Jigoro Kano
From Wikipedia
(9/02/08, updated 12/1/12)
Abridged by J.
Wunderlich for his Elizabethtown College FYS course “Scientific
Modeling for Sport”
(with important
concepts underlined for students)
|
|
Jigoro Kano (1860–1938) was the founder of judo.
Mottoes attributed to Kano include "Maximum
Efficiency with Minimum Effort" and "Mutual Welfare and Benefit." Kano was an educator.
Important postings included serving as director of primary education for the Ministry of
Education, and as president of Tokyo Higher Normal School.[1]
He played a key role in getting judo and kendo made part of the
Japanese public school programs of the 1910s. Kano was also a
pioneer of international sports. Accomplishments included being the first Asian member
of the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) (he served from 1909
until 1938);
officially representing Japan at most Olympic Games held between 1912 and 1936; and serving as a
leading spokesman for Japan's bid for the 1940 Olympic Games.
Kano's father was a great believer in the power of education, and he
provided Jigoro, his third son, with an excellent education. In 1874 he was
sent to a private school run by Europeans to improve his English and German
skills.[3] At the time Kano stood 5 feet 2 inches but
weighed only 90 pounds. He wished he were stronger.[5] One day, Nakai Baisei (a friend of the family who
was a member of the shogun's
guard), mentioned that jujutsu was an excellent form of physical training. He then
showed Kano a few techniques by which a
smaller man might overcome a larger and stronger opponent. Kano decided he wanted to learn the art
despite Nakai's insistence that such training was out of date and somewhat
dangerous. Kano's father also
discouraged him from jujutsu, telling him to pursue a modern sport
instead.[6]
When Kano attended the Tokyo Imperial University in 1877, he started
looking for jujutsu teachers.[7]
He did this by first looking for bonesetters,
called seifukushi. His assumption was that doctors knew who the better
martial art teachers were. Fukuda Hachinosuke, a bonesetter, taught in a 10-mat
room adjacent to his practice. Fukuda's training method consisted mostly of the
student taking fall after fall for the teacher or senior student until he began
to understand the mechanics of the technique. Fukuda stressed applied technique
over ritual form. He gave beginners a short description of the technique and
then had them engage in free practice
(randori) in order to teach through
experience. It was only after the student had attained some proficiency
that he taught them traditional forms (kata). Kano had trouble defeating Fukushima
Kanekichi, who was one of his seniors at the school. Therefore, Kano started
trying unfamiliar techniques on his rival. He first tried techniques from sumo. When these did not
help, he studied more, and tried a technique ("fireman's carry") that
he learned from a book on western wrestling.
This worked, and kataguruma, or "shoulder wheel",
remains part of the judo repertoire.[10]
On 5 August
1879, Kano participated in
a jujutsu demonstration given for former United States president Ulysses S.
Grant. Other people involved in this demonstration included the
jujutsu teachers Fukuda Hachinosuke and Iso Masatomo, and Kano's training
partner Godai Ryusaku.[11][12] Unfortunately, Fukuda died soon after this
demonstration. Kano then began studying with Iso, who had been a friend of
Fukuda. Despite being 62 years old and only standing 5 feet tall, Iso's jujutsu
training had given him a powerful build. He was known for excellence in kata.
In Iso's method, one began with kata
and then progressed to free fighting (randori). While under
Iso's tutelage, Kano witnessed a demonstration by the jujutsu teacher Totsuka
Hikosuke and later took part in randori with members of Totsuka's school.[13] Kano was impressed and realized that he might never be able to beat someone as talented as
Totsuka simply by training harder: he also needed to train smarter. It
was this experience that first led Kano to believe that to be truly superior,
one needed to combine the best elements of several schools of jujutsu. Toward
this end, he began to seek teachers who could provide him with superior
elements of jujutsu that he could adopt.
