Judo Judo powerhouse France has a competitor population that is “more than four times that of Japan，” leading to growing “dissatisfaction” with the internationalization of judo．．．experts call for “the introduction of a challenge system．”
Continued from Part 1: “Why did he lose by disqualification even though he was attacking?” Judo at the Paris Olympics sparks a series of controversies… Japanese people feel uncomfortable about “judo” Judo at the Paris Olympics took place from July 28th to August 3rd. It is still fresh in our memory that at that time, there was a flood of dissenting opinions online following the matches in which Hashimoto Soichi in the men’s 73 kg class and Murao Sanshiro in the men’s 90 kg class were defeated. (Part 2 of 2) On social media sites such as X, there was a constant stream of comments pointing out that the “judo” that Japanese people think of is very different from the “judo” that was performed at the Paris Olympics. Why did judo become judo? Ironically, one of the reasons for this is that judo is popular with people all over the world. The International Judo Federation (IJF) has over 200 member countries. There are many different data points regarding the number of players, but the prevailing estimate is that there are 20 million players worldwide, with 2 million in Brazil, 560,000 in France, 150,000 in Germany, and 120,000 in Japan. Sports sociologist Noriko Mizoguchi is known for winning a silver medal in the women’s 52 kg judo event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Mizoguchi has experience as the French national judo coach and is well versed in the differences between judo and judo. “We in the Japanese judo community feel a sense of shame, but the number of athletes in Japan is smaller than those in Brazil and France. Because of this, Europe is taking the lead in changing the rules of judo. In addition, the fact that many Japanese people only watch judo at the Olympic Games, which are held once every four years, also has an influence. Judo rules are revised frequently, making it difficult for even us experts to keep up with them. Viewers who had not watched a single international judo match for four years will suddenly be watching judo based on the latest rules at the Olympics. “It’s only natural that many people are confused,” said Mizoguchi. Experts’ views on the fighting There are also misunderstandings. For example, in X, “Judo is all about fighting with each other, which feels really strange. There is a noticeable criticism that it is “too different from traditional judo,” but this is not true. “In fact, in the days of Jujitsu, an ancient Japanese martial art, kumite was called ’atemi waza’ and literally involved punching each other. As Jigoro Kano reinterpreted jujutsu as judo, he created the three categories of “throwing techniques,” “grabbing techniques,” and “attemi-waza.” However, he banned the “attemi-waza,” which is part of the fighting, because it was dangerous, and the non-dangerous parts became the prototype for kumite. “The grip fight is the basis of judo, and we experts don’t feel anything strange when we watch the grip fights at the Paris Olympics,” said Mizoguchi. Perhaps the fact that many people take judo classes in junior high and high school also has an impact on the Japanese view of judo. During the Showa era, judo or kendo were basically compulsory subjects for male high school students. The era changed to Heisei, and from 2012 martial arts became a compulsory subject for boys and girls in their first and second years of junior high school. Students had to choose from judo, kendo, kyudo, karate, etc. In educational settings, judo practice often begins with gripping the opponents’ hands. Furthermore, it is unlikely that grappling will be taught in judo classes. “Many of you may have learned in class that there is a right grip and a left grip in kumite. However, in today’s competitive situations, it is common for players to flexibly choose to go to the right or left while watching the opponent’s movements. In particular, the cross grip, in which right and left are not decided from the start, is a fighting technique that originated in Europe, but Japanese fighters have also adopted it to compete and have further developed it. Today’s fighting is becoming more and more sophisticated.” (Mizoguchi) Read more in the source.
>>1 Judo is Japan’s specialty, but judo is France’s specialty Japan needs to acknowledge that… but if they want to stick to judo as a martial art, that’s fine.
The first thing we need to do is work hard to popularize it within Japan. They take advantage of the fact that it has been adopted as a school physical education program and are resting on their laurels. It is now a minor sport in Japan.
>>7 I’m actually wondering if they haven’t done it yet. In Japan, there is a high rate of fatal injuries to children in judo, but it seems like that’s unheard of in Europe. Plus, in France, judo coaches are nationally qualified, so they’re clearly on a higher level.
It’s a mistake to think that just because judo originated from judo, the rules will also apply to judo. When internationalized, it’s only natural that the rules will change to suit the whole world.
I think it would be better if Japan cut ties with judo, didn’t participate in the Olympics, and held its own world championships, but I guess that’s not going to happen that easily.
The IJF has frequently revised its rules, with the aim of “fully emphasizing ippon victory as the appeal of judo.” This is probably true, and that’s why Lineal has started to show off a lot of skills though the 2010s were a bit of a mess.
All Japan needs to do is field strong athletes in the heavyweight division, which is the highlight of judo, you idiot. The problem is that Japan calls itself the home country of judo, yet only has weak athletes in the most important weight classes.
The piggyback ride that rolled Hifumi around was only possible because of the speed and explosiveness that only black athletes have. I don’t think an ordinary person would be able to react to it.
Well, France wasn’t particularly strong like Japan in Athens or Tokyo, so it’s good to have a wide variety of players. Russia wasn’t there this time, but if you add in the other former Soviet countries, they were ranked higher than Japan and France, which was interesting.
>>29 France has been steadily increasing its medal total, but in terms of gold medals, it would be more accurate to say that this tournament was a counterattack by judokas from Eastern Europe and Central Asia who responded to the rule changes and struck back at the Japanese.
> It can be said that the grip fight is the basis of judo, and we experts don’t feel anything strange when we see the grip fights at the Paris Olympics.
The criticism that they’re only doing grips, that’s not judo, it’s judo! gives me a headache.
It seems like the country is becoming like England of the past, where the country was stuck to primitive football and couldn’t compete with modern football.
But even so, it can’t be helped that Japanese judokas won’t participate or don’t want to because they think it’s not judo.
To put it in an extremely rude way, judo or judo doesn’t matter, it’s just the Japanese athletes who have participated in the Olympics too much, want medals too much, want gold medals too much, and are drooling over the Olympics.
Even if you complain in that situation, it’s not judo, so there’s nothing you can do.
This is a problem that goes beyond the challenge system: Don’t put inexperienced referees on the big stage in order to even out the gender balance of referees. There should be clear judge rankings based on testing and experience, and judges should be properly penalized after making a mistake. Why is someone who made a mistake still umpiring the next day?
Other countries see it as a sport, and Japan sees it as a spiritual foundation. The only way to make it healthy is to split it into the All Japan Judo Federation and the New Japan Judo Federation and start sports judo.
It’s too late after deaths and injuries occur. This year, even police officers have died. Judo is something that anyone who likes should do. It’s not a sport that you should be forced to do.
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