Beijing 2008 - Quick Guide: Judo by Eurosport - Tue, 22 Jul 11:46:00 2008
The word Judo means "the gentle way" in Japanese and is thought to have derived from jujitsu.
A short history
As far back as the first century, during the dynasty of Chinese emperor Kuang Wu, there are references to the art that would know be described as Judo. The first part of the word, 'ju', means gentleness, and reflects the fact that judo emphasises yielding to an opponent's strength in order to overcome them, rather than attempting to defeat them by force. 'Do' is a Japanese term meaning "the way" and is similar to the Chinese tao.
Over the course of the 19th century, various judo schools began to develop techniques differing from jujitsu. The great practitioner Dr Jigoro Kano (1860-1938) was the first to combine the features of the various schools and codify the rules. He created what became known as Kodokan judo, opening his first school, or dojo, in 1882. Interestingly, Kano was a long-time member of the International Olympic Committee.
The International Judo Federation was not founded until 1951.
The rules of Judo
Men and women now compete in seven weight classes each, the only difference being that men's contests last five minutes while women's contests last only four.
Judoka compete in a single-elimination tournament after being divided into two pools by a draw. One quirk of the system is that two bronze medals are awarded. To determine them, all judoka who lose to one of the two pools' semi-finalists fall into a further single-elimination bracket within the same groups. The winner in each of those groups faces the runner-up of the opposite group in the matches for bronze.
LIST OF EVENTS
+ 100kg (heavyweight) Men
+ 78kg (heavyweight) Women
- 48kg (extra-lightweight) Women
- 60kg (extra-lightweight) Men
48 - 52kg (half-lightweight) Women
52 - 57kg (lightweight) Women
57 - 63kg (half-middleweight) Women
60 - 66kg (half-lightweight) Men
63 - 70kg (middleweight) Women
66 - 73kg (lightweight) Men
70 - 78kg (half-heavyweight) Women
73 - 81kg (half-middleweight) Men
81 - 90kg (middleweight) Men
90 - 100kg (half-heavyweight) Men
Judo at the Olympics
Judo became an Olympic sport in Tokyo, 1964. The host country was allowed to add one sport, and Japan chose judo. Four weight classes were established, and Japanese entries convincingly won three. However, in the open class, there was an upset that shook the very foundations of Judo. A 1.98-metre Dutchman named Anton Geesink defeated three-time Japanese national champion Kaminaga Akio, burying the theory that a skilled judoka could overcome any opponent, regardless of size.
Judo was not included on the programme of the 1968 Olympic Games. However, it returned to the Olympic fold in 1972, and women's judo was added to the programme at Barcelona 1992.
Judoka legends
The sport has traditionally been dominated by the Japanese, the French and the Koreans, although a few notable figures have stood out in recent years.
Ryoko Tamura (a.k.a. "Yawara-chan") dominated the women's judo scene during the 1990s. Only 1.46m tall, Tamura entered the final of the 1996 Olympics with an 84-match winning streak. Incredibly, she was upset in the semis by an unknown from North Korea. Between the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, Tamura again won all of her matches. This time she made no mistake, winning the gold to send her country wild.
David Douillet, Judo's First Heavyweight Triple Medallist, first competed in the Olympics in 1992, earning a bronze medal in judo's heavyweight category. At the Atlanta Games four years later, he achieved gold. Shortly after the 1996 Olympics, Douillet was seriously injured in a motorbike accident. He battled against the odds to compete in the Sydney Olympics, where he again won the gold medal, this time with a controversial victory in the final over Shinichi Shinohara.
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