During the early 1880s, there was no clear
separation between the jujutsu that Kano was teaching and the jujutsu that his
teachers had taught in the past. Indeed, Kano's teacher, Iikubo Tsunetoshi,
came to Kano's classes two or three times a week to support Kano's teaching.[8][9] However, there eventually came the day when student
and master began to exchange places, and Kano began to defeat Iikubo during randori:[14] “Usually it had been him
that threw me. Now, instead of being thrown, I was throwing him with increasing
regularity. I could do this despite the fact that he was of the Kito-ryu school
and was especially adept at throwing techniques. This apparently surprised him,
and he was quite upset over it for quite a while. What I had done was quite
unusual. But it was the result of my study of how to break the posture of the opponent. It
was true that I had been studying the problem for quite some time, together
with that of reading the opponent's motion. But it was here that I first tried
to apply thoroughly the principle of breaking the opponent's posture before
moving in for the throw...” I told Mr. Iikubo about this, explaining that the
throw should be applied after one has broken the opponent's posture. Then he
said to me: "This is right. I am afraid I have nothing more to teach
you."
To name his system, Kano revived a
term that Terada Kan'emon, had adopted when he founded his own style, the
Jikishin-ryū: "jūdō". The name combined the
characters jū,
meaning "pliancy", and dō, which is
literally "The Way".
Initially, Kano borrowed ideas from everywhere. As he wrote in 1898: "By taking together all
the good points I had learned of the various schools and adding thereto my own
inventions and discoveries, I devised a new system for physical culture and
moral training as well as for winning contests."[5]
Kano also oversaw the development and growth of his judo organization, the Kodokan.
This was a remarkable effort in itself, as the Kodokan's enrollment grew from
fewer than a dozen students in 1882 to more than a thousand dan-graded
members by 1911.[17]
On 18 April
1888, Kano and Reverend
Thomas Lindsay presented a lecture called "Jiujitsu: The Old Samurai Art
of Fighting without Weapons" to the Asiatic Society of Japan. This lecture
took place at the British Embassy in Tokyo. Its theme was that the main
principle of judo involved gaining
victory by yielding to strength.[26]
Being an idealist, Kano had broad aims for judo, which he saw as something
that simultaneously encompassed
self-defense, physical culture, and moral behavior.[27] “Since the very
beginning, I had been categorizing Judo into three parts, rentai-ho, shobu-ho,
and shushin-ho. Rentai-ho refers to Judo as a physical exercise, while shobu-ho is Judo as a martial art. Shushin-ho is the
cultivation of wisdom and virtue
as well as the study and application of the principles of Judo in our daily
lives. I therefore anticipated that practitioners would develop their bodies in
an ideal manner, to be outstanding in matches, and also to improve their wisdom
and virtue and make the spirit of Judo live in their daily lives. If we
consider Judo first as a physical exercise, we should remember that our bodies should not be stiff, but free,
quick and strong. We should be able to move properly in response to our
opponent's unexpected attacks. We should also not forget to make full use of
every opportunity during our practice to improve our wisdom and virtue. These
are the ideal principles of my Judo.”
In 1915, Kano gave this definition to judo:[28] “Judo is the way of the
highest or most efficient use of both physical and mental energy. Through training
in the attack and defense techniques of judo, the practitioner nurtures their
physical and mental strength, and gradually embodies the essence of the Way of
Judo. Thus, the ultimate objective of
Judo discipline is to be utilized as a means to self-perfection, and
thenceforth to make a positive contribution to society.”
In 1918, Kano added:[29] “Don't think about what
to do after you become strong -- I have repeatedly stressed that the ultimate
goal of Judo is to perfect the self, and to make a contribution to society. In
the old days, Jūjutsu
practitioners focused their efforts on becoming strong, and did not give too
much consideration to how they could put that strength to use. Similarly, Judo
practitioners of today do not make sufficient efforts to understand the
ultimate objective of Judo. Too much emphasis is placed on the process rather
than the objective, and many only desire to become strong and be able to defeat
their opponents. Of course, I am not negating the importance of wanting to
become strong or skilled. However, it must be remembered that this is just part
of the process for a greater objective... The
worth of all people is dependent on how they spend their life making
contributions.”
