What is judo?
Judo (or the “gentle way” in Japanese) was created in 1882 by Jigorō KANŌ in Japan as a physical, mental and moral pedagogy. Judo is a modern martial art, a combat sport and an Olympic sport.
At its simplest, judo is fundamentally Japanese hand-to-hand combat whose main objectives and characteristics include takedowns, ground fighting, pins, arm bars and chokes.
Strikes (fists, feet, etc.) and weapons are also part of judo, but only in its prearranged form (or kata) and are not allowed in competition judo.
Judo is also one of the most effective forms of self-defence because of its focus on close quarter combat and its use of techniques to counter kicks and punches.
Finally, UNESCO declared judo as the best initial training for children and young people between the ages of 4 and 21, as it allows for a complete physical education with emphasis on all of the following psychomotor aspects:
- Spatial location, perspective, ambidexterity, laterality, throwing, pushing, crawling, jumping, rolling, falling, independent joint coordination of hands and feet, etc.;
- The relationship with others, using play, opposition games and sparring as a dynamic integrating element to introduce both adaptable techniques and tactics; and
- General physical fitness.
Chikara Judo Club Program
Chikara is characterized by its practice of technical, open and inclusive judo:
- Technical: The mastery of a wide range of techniques is carried out by repetition and adaptation to various judoka body types. Since Chikara does not focus solely on competition, a wide variety of techniques are taught in our classes. In addition to the various techniques, sparring (randoris) and self-defence techniques complement our classes;
- Open: Since Chikara focuses on technical mastery, the School is open to techniques from elsewhere, i.e., from other judo dojos through visitors from other schools, or in connection with other related martial arts, such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ), traditional jiu-jitsu or aikido, or even contact sports such as karate, kickboxing or taekwon-do. BJJ is heavily leveraged for ground work (ne-waza); and
- Inclusive: Chikara has always been an inclusive judo school: Competitors and non-competitors are all welcome. The camaraderie and the friendship are at the base of the practice of judo within the School. For example, the School closed for several years, but Chikara judokas have never lost sight of each other and have always worked actively for its reopening.
