Martial History Team

  “Judo is originally a teaching of the literary and military arts, and one must begin with ‘waza’ [physical technique] when embarking on the ‘do’ [way, pronounced "dough"] of Judo. How many people, although they make rapid progress with waza, require a great deal of training in order to reach the point at which they can appreciate the do.”   Professor Jigoro Kano, founder of Judo, as quoted in "Mind Over Muscle" (Kodansha International, 2013), p 65. Credit to PreserveHmongRoots for the colorization.

  Introduction While working on the monthly Martial History Team book survey, I needed to research the famous late 19th century paper on "jiujutsu" by professor Kano Jigoro and the Reverend Thomas Lindsay. A quick Google search yielded the version hosted by Judoinfo titled "Jujutsu and the origins of Judo, by Jigoro Kano and T. Lindsay, 1887, (Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Volume 15)." In addition to seeing the word "judo" in the title, I saw it throughout the online text, e.g., "Amongst these was the art of jujutsu, from which the present judo has sprung up." This did not seem right to me, so I investigated further. Going to the Source Thanks to the wonderful Internet Archive , I was able to find a copy of the original article in its original form. It appeared in Volume XVI (16), not volume "15", of the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, published in 1889, not 1887. The paper notes that the authors read it t...

  Did Kano Jigoro ask to be buried in a white belt? Introduction Today I encountered the following excerpt from a book published in 1992 by an Aikido practitioner named George Leonard, titled Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfilment : “When Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo, was quite old and close to death, the story goes, he called his students around him and told them he wanted to be buried in his white belt. What a touching story; how humble of the world's highest-ranking judoist in his last days to ask for the emblem of the beginner! But Kano's request, I eventually realized, was less humility than realism. At the moment of death, the ultimate transformation, we are all white belts. And if death makes beginners of us, so does life—again and again. In the master's secret mirror, even at the moment of highest renown and accomplishment, there is an image of the newest student in class, eager for knowledge, willing to play the fool. And for all who walk the pat...

  What do the English sources say about Ulysses S. Grant's encounter with professor Kano Jigoro in Japan?  Introduction  General and President Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) and judo founder Kano Jigoro (1860-1938) are my top two favorite historical figures. Imagine my surprise when I first learned that the two men had an encounter in Japan in 1879! Kano biographers will often tell the reader that Grant witnessed a jūjutsu demonstration in which Kano was a participant. I've wanted to know more about this event, so I researched a variety of resources, drawing on my experience with each man's life. This post will list five facts derived from English sources. Some of those English references are based on Japanese sources. This is the best I can manage at this time. I lack the Japanese sources and the ability to read Japanese. I invite readers who have both Japanese sources and the requisite language skills to add to the discussion! 1. Professor Kano offers a brief but pri...

What English language biography of professor Jigoro Kano does Martial History Team recommend?  Introduction  When I (Richard) started Martial History Team in late January 2020, I said that the goal of the project was to promote martial arts history based on sound evidence and sourced research. Since then, readers have been able to consume a lot of content from the project, through a  Facebook page , this blog , Instagram , Twitter , and, thanks to team member Matthew Krueger , via a podcast . Along the way I published a post on the criteria I use when evaluating sources . That guided my selections. Today, I'm happy to present the first reading recommendation. Here I will list the 8 biographies of professor Jigoro Kano that I read, and share the title which I believe is the best English-language biography available to the average reader. The List The following are the 8 titles in consideration. The title links to an Amazon page, if available, or to the publisher. The ...

Jigoro Kano Père du Judo and Les Racines du Judo Français   Introduction  I (Richard) have some French language skills thanks to classes in high school and college. My mom was also a French teacher, so if I get stuck I can call for help!  Because of this background, I decided to try buying two books:  Jigoro Kano Père du Judo and Les Racines du Judo Français . Hopefully I could read and review them  for  Martial Journal . After receiving them, I realized that r eading books of this size in full,  en Français,  would be a considerable undertaking. I only feel comfortable writing proper reviews if I read the whole book. Therefore, I decided to share a few comments on each book instead of writing reviews. In the event there are readers comfortable with French, you might like to try them as well. Jigoro Kano Père du Judo As you might expect, the first book by Michel Mazac translates as Jigoro Kano, Father of Judo.  I want to share thre...

Jigoro Kano at Gakushūin, between ages 22-28  Did professor Jigoro Kano earn a PhD? TL;DR: No. For the details, keep reading! Introduction  I (Richard) address Jigoro Kano as "professor" when writing about him. I do so for two reasons. First, he was a professor at multiple schools in Japan, teaching academic subjects. Second, the tradition is Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a derivative of judo, is to address certain instructors as "professor."  However, I have seen references to professor Kano as being "Dr. Kano." "Dr." in this sense does not refer to a medical doctor, or MD. Rather, it implies receiving a Doctor of Philosophy (referenced as a PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil, from the Latin philosophiae doctor or doctor philosophiae. )  I encountered this once in what I consider to be a reliable source, and other times in less-than-reliable sources. What is the evidence? The Mat Ball Article A 2005 article called The Accomplishments of Jigoro Kano  by Mat Ball is p...

The Legacy of Kano Jigoro: Judo and Education, by The Committee for the Commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of Jigoro Kano, translated by Tom Kain, 2020 Introduction Martial History Team strives to promote martial arts history based on sound evidence and sourced research. Sometimes we don't find what we're looking for, so we write our own research, based on the best available sources, usually in the English language (unfortunately). This is the case with the origin of martial arts rank. The history of rank is almost as hot a topic as the debate about the value of rank itself! Hopefully this article will shed some light on a topic that often reproduces unsourced or poorly sourced claims. This article will support the following assertions: 1. Prof Mikinosuke Kawaishi did not invent colored judo belts; he only brought the idea with him to France in 1935.  2. Prof Jigoro Kano was not inspired by "swimming ribbons" or "swimming grades...