History as a Sport

When Dr. Jigoro Kano established the Tokyo-based Kodokan Judo Institute in 1882, it marked the birth of the Judo system. Dr. Kano conducted a study on ancient self-defense forms and incorporated the best of his findings into the sport of Kodokan Judo. The professor stressed the importance of mental conditioning and its integral pairing with proper physical training.

Dr. Kano’s fundamental philosophy proved to be far more superior to those of the old Jujitsu schools, enabling Judo to gain immense popularity that time and centuries after. The United States of America was first exposed to the sport when a certain Mr. Yamashita visited the country and gave demonstrations and lessons to selected students, including then-President Theodore Roosevelt. Dr. Kano’s subsequent visit to the U.S. in 1932 paved way to the sport’s acceptance by the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States in 1952.

In 1964, Judo’s status as a sport in world history was cemented when it was formally introduced into the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Coincidental, huh? Judo and Volleyball were two famous sports in Japan that debuted during the 1964 Olympics.