A judoka or a judo practitioner can get the best of both sides of battle. If they are pinned down by their enemy they are able to get themselves out of that pickle and strike as easily as they were able to rise and reverse their position. In a few moves, the judoka can turn himself from a victim to attacker.

In training for judo, there isn’t any better way to master the standing techniques and the sacrifice techniques than doing sparring. A judoka needs to master official katas in order for him to move up in his rank. Rank and age is a basis for who a judoka can compete with in official events since there is a level of security that needs to be maintained in this sport. There are specific ages in competition where certain very lethal moves are prohibited unless they are a specific age.

They are after all throwing one another in the air and throwing them on a mat.

They practice by means of having two judokas attack each other but not use their full force. This is called ju renshu. The second way is called kakari geiko where one would be strictly on the defense while the other attacks. It is said that the best training for judo is judo.

A great throw is like a knock out. If a judoka is able to show great superiority the points are higher or he can win that match right there and then. Calculated wit wins over brute force in the way of gentleness.

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Since 1992, when Judo became an official sport event in the Olympic games for women, women from all over the world have trained and fought excellently in this particular field of martial arts and combat sports.

Dutch-born Edith Bosch, is a top Judoka. In the middleweight division, she won the silver medal during the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. She was born in May 31, 1980 and competes in the 70 kg weight division. She also became a world champion in 2005 at the World Judo Championships held in Cairo, Egypt.

The Japanese have, for years, dominated this combat sport and are often the favorite to win gold and silver medals in the Olympics and international Judo competitions. Not only does Japan has a wide roster of male Judo players, but women as well.

Noriko Anno, Ryoko Tani, and Yuki Yokosawa are among these fine Judoka from Japan. Noriko Anno, born in May 23, 1976, won the gold medal in the less than 78kg weight division in the 2004 Olympics held in Athens, Greece. Not only that, she has been a world champion in the same weight division four times.

Ryoko Tani, very popular in Japan, has won two Olympic gold medals in the 48kg weight division. She won during the 2000 Sydney Olympics and in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Yuki Yokosawa, born in 1980, has been a training since she was in elementary school. She won the silver medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics in the less than 52kg weight division.

These women are expected to do very well in the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics.
 

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Tadahiro Nomura could not have escaped the way of gentleness had he wanted to. His grandfather owned a judo dojo and his father was the coach of Shinji Hosokawa who was a former Olympic gold medalist for the sport back in 1984.

He learned judo at the age of six and matured into being a champion throughout his youth. With two mentors to help him improve his natural talent, he was winning competitions and was in no way throwing away his future. He attended college while simultaneously training and competing to stay on top.

He was able to gain his first ticket to the Olympics as an obscure newbie to seeking the gold but was able to win it against Girolamo Giovinazzo.

He went at it again at several other competitions and won his way to the respectable ranks of the best judo. But when he was able to win another gold medal in the 2000 Olympics, he was seen as truly a remarkable athlete.

Had it not been for an injury in 1999 he would have made a third bid at the gold.

He had married a former model Yoko Sakai in 2001. He went back on track winning in competitions such as the 2003 World Judo Championships. But it was only in 2004 against Nestor Khergiani did he get the third gold medal for his division.

Nomura became forever etched in history because of this. He seemed to be on an unofficial retirement until he reemerged with hopes of getting the forth gold medal in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.

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Japan is the birthplace of Judo. It was borne out of the efforts of Kano Jigoro to revive and improve the ancient art of jujitsu. It had gone a long way since then.

The Japanese are known for their various forms of lethal arts. This goes hand in hand with the elegant arts of the geisha. But in the history of Japan there had always been times when tradition had to give way to a new philosophy.

This is how Judo continued to evolve from its deadlier counterpart into the competitive sport that it is today. In the past you only needed seconds to win a match when you pinned someone on the mat. It was because it only took a few seconds for a samurai to take out a blade or a sword to end the life of his opponent.. Nowadays it takes more than 25 seconds for you to secure a win when you have your opponent on the mat.

