Kodokan Judo

Judo was founded in 1882 by a man named Jigoro Kano. He took the theories and principles from the Ju-jitsu he had learned growing up and developed the sport of Kodokan Judo.


In simple terms, Judo is the principle of using an opponent’s strength and movement against themselves. In short, Judo is the scientific art of using a minimum amount of strength to throw an opponent.

Judo’s hierarchical structure and inherent discipline have helped make it a popular activity both as a recreational and competitive sport for men & women, boys and girls. Judo was added to the Olympic Games in 1964 held in Tokyo, Japan. Women’s judo was introduced into the Olympics as a demonstration sport in 1988 with full status in 1992.

There are two major groups of techniques in judo, throwing and grappling. There are many different types of throws and grappling techniques that can be used on an opponent, these techniques are taught to students through belt levels, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown and black.