individual exercise
and the other is exercise with an opponent (as demonstrated).From
what I have explained and shown by practice, you have
no doubt understood what I mean by physical education
based on the principle of maximum efficiency. Although
I strongly advocate that the physical education of a
whole nation should be conducted on that principle,
at the same time I do not mean to lay little emphasis
on athletics and various kinds of martial exercise.
Although they cannot be deemed appropriate as a physical
education of a whole nation, yet as a culture or a group
or groups of persons, they have their special value
and I by no means wish to discourage them, especially
Randori in Judo.
One great value of Randori lies in the abundance of
movements it affords for physical development. Another
value is that every movement has some purpose and is
executed with spirit, while in ordinary gymnastics exercises
movements lack interest. The object of a systematic
physical training in Judo is not only to develop the
body but to enable a man or a woman to have a perfect
control over mind and body and make him or her ready
to meet any emergency whether that be a pure accident
or an attack by others.
Although exercise in Judo is generally conducted between
two persons, both in Kata and in Randori, and in a room
specially prepared for the purpose, yet that is not
always necessary. It can be practiced by a group or
by a single person, on the playground, or in an ordinary
room. People imagine that falling in Randori is attended
with pain and sometimes with danger. But a brief explanation
of the way one is taught to fall will enable them to
understand that there is no such pain or danger.
To take still another instance, in Randori, we teach
the learner, when he faces an opponent who is madly
excited, to score a victory over him, not by directly
resisting him with might and main, but by playing him
till the very fury and power of the latter expends itself.
The usefulness of this attitude in everyday transactions
with others is patent. As is well known, no amount of
reasoning could avail us when a person who is so agitated
as to seem to have lost his temper confronts us. All
that we have to do in such a case is to wait until his
passion wears itself out. All these teachings we learn
from the practice of Randori. Their application to the
conduct of daily affairs is a very interesting subject
of study and is valuable as an intellectual training
for young minds.
I will finish my talk about the intellectual phase of
Judo by referring shortly to the rational means of increasing
knowledge and intellectual power. If we closely observe
society, we notice everywhere the way in which we foolishly
expend our energy in the acquisition of knowledge. All
our surroundings are always giving us opportunities?
Are we always making the best choice of books, magazines
and newspapers we read? Do we not often find out that
the energy which might have been spent for acquiring
useful knowledge is often used for amassing knowledge
which is prejudicial not only to self but also to society?
I shall now proceed to speak of the intellectual phase
of Judo. Mental training in Judo can be done by Kata
as well as by competition between two persons, using
all the resources at their command and obeying the prescribed
rules of Judo, both parties must always be wide awake,
and be endeavoring to find out weak points of the opponent,
being ready to attack whenever opportunity allows. Such
an attitude of mind in devising means of attack tends
to make the pupil earnest, sincere, thoughtful, cautious
and deliberate in all his dealings. At the same time
one is trained for quick decision and prompt action,
because in Randori unless one decides quickly and acts
promptly he will always lose his opportunity either
in attacking or in defending.
Again, in Randori each contestant cannot tell what his
opponent is going to do, so each must be prepared to
meet any sudden attack by the other. Habituated to this
kind of mental attitude, he develops a high degree of
mental composure, or "poise." Exercise of the power
of attention and observation in the gymnasium or place
of training, naturally develops such power, which is
so useful in daily life.
For devising means of defeating an opponent, the exercise
of the power of imagination, of reasoning and of judgment,
is indispensable, and such power is naturally developed
in Randori. Again as the study of Randori is the study
of the relation, mental and physical, existing between
two competing parties, hundreds of valuable lessons
may be derived from this study, but I will content myself
for the present by giving a few more examples. In Randori
we teach the pupil always to act on the fundamental
principle of Judo, no matter how physically inferior
his opponent may seem to him and even if he can by sheer
strength easily overcome the other. If he acts against
this principle the opponent will never be convinced
of his defeat, whatever brutal strength may have been
used on him. It is hardly necessary to call your attention
to the fact that the way to convince your opponent in
an argument is not to push this or that advantage over
him, be it from power, from knowledge or from wealth,
but to persuade him in accordance with the inviolable
rules of logic. This lesson that persuasion, not coercion,
is efficacious, which is so valuable in actual life,
we may learn from Randori.
