Keeping the tradition alive

​Judo was created by Professor Jigoro Kano In 1882. He founded the Kodokan Judo Institute in Tokyo where he began teaching Judo. The name Judo was chosen because it means the "gentle or yielding way". Kano emphasised the larger educational value of training in attack and defence so that it could be a path or way of life that all people could participate in and benefit from. The popularity of Judo increased dramatically after a famous contest hosted by the Tokyo Police in 1886 where the Judo team defeated the most well-known jujutsu schools of the time. Judo is many things to different people. It is a fun sport, an art, a discipline, a recreational or social activity, a fitness program, a means of self-defence or combat, and a way of life. It is all of these and more.