Like most sports that are borne in an Asian country where the ancient players are vertically challenged, Judo in Japan was more about the ability to outsmart then outbalance the enemy than to strike them down with sheer strength.

As this sport became more popular in other countries, this paved away for changes that more conservative judokas would frown upon. Unfortunately these changes began to be more frequent since the day that Judo because less Japanese meaning that the top judokas from Japan were beaten international judokas.

Although Judo is changing it remains a very exciting sport to learn, play and watch

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The martial art and combat sport Judo is not only participated  by men but by women as well. And as with the men’s division, Japanese women also lead the world in the field of Judo. One of the most popular women Judo athletes is Ryoko Tani.

Ryoko Tani was born in Fukuoka, Japan on September 6, 1965. Her maiden name is Ryoko Tamura. She is more popularly known as “Yawara-chan” which was taken from a character in a Judo manga. In 1990, she won the International Women’s Judo Championships and she has won every year since then.

She has won two gold medals in the Olympic games, one in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the other in the 2004 Athens Olympics, both in the 48kg-category.

In 2003, she got married toYoshitomo Tani, a professional baseball player and also an Olympian. The wedding was a greatly followed by the media, since both of them were famous sports celebrities. Their marriage reception was reported to have cost $3 million.

Tani is extremely famous in Japan with characters in the World Heroes and Fighter’s History action video games based on her. She recently gave birth to her child named, Yoshiaki. The birth became a press event, with media people and cameras waiting to catch a glimpse of her baby.

Depending on her performance in the All-Japan Olympic qualifier and the Rio de Janeiro qualifier, she is looking to compete again in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and possibly win her third Olympic gold medal.

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Tadahiro Nomura is a Japanese world-class Judo athlete and is one of the most popular competitors of the sport. He holds the record of having won three Olympic golds in succession in the extra lightweight division.

He was born in December 10, 1974 Koryo, Nara, Japan. His family was very much involved in Judo. His grandfather was a judo instructor and run a local dojo. His father is the coach of Shinji Hosokawa, a gold medalist at the 1984 Olympics. His uncle, was also a gold medalist at the 1972 Olympics.

At age six, Nomura started training at his grandfather’s dojo. He went on to win competitions during his high school and junior high school years. In 1996, he won in the All-Japan Judo Championship in the -70kg weight class division. This earned him a place in the Japanese team for the 1996 Atlanta, Georgia Olympics. It was there he won his first Olympic gold medal.

In 1997, he won yet again in the All-Japan Judo Championship and also became a gold medalist at the 1997 World Judo Championship in Paris. In 1998, for the third time, he won again in the All-Japan Judo Championship. However, his left knee was injured at the semi-finals of Jigoro Kano Cup which forced him to retire from the competition.

In 2000, he won again in the 2000 Olympics – his second win. And in the 2004 Athens Olympics, he won a gold medal, defeating Nestor Khergiani. This win entered him in the history books as the only Judoka to win three consecutive times in the Olympics.

He has announced his intentions to join again in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

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The martial art and combat sport, Judo, first came into existence in Japan during the late nineteenth century. It was developed by founder, Kano Jigoro from Jujutsu. Judo’s aim is to make the opponent surrender or render him immobilized through grappling techniques, throwing, locking and choking.

There are a variety of techniques used in Judo such as falls, hold downs, chokes, rolls, strikes, but it mainly focuses on throws and groundwork. Throwing techniques are categorized into two: standing technique or tachi-waza and sacrifice techniques or sutemi-waza. Standing techniques are further categorized into hand, hip, foot and leg techniques. Sacrifice techniques are differentiated according to how the thrower falls – whether backwards and on the side.

The groundwork techniques are categorized according to attacks against joint or joint locks, strangleholds or chokeholds, and pinning techniques.

There is also a form of sparring called “randori” which means free practice. Opponents can use any throw or grappling technique against each other. Combat time is divided into two parts – standing and in the ground. This sparring is used to develop full strength, muscles, and the cardio-vascular system. It also helps in improving skills in strategy, reflex and reaction.

In a match, the prime object of Judo is to throw an opponent on his back, pin the opponent to the ground, or force him to submit using chokes, strangles, and armlocks. Any of these scores an “ippon” which will win the match.