During 1922
Kano brought all this to fruition through the introduction of the Kodokan
Bunkakai, or Kodokan Cultural Association. This organization held its first
meeting, and held its first public lecture three days later at the YMCA hall in
Kanda. The mottoes of the Kodokan Cultural Association were "Good Use of Spiritual and Physical Strength" and
"Prospering in Common for Oneself and
Others." Although those are literal translations, the phrases were usually
translated into English as "Maximum Efficiency with Minimum Effort"
and "Mutual Welfare and Benefit." The theories of this organization
were described in some detail in an article published in Living Age in
September 1922.[30] “The purpose of my talk is to treat of judo
as a culture: physical, mental, and moral, -- but as it is based on the art of
attack and defense, I shall first explain what this judo of the contest
is… A main feature of the art is the
application of the principles of non-resistance and taking advantage of the opponent's
loss of equilibrium; hence the
name jujutsu (literally soft or gentle art), or judo (doctrine of softness or
gentleness)......of the principle of the Maximum Efficiency in Use of Mind and
Body. On this principle the whole fabric of the art and science of judo is
constructed. Judo is taught under two methods, one called randori, and the
other kata. Randori, or Free Exercise, is practiced under conditions of actual
contest. It includes throwing, choking, holding down, and bending or twisting
the opponent's arms or legs. The combatants may use whatever tricks they like,
provided they do not hurt each other, and obey the general rules of judo
etiquette. Kata, which literally means Form, is a formal system of prearranged
exercises, including, besides the aforementioned actions, hitting and kicking
and the use of weapons, according to rules under which each combatant knows
beforehand exactly what his opponent is going to do. The use of weapons and
hitting and kicking is taught in kata and not in randori, because if these
practices were resorted to in randori injury might well arise...As to the moral
phase of judo, -- not to speak of the discipline of the exercise room involving
the observance of the regular rules of etiquette, courage, and perseverance, kindness
to and respect for others, impartiality and fair play so much emphasized in Western athletic
training, -- judo has special importance in Japan...”
Although Kano promoted judo whenever he could, he earned his living as an
educator. Kano entered Tokyo Imperial University during June 1881. He majored
in political science and economics,
which at that time were taught by the
Department of Aesthetics and Morals. He graduated in 1882, and the
following month he began work as a professor, fourth class, at the Gakushuin,
or Peers School, in Tokyo.[31] In 1883, Kano was appointed professor of economics
at Komaba Agricultural College (now the Faculty of Agriculture at University of
Tokyo), but 1885, he returned to Gakushuin, with the position of principal.[31] In 1891, Kano was appointed to a position at the
Ministry of Education. In 1891 he gave up this position to become a dean
at the Fifth Higher Normal School (present-day Kumamoto University). Around this same time, Kano
married. His wife, Sumako Takezoe, was the daughter of a former Japanese
ambassador to Korea.
Eventually, the couple had six daughters and three sons.[32][33] During 1892, Kano went to Shanghai
to help establish a program that would allow Chinese students to study in
Japan. Kano revisited Shanghai during 1905, 1915, and 1921.[34] In 1898, Kano was appointed director of primary
education at the Ministry of Education, and in 1899, he received a grant that
allowed him to study in Europe.
Considering that he majored in political science and economics, Kano's family
thought that after graduating from university, he would pursue a career in some
government ministry. Indeed, through influential friends of his father's, he
was initially offered a position with the Ministry of Finance. However, his
love for teaching led him instead to accept a position teaching at Gakushuin.
The students of Japan's elite attended Gakushuin and were of higher social
positions than their teachers. The students were allowed to ride in rickshaws
(jinrikisha) right to the doors of the classes, whereas teachers were
forbidden. The teachers often felt compelled to visit the homes of these
students whenever summoned to give instruction or advice. In effect, the
teachers were treated as servants.[6] Kano believed this to be unacceptable. He refused to
play such a subservient role when teaching his students. To Kano, a teacher must command respect. At the same time, he
employed the latest European and American pedagogical methods. The theories
of the American educator John Dewey especially influenced him.[37] Kano's manner had the desired effect upon the students,
but the administration was slower to warm to his methods and it was not until
the arrival of a new principal that Kano's ideas found acceptance.[6] All this is to say that Kano's educational
philosophy was a combination of both traditional Japanese neo-Confucianism and
contemporary European and American philosophies, to include Instrumentalism,
Utilitarianism,
and "evolutionary progressivism", as Social
Darwinism was then known.
