The Langley Judo Club

JUDO (柔道, jūdō), meaning "gentle way", is a modern Japanese martial art and combat sport, that originated in Japan in the late nineteenth century. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an opponent to submit by joint locking the elbow or by applying a choke.

Judo was formulated as a new system of bare-handed fighting in 1882 by Professor Jigoro Kano, a student of ju-jitsu who founded the Kodokan Judo Institute in Tokyo. Judo utilizes the very best of the ju-jitsu techniques, eliminating the harmful ones and modifying others so that they can be practised safely. It exercises a benign effect on all the faculties of the student (young and old), and in emergencies can be used for self-defence.

In a narrow sense, judo can be defined as the study of the maximum use of the body and mind for the purpose of attack and defence. In a wider sense, the principles of judo can be applied to all affairs of life. The ultimate objective of judo is the perfection of one's self by the systematic training of the mind and body through exercise so that each works in harmony with the other.