Again we teach the learner, when he has recourse to
any trick in overcoming his opponent, to employ only
as much of his force as is absolutely required for the
purpose in question, cautioning him against either an
over or under exertion of force. There are not a few
cases in which people fail in what they undertake simply
because they go too far, not knowing where to stop,
and vice versa.
To take still another instance, in Randori, we teach
the learner, when he faces an opponent who is madly
excited, to score a victory over him, not by directly
resisting him with might and main, but by playing him
till the very fury and power of the latter expends itself.
The usefulness of this attitude in everyday transactions
with others is patent. As is well known, no amount of
reasoning could avail us when a person who is agitated
as to seem to have lost his temper confronts us. All
that we have to do in such a case is to wait until his
passions wears itself out. All these teachings we learn
from the practice of Randori. Their application to the
conduct of daily affairs is a very interesting subject
of study and is valuable as an intellectual training
for young minds.
Besides the acquisition of useful knowledge, we must
endeavor to improve intellectual powers, such as memory,
attention, observation, judgment, reasoning, imagination,
etc. But this we should not do in a haphazard manner,
but in accordance with psychological laws, so that the
relation of those powers one with the other shall be
well harmonized. It is only by faithfully following
the principle of maximum efficiency, that is Judo, that
we can achieve the object of rationally increasing our
knowledge and intellectual power.
I shall now speak about the moral phase of Judo. It
is not my intention to speak of the moral discipline
given to students in the exercise room, such as the
observance of the regular rules of etiquette, courage,
perseverance, kindness, respect for others, impartiality,
and fair play so much emphasized in athletic sports
throughout the world. The training in Judo has a special
moral import in Japan because Judo, together with other
martial exercises, was practiced by our Samurai, who
had a high code of honor, the spirit of which has been
bequeathed to us through the teaching of the art. In
this connection I wish to explain to you how the principle
of maximum efficiency helps us in promoting moral conduct.
A man is sometimes very excitable and prone to anger
for trivial reasons.
But when one comes to consider that "to be excited"
is an unnecessary expenditure of energy, giving benefit
to nobody but often doing harm to himself and others,
it will be seen that the student of Judo must refrain
from such conduct.
A man is sometimes despondent from disappointment, is
gloomy, and has no courage to work. To such a man Judo
comes with the advice to find out what is the best thing
he can do under the existing circumstances. Paradoxical
as it may seem, such a man is, to my mind, in the same
position as one whom is at the zenith of success. In
either case, there is only one course to follow, that
is, what, after due consideration, he deems to be the
best course of action at the time. Thus the teaching
of Judo may be said to lean a man from the depths of
disappointment and lethargy to a state of vigorous activity
with a bright hope for the future.
The same reasoning applies to those persons who are
discontented. Discontented persons are often in a sulky
state of mind and blame other people for what is their
own fault and without attending to their own business.
The teaching of Judo will make persons understand that
such conduct is against the principle of maximum efficiency,
and make them realize that by the faithful observance
of that principle they will become more cheerful. Thus
the teaching of Judo is, in a variety of ways, serviceable
to the promotion of moral conduct.
Finally, I wish to add a few words to the emotional
phase of Judo. We are all aware of the pleasurable sensation
given to the nerves and muscles through exercise, and
we also feel pleasure at the attainment of skill, in
the use of our muscles, and also through the sense of
superiority over others in contest. But besides these
pleasures there is that love of beauty and delight in
it derivable from assuming graceful attitudes and performing
graceful movements and also in seeing such in others.