The goals of Kano's educational philosophies and methods (indeed, the goals
of most Japanese educational programs of the early 20th century) were to 1) develop minds, bodies, and spirits in
equal proportion, 2) increase patriotism and loyalty, especially to the Emperor,
3) teach public morality, and
4) increase physical strength and
stamina, especially for the purpose of making young men more fit for
military service.[38] Calisthenics, especially as done in the huge
formations favored at the time, could be boring, and at the high school and
college levels, games such as baseball and rugby
were more often spectator sports than a practical source of
physical exercise for the masses. Moreover, at elite levels, baseball,
football, and even judo did not put much emphasis on moral or intellectual
development. Instead, elite coaches and athletes tended to emphasize winning,
at almost any cost.[39] For Kano, the answer to this connundrum was one
word: judo. Not judo in the sense of simply throwing other people around, and definitely not judo in the sense of
winning at any cost. Instead, it was judo in the sense of "Maximum
Efficiency with Minimum Effort" and "Mutual Welfare and
Benefit." Or, as Kano himself put it to a reporter in 1938: "When
yielding is the highest efficient use of energy, then yielding is judo."[40]
From 1931 to
1938, he was also one of the leading international spokesmen in Japan's bid for
the 1940 Olympics.[34][43] Kano's chief goal in all this was, in his words,“to gather
people together for a common cause, with friendly feeling.”[44]
His goals did not, however, particularly involve getting judo into the
Olympics:[45] “I have been asked by
people of various sections as to the wisdom and the possibility of Judo being
introduced at the Olympic Games. My view on the matter, at present, is rather passive.
If it be the desire of other member countries, I have no objection. But I do
not feel inclined to take any initiative. For one thing, Judo in reality is not a mere sport or game. I
regard it as a principle of life, art and science. In fact, it is a means for
personal cultural attainment. Only one of the forms of Judo training,
the so-called randori can be classed as a form of sport... [In addition, the]
Olympic Games are so strongly flavoured with nationalism that it is possible to
be influenced by it and to develop Contest Judo as a retrograde form as Jujitsu
was before the Kodokan was founded. Judo should be as free as art and science
from external influences -- political, national, racial, financial or any other
organized interest. And all things connected with it should be directed to its
ultimate object, the benefit of humanity.”
In 1964, judo was introduced as an Olympic sport in the Tokyo
Olympics, and was reintroduced at the Munich
Olympics in 1972. Kano's posthumous reputation was therefore
assured. Nonetheless, his true legacy was his idealism. As Kano said in a
speech given in 1934,[8][9] "Nothing under the sun is greater than
education. By educating one person and sending him into the society of
his generation, we make a contribution extending a hundred generations to
come."
Published works
Kano, Jigoro. (October 1898 - December 1903). Kokushi.
Lindsay, Thomas and Kano, Jigoro. (1889, 1915
reprint). "The Old Samurai Art of Fighting without Weapons", Transactions
of the Asiatic Society of Japan, XVI, Pt II, pp. 202-217.[14]
Kano, Jigoro. (Jan. 1915 - December 1918). Jūdō.
Kano, Jigoro. (1922). "Jiudo: The Japanese Art
of Self Defence", Living Age, 314, pp. 724-731.[15]
Kano, Jigoro. (1932). "The Contribution of
Jiudo to Education", Journal of Health and Physical Education, 3, pp.
37-40, 58 (originally a lecture given at the University of Southern California
on the occasion of the Xth Olympiad).[16]
Kano, Jigoro. (1934). "Principles of Judo and
Their Applications to All Phases of Human Activity", unpublished lecture
given at the Parnassus Society, Athens, Greece, on 5 June
1934, reprinted as
"Principles of Judo" in Budokwai Quarterly Bulletin, April
1948, pp. 37-42.[17]
Kano,
Jigoro. (1936). "Olympic Games and Japan", Dai Nippon, pp.
197-199. In Thomas A. Green and Joseph R. Svinth, eds., Martial Arts in the
Modern World. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood, 2003, pp. 167-172.
Kano, Jigoro. (1937). Judo (jujutsu) by Prof.
Jigorō Kanō. Tokyo: Board of Tourist Industry, Japanese Government Railways.
Kano, Jigoro. (1937). "Jujutsu and Judo; What
Are They?" Tokyo: Kodokwan.
