Martial arts' popularity in the west is a relatively recent phenomenum; they have been studied and practised in Asia for many hundreds of years. There are many different styles, but one of the most well known and most practiced is Judo. It is one of only two martial arts practiced as a viable competitive sport in the Summer Olympic games.
Judo comes from Japan, and as it only became a full contact martial art in the 1800's is a relatively new art. The founder's name was professor Jigoro Kano, who had previously studied much older martial arts forms such as Jiu-Jitsu, and then changed and unified what he referred to as disconnected principles and forms. judo, or Kano Jiu Do, was born out of many of the same principles and techniques; with a focus on encouraging the development of the mind, body and character of the student.
The descriptive name of the discipline - 'way of gentleness' - which is what Judo translates as, reflects the nature of the art which emphasises indirect force and using the attackers own weight and force to your advantage. Moves in Judo often involve not attacking directly, but dodging to avoid an attacker and then aiding him in a fall induced by his own force with a timely foot to the ankle. Kano did not want his discipline to be based on a principle of killing as was the case with other older martial arts styles; rather he wanted students of Judo to use the discipline to improve all aspects of their lives.
Titles of Judo students have changed over the years. At its founding, only the instructors were called Judoka, while students were called kenkyu-sei meaning "trainee". Now anyone who practices the art is called a Judoka and the instructor is called a sensei. The place of practice is generally called a dojo. The uniform worn by the Judoki is called the Judogi, and is worn by all within the dojo.
The study of Judo involves learning and perfecting many different forms and techniques. These include many forms and techniques including standing and ground fighting techniques, throwing and grappling forms, and both the Ancient and Five Forms of modern Judo. In order to test understanding of methodology and determine rank graduation, students compete in what is known as 'sparring'.