The training in these, together with the pleasure obtainable
from watching movements symbolical of different ideas,
constitutes what we call the emotional or the aesthetic
phase of Judo. I believe you have already come to see
what kind of thing Judo really is, in contra-distinction
to the Jiu-jitsu of feudal times.
If I now state in a concise form what I have said, it
might be summed up as follows:
Judo is a study and training in mind and body as well
as in the regulation of one's life and affairs. From
the thorough study of the different methods of attack
and defense I became convinced that they all depend
on the application of one all-pervading principle, namely:
"Whatever be the object, it can best be attained by
the highest or maximum efficient use of mind and body
for that purpose". Just as this principle applied to
the methods of attack and defense constitutes Jiu-jitsu,
so does this same principle, applied to physical, mental
and moral culture, as well as to ways of living and
carrying on of business, constitute the study of, and
the training in, those things.
Once the real importance of this principle is understood,
it may be applied to all phases of life and activity
and enable one to lead the highest and the most rational
life. The real understanding of this principle need
not necessarily be arrived at through the training in
the methods of attack and defense, but as I came to
conceive of this idea through training in these methods,
I made such training in contest and the training for
the development of the body the regular means of arriving
at the principle.
This principle of maximum efficiency, when applied to
the keying up or perfecting of social life, just as
when applied to the coordination of mind and body, in
the science of attack and defense, demands, first of
all, order and harmony among its members, and this can
only be attained through mutual aid and concessions,
leading to mutual welfare and benefit.
The final aim of Judo, therefore, is to inculcate in
the mind of man a spirit of respect for the principle
of maximum efficiency and of mutual welfare and benefit,
leading him so to practice them that man individually
and collectively can attain to the highest state, and,
at the same time, develop the body and learn the art
of attack and defense.
If we closely observe the actual state of society all
over the world, notwithstanding the fact that morality
in all its forms (religious, philosophical and traditional)
is meant to improve man's conduct in society and make
the world ideal, the fact seems quite the contrary.
We notice vices, quarrels, and discontent in every level
of society, from the highest to the lowest. While we
are taught hygiene and correct ways of living in school
from childhood up to mature age, we still are prone
to neglect the rules of good clean living and of hygienic
and orderly lives.
The actual facts prove that our society is lacking in
something which, if brought to light and universally
acknowledged, can remodel the society and bring greater
happiness and satisfaction to this world. This is the
teaching of maximum efficiency and mutual welfare and
benefit.
I do not mean to say that our time honored moral precepts
and hygienics should be shelved. On the contrary, let
those precepts and advice be respected ever as they
used to be, but in addition to these; our principle
of maximum efficiency and mutual welfare and benefit
should ever be paramount. This I emphatically say, because
in this age of criticism and new ideas, for any teaching
to have effect, it must have behind it, some indubitable
reason of fact. We do not hear the thinking man today
say, "Because I believe in such and such a thing, therefore
you must believe in it, or, I came to such and such
a conclusion through my own reasoning; therefore you
also must come to the same conclusion." Whatever one
affirms must be based on facts or reasoning which no
sane person can deny or doubt. Certainly none can deny
the value of the principle "Whatever be the objective,
it can best be attain by the highest or maximum effective
use of mind and body for that purpose." Again, none
can deny that it is only by aiming at mutual welfare
and benefit that every member of society can keep from
discord and quarreling, and live in peace and prosperity.
Is it not because of the universal recognition of these
facts that people have come to talk so much about efficiency
and scientific management and that everywhere these
are being advocated? In addition to this, the principle
of give-and-take is more and more coming to be the determining
factor in the lives of all human beings. Is it not because
this principle of mutual welfare and benefit has been
recognized that from the League of Nations and the Great
Powers of the World we came to meet for the decrease
of naval and military armaments? These movements are
also automatic acknowledgment of the crying need of
efficient and mutual welfare and benefit. The educational
forces of every country in which Judo should have a
prominent part must further them.
*****
This speech by Jigoro Kano was given at the University
of Southern California (USC) in Loc Angeles on the occasion
of 11th Olympiad, 1932.
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