Kano, Jigoro. (Undated.) Jujutsu Becomes Judo.[18]
Kano, Jigoro. (1972). Kanō Jigorō,
watakushi no shōgai to jūdō. Tokyo: Shin Jinbutsu Oraisha.
Kano, Jigoro. (1981). Kanō Jigorō no
kyōiku to shisō. Publication data unknown.
Kano, Jigoro. (1983). Kanō Jigorō
chosakushū. Tokyo: Gogatsu Shobo.
Kano, Jigoro. (1986). Kodokan judo/Jigoro Kano;
edited under the supervision of the Kodokan Editorial Committee. Tokyo and
New York: Kodansha International.
Kano, Jigoro. (1995). Kanō Jigorō
taikei/kanshū Kōdōkan. Tokyo: Hon no Tomosha.
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1.
^ Strictly speaking, the name
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2.
^ Judo founder named 1st member of IJF
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3.
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^ Naoki,
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^ a b Kano, Risei
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^ a b c d Watson,
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^ The Father of Judo: A
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^ a b c d Adams,
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^ "Japan Times" (April 18,
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^ Waterhouse, David
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^ Baelz,
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^ According to data presented
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18.
^ Japan Times, March 30,
1913; see also Kodokan.
19.
^ Abel, Laszlo. "The Meiji
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^ Muromoto, Wayne. "Judo's
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^ Holmes, Ben. "Shiro
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22.
^ a b For dates, see
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23.
^ Japan Times, March 30,
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24.
^ Harrison, E.J. The
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^ Japan Times, March 23,
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^ Lindsay, Thomas and Kano,
Jigoro. "The Old Samurai Art of Fighting without Weapons", Transactions
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202-217,[6]
27.
^ Kano, Jigoro. "The Life
of Jigoro Kano". Reprinted in AikiNews, 85, 1990.[7]
28.
^ Murata, Naoki. "From
'Jutsu to Dō: The Birth of Kōdōkan Judo." In Alexander
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29.
^ Murata, Naoki. "From
'Jutsu to Dō: The Birth of Kōdōkan Judo." In Alexander
Bennett, ed., Budo Perspectives. Auckland: Kendo World, 2005, p. 150.
30.
^ Kano, Jigoro. "The
Contribution of Jiudo [sic] to Education", Journal of Health and
Physical Education, 3, 1932, pp. 37-40, 58.[8]
31.
^ a b Anonymous
(Henri Plée, ed.) (1950). "Life and Death of Professor Kano". Judo
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^ a b Ishikawa,
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33.
^ Japan Times, July 7,
1914.
34.
^ a b Svinth, Joseph
R. "Fulfilling His Duty as a Member: Jigoro Kano and the Japanese Bid for
the 1940 Olympics."[9]
35.
^ Kano Sensei Denki Kai (Kano
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36.
^ Japan Times, January 12,
1920; Japan Times, January 15,
1920; Japan Times, January 17,
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37.
^ Dewey visited the Kodokan on 31 March
1919. For Dewey's thoughts
on Kano's methods, see John Dewey and Alice Chipman Dewey, Letters from
China and Japan, edited by Evelyn Dewey (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1920), pp.
93-94.
38.
^ Amano, Ikuo, Education and
Examination in Modern Japan, translated by William K. Cummings and Fumiko
Cummings (Tokyo: University of Tokyo, 1990), pp. 71-81 and Harries, Meirion and
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^ Japan Times, August
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^ Japan Times, May 17,
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^ Guttman, Allen. The
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^ Kano, Jigoro. "Olympic
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43.
^ Svinth, Joseph R.
"Jigoro Kano in North America", The Kano Society.[10]
44.
^ Kano, Jigoro. "Olympic
Games and Japan," Dai Nippon, 1936, p. 199.
45.
^ Brousse, Michel and
Matsumoto, David. Judo in the U.S.: A Century of Dedication. Berkeley,
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46.
^ Letters from Sarah Mayer to
Gunji Koizumi, annotated by Joseph R. Svinth.[11][12]
47.
^ Knego, Peter. "MV HIKAWA MARU (1930)".
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48.
^ Japan Times, May 7, 1938.
49.
^ Hirasawa, K. "The Death
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^ Stephens, John Three Budo
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