There are four types of scores in Judo: ippon, waza-ari, yuko, and koka. A waza-ari is a half point which is gained by a throw without enough strength for an ippon point, or holding the opponent down for twenty seconds. Yuko and koka are used are lower scores and often used only as tie-breakers.

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Judo has been an official event in the Olympic games (men’s division) since 1964. Since then Judo has been one of the watched combat sports and martial arts in the world. Judo means the way of gentlleness and is characterized by throwing, grappling, and choking techniques. It is not an offensive, aggressive sport but rather aims to defeat the opponent through immobilizing him or forcing the opponent to surrender.

Judo originated in Japan so it is no surprise that Japanese judo players – judo players are called Judoka – dominated the international Judo Arena especially in the Olympic games. In the last Olympics, the Japan team won eight gold medals and two silver medals which gave them the lead in the Judo event.

Judoka such as Tadahiro Nomura,  Hiroshi Izumi, Ryoko Tani and others continue to bring honor and glory to their home country. Judo continues to be dominated by Asian Judoka from Japan, China, and South Korea.

However, other Judoka from Mongolia, Estonia, USA, Brazil, Netherlands, Austria, Greece, Russia, Cuba, and Germany also bring forth formidable judo players which continue to challenge the existing champions to be better and better.

China took second place in the Judo event taking five medals: one gold, one silver, three bronze. South Korea won three medals, one each. Germany got four medals – one gold and three bronze. Other top medal winners were Russia, Cuba and Netherlands.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics is nearly at hand. It remains to be seen whether Japan will continue their winning streak in the Judo event or whether China or a non-Asian country will overtake the Japanese Judoka. 

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Judo first started as a full Martial Arts but eventually developed into a popular combat sport. Judo was first scene in the Olympic international scene in 1932 in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic games. Judo founder Kano Jigoro, together with 200 other students, prepared a demonstration.

Judo became an Olympic event in 1964 Tokyo Olympics with only Men Judoka competing. It is a mistake to consider that 1964 games as only a demonstration because according to the International Judo Federation and International Olympic committee, Judo was included as an official sport in the 1964 Olympics.

In 1964, Dutch Anton Geesink defeated Japanese Aiko Kaminaga thereby shattering the stereotype that Judo is only a sport where Japanese excel.

Rusty Kanokogi, an American Judoka, persisted and finally succeeded in making Judo an Olympic sport for women in 1988. It was only a demonstration in 1988, but in the 1992 Olympics, Judo became an official event for women. Also in 1988, Judo became a sport for the visually impaired for the Paralympics. Judo is not only limited to able-bodied individuals but to special individuals as well, it is also a sport in Special Olympics.

Because Judo is a sport excelling in grappling and standing grappling, Judoka are also able to hold their own against athletes of other Martial Arts. Judoka have competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship where athletes of different martial arts pit their skills and techniques against each other. Judoka also participated in a martial arts contest called Pride FC. This has been since defunct.

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What could be cooler than to be able to be a world judo champion and a defending judo Olympic gold medalist? For Ryoko Tani, formerly Tamura, it is having her own family.

She has been there when judo became an official sport in the Olympics; she was able to compete for most of them. She started in 1992 in Barcelona.

She became an icon not just for judo but for the Japanese women as well. They were relatively small by nature but she proved to all her competitors that a Japanese woman can bring down even Mt, Fuji if she wanted to.

She was sixteen year old when she started and although she did not win the gold then she gained the respect of the judo international community. They knew she would come back and get what was hers. She did so in the next four years.

It is ironic that another sixteen year old ended her winning streak. Korean Kye Sun-hi of North Korea was able to bring her down. But she was optimistic and kept a mantra that seemed to say that the only option was to get a gold medal.

And gold medal she did have. She was even able to defend her title in Sydney back in 2000. She became the first judoka to have been able to defend her title when she won against the French Frédérique Jossinet.

With her husband, Yoshitomo Tani, and their baby, Yoshiaki, Ryoko is able to find the strength that she needs yet again dream of gold.

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