What’s the point of Judo?
“The main object of Judo lies in this point. It seeks to augment human strength, morality, and intellect by human means and efforts. It tends to train young people in the habits and conditions conducive to the accomplishment of great undertakings. T. Shidachi
There are many life lessons that can be learned through the practice of judo. We must begin by considering all of the various practices that create the judo curriculum.
You begin with the practice of falling safely, ukemi, and progress to various throwing and grappling techniques followed by self-defense and weapons.
When you put it to paper like that it all sounds really simple. You imagine that you can just follow along and you will get through it eventually and have fun while you do it. You figure by just watching those that came before you it will be easy.
But when you actually begin you learn something on the very first day of training. You learn that though the path has been laid out for you and there were many that came before you that paved the way for you to follow, there is a huge difference between simple and easy.
Life, like judo, is simple but by no means easy.
What do I mean when I say life is simple? I mean that your job in life is simply to live it.
You wake up each morning and ensure that you continue to wake up every other morning. What that looks like to each of us differs from person to person, but we all have that goal in common.
I argue that judo parallels life in all of the best and worst ways. You begin your judo training with the practice of falling safely. Like a baby just learning to walk the judoka will fall again and again, always striving to stand back up and do it again.
Fall Safely or Ukemi
When practicing safe falling or ukemi there will be some pain, there is a possibility of injury, but with time and practice you will master it. And once you master it then it will serve you for the rest of your adult life. Of course where the judoka is learning to fall the baby is learning walk, the similarity being them both getting up and trying again.
In life there will be times when you “fall” both figuratively and literally. In any situation it will be an important skill to learn to protect yourself when you hit the ground. The entire purpose of learning to protect yourself when you fall is so that you are able to stand back up and continue on uninjured.
This “falling” is a metaphor for every setback we have in life. A failure in school, a loss in a tournament, a broken relationship, or a death in the family, these are falls we will all experience at some point. What we should strive to bring over from judo practice is the ability to protect ourselves and, get back up and try again.
Once you understand ukemi you can learn different throwing techniques. There is an endless list of throwing techniques in judo that keeps growing as the years go by, and though the list may be endless each throw contains three core principles. In each throw there must be kuzushi, tsukuri, and kake, or unbalance the opponent, invade their personal space, and apply the throw, respectively.
It is in these core principles that the essence of judo throws resides. How do these apply to life? One of the beautiful elements of judo training is cooperation during the learning process.
Game of Throwns
When learning to throw you yourself must be thrown. Being thrown is another element of mastering ukemi. It is one thing to fall by yourself but another thing entirely to be thrown by someone else.
In judo, like life, cooperating with your peers is very important toward your development.
When being thrown you will have to endure and accept those core principles. You will be unbalanced. You will have your personal space invaded as your opponent closes with you, and lastly you will be made to yield as the throw is completed.
In life, as in judo, there will be times when you must be the aggressor and move to unbalance your opponent and invade their space. At other times you will have to yield.
Only experience will allow you to decide when and how to act. This takes a lot of time and practice.
When practicing throws there will be some pain involved, there will be times when you don’t want to get up, and there is a risk of personal injury. Having said that, your success will be determined by how much grit you have. What do I mean by grit?
Grit
Grit is that attitude you will have developed after hitting the ground time and time again, shaking it off and getting ready to hit it again. Grit is that discipline you forged in blood, sweat, and tears spending countless hours in the dojo working on a single throw, striving to get better. Grit is taking that injury you have and resting like your doctor told you to do.
Yes, I did say grit is resting your injury. There is a time and a place for everything and sometimes it is wise to yield. Once you have gone through the pain of getting tough it takes even more strength to sit down when you should.
No one has ever gotten stronger from working through a blown out knee or a ripped bicep. In life, like judo, you must know when to rest and allow yourself to heal. The body can only handle so much stress before it breaks but so can the mind.
I Get Knocked Down, I Get Back Up Again
Judo, like life, can be extremely stressful on the mind and not just the body. In life you can have all manner of setbacks, failures, and situations that make you feel less than perfect; Family pressure, social pressure, injury, illness can all affect you at the same time.
That much stress on a person can dig them into a hole that can seem hopeless. It is here that the judo training really comes into its own. This is where we return to the beginning.
At the lowest point you should know what it is like to fall. You should know what it is like to be unbalanced, uncomfortable, and dominated. In spite of all of that you should also know what it is like to stand back up and be ready to go one more time.
By Lewis, Alexander B.
Author Bio:
I have been studying martial arts for over twenty five years and writing for nearly ten years. I believe that the martial arts should be shared by everyone and transcend all human barriers. I believe that every martial art has merit and can benefit those that practice diligently.
Here’s another great JUDO article
Check out the International Judo Federation here
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