Thereās been a fair bit of chatter and back-and-forth about what judo is and isnāt, and whether there are strikes in it or not. Interestingly, some of the deniers are the same ones that insisted there was no grappling in karate, even though the grappling in the various kata of Okinawa has been known-even in the U.S.-for some time, now.
Of course, much like the grappling in karate, some of the strikes of judo have been shared since its inception-theyāve always been there, and always been apparent. Others, though-again, much like the grappling in karate, have also always been there, but havenāt been so apparent. Part of this is because of how judo has evolved, and its practice has evolved with it. Part of it, though, is because of where judo came from.
Kano mostly formed judo from two styles of jujutsu: Kito ryu, and Tenjinshinyo ryu. While both styles had atemi-striking, and both had nage waza-throws, the Kito style is often thought of as specializing in throwing, the Tenjinshinyo specializing in atemi-though atemi really wasnāt all that appropriate for armored battle jujutsu, so I think itās likely this so-called specialization was a later development.
As others have pointed out, the atemi of judo is most apparent in its kata, like Seiryokuzenzo Kokumin Taiiku kata, which Kano assembled in 1927. Interestingly, in 1927 he also said in a lecture that he was researching a method of randori that would include atemi-but he never really did, probably because he thought it was contrary to his physical education principles, damaging and dangerous. During the build up to and the early part of WWII, though, the Botukukai took over all martial arts-in fact, the period corresponds with Kanoās development of Seiryokuzenzo Kokumin Taiiku kata, and some say it was due to pressure from the Japanese military. During this period, there were, in fact, strikes included in randori-at least for the military and police, to establish some kind of commando level of training-and, more to the point, strikes were included in the curriculum and randori through the 60ās, though, by the time I was starting to train, the only thing explicitly permitted was knife hands to the forearm of the opponent to prevent his getting a grip, or to break his grip, and this went away completely around 1971-I think-there was a moon landing that summer, and Iāve always associated being told that we didnāt do that anymore with the moon shot. The ulnar nerve plexus, not coincidentally, is one of the 30 kyusho points that Kano included in his book Judo Kyohon, along with 22 atemi waza . This was, of course, nothing like the rest of the strikes that had taken place in judo, and continued to for some of us, but those are very much like some of the more dirty stick work I learned in lacrosse: itās not cheating if you get away with it, so do whatever you can get away with
Having done karate and boxing for the same period of time, I have to say that a lot of the striking in judo kata is somewhat unrealistic, odd, or esoteric, and seems to also be in line with the ikken hissatsu äøęåæ ę®ŗā philosophy of Japanese karate: āone stike one kill,ā rather than a barrage of blows as in boxing or some forms of kenpo. ā¦.howeverā¦..
While Tenjinshinyo ryu is said to specialize in strikes, it really used atemi waza to disrupt an opponentās balance, and gave judo throws like ippon seoinage, and harai goshi. Both of these throws, and others, have atemi waza inherent to their movement. If youāve learned how to do them from the right person-someone who trained before, during or immediately after WWII, or a teacher who had trained under someone who did, then youāve learned to perform ippon seionage-one armed shoulder throw-with an hiji ate -elbow- to the region of the opponentās liver on the entry for the throw ,rather than simply thrusting the arm under the opponentās arm, harai goshi-hip sweep- with an elbow to the head or throat, rather than the helmet of an armored samurai-or simply enveloping the arm as so many perform it today, and koshi garuma āthe loin wheel-with a percussive to the brachial sinus and/or clavicle, rather than simply wrapping an arm around the shoulders as so many do. As a kid, when I did ippon seionage-and even today-the opponent was getting a belly full of elbow on the way-made him easier to throw, and the referee either didnāt see it ,or didnāt careā¦..there are other strikes, pretty well hidden in other throws. At any rate, not many people are learning judo this way anymore, though you might be surprised by some of the people who haveā¦..
Of course, much like the grappling in karate, some of the strikes of judo have been shared since its inception-theyāve always been there, and always been apparent. Others, though-again, much like the grappling in karate, have also always been there, but havenāt been so apparent. Part of this is because of how judo has evolved, and its practice has evolved with it. Part of it, though, is because of where judo came from.
Kano mostly formed judo from two styles of jujutsu: Kito ryu, and Tenjinshinyo ryu. While both styles had atemi-striking, and both had nage waza-throws, the Kito style is often thought of as specializing in throwing, the Tenjinshinyo specializing in atemi-though atemi really wasnāt all that appropriate for armored battle jujutsu, so I think itās likely this so-called specialization was a later development.
As others have pointed out, the atemi of judo is most apparent in its kata, like Seiryokuzenzo Kokumin Taiiku kata, which Kano assembled in 1927. Interestingly, in 1927 he also said in a lecture that he was researching a method of randori that would include atemi-but he never really did, probably because he thought it was contrary to his physical education principles, damaging and dangerous. During the build up to and the early part of WWII, though, the Botukukai took over all martial arts-in fact, the period corresponds with Kanoās development of Seiryokuzenzo Kokumin Taiiku kata, and some say it was due to pressure from the Japanese military. During this period, there were, in fact, strikes included in randori-at least for the military and police, to establish some kind of commando level of training-and, more to the point, strikes were included in the curriculum and randori through the 60ās, though, by the time I was starting to train, the only thing explicitly permitted was knife hands to the forearm of the opponent to prevent his getting a grip, or to break his grip, and this went away completely around 1971-I think-there was a moon landing that summer, and Iāve always associated being told that we didnāt do that anymore with the moon shot. The ulnar nerve plexus, not coincidentally, is one of the 30 kyusho points that Kano included in his book Judo Kyohon, along with 22 atemi waza . This was, of course, nothing like the rest of the strikes that had taken place in judo, and continued to for some of us, but those are very much like some of the more dirty stick work I learned in lacrosse: itās not cheating if you get away with it, so do whatever you can get away with
Having done karate and boxing for the same period of time, I have to say that a lot of the striking in judo kata is somewhat unrealistic, odd, or esoteric, and seems to also be in line with the ikken hissatsu äøęåæ ę®ŗā philosophy of Japanese karate: āone stike one kill,ā rather than a barrage of blows as in boxing or some forms of kenpo. ā¦.howeverā¦..
While Tenjinshinyo ryu is said to specialize in strikes, it really used atemi waza to disrupt an opponentās balance, and gave judo throws like ippon seoinage, and harai goshi. Both of these throws, and others, have atemi waza inherent to their movement. If youāve learned how to do them from the right person-someone who trained before, during or immediately after WWII, or a teacher who had trained under someone who did, then youāve learned to perform ippon seionage-one armed shoulder throw-with an hiji ate -elbow- to the region of the opponentās liver on the entry for the throw ,rather than simply thrusting the arm under the opponentās arm, harai goshi-hip sweep- with an elbow to the head or throat, rather than the helmet of an armored samurai-or simply enveloping the arm as so many perform it today, and koshi garuma āthe loin wheel-with a percussive to the brachial sinus and/or clavicle, rather than simply wrapping an arm around the shoulders as so many do. As a kid, when I did ippon seionage-and even today-the opponent was getting a belly full of elbow on the way-made him easier to throw, and the referee either didnāt see it ,or didnāt careā¦..there are other strikes, pretty well hidden in other throws. At any rate, not many people are learning judo this way anymore, though you might be surprised by some of the people who haveā¦..
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