Students were able to experience the gentle martial art of judo with the first Japanese-themed event of International Week.
The Judo Club held a demonstration and match on Tuesday, Nov. 12 in room 150 of the Kinesiology and Health Building. According to the club’s director and physics instructor, Dr. Sanichiro Yoshida, this is the first time a judo match and demonstration has been held on campus.
Yoshida shared the history of the martial art and Olympic sport, which dates back to the late 19th century.
“Judo was invented by Jigoro Kano in Japan,” said Yoshