JUDO AS SELF DEFENSE

There are two types of judo. One is sport (which is very common in this country) the other is traditional judo (the way it was originally taught). Traditional judo is an excellent self- defense art and has formed the basis for many military combatives and defensive tactics training around the world. The Japanese police have trained in Judo since 1886, when Judo (at the time known merely as Kano Jujitsu) defeated several other established schools of Jujitsu in a tournament.

In addition to the above, Judo's background in traditional Jujitsu combined with its police and military applications, has resulted in kata specifically designed to teach technical principles for self-defense: Kime No Kata (Forms of Decision) and Kodokan Goshin Jutsu (Forms of Self Defense).

Various aspects of Judo principles and training methods promote attributes and skills helpful in self-defense:

• Training with full power and speed against fully-resisting opponents: builds speed, stamina, strength, and tenacity.
• Body and mental conditioning by repeatedly being thrown with significant force.
• Training in safe methods to take falls.
• Ability to accurately and quickly use balance, distance, and timing against skilled opponents in fully-resistive sparring. Judo practitioners are experts in controlling their opponent's balance whilst maintaining their own.
• Sports Judo rules emphasize rapid transition to pins or submissions after a take-down, which builds skills in explosive use of chokes and locks in self-defense situations.
• Emphasis in controlling one's opponent during throws allow a practitioner to dictate the angle, direction, and force with which his or her opponent lands on the ground. The consequences could be gentle or lethal, depending on the Judo practitioner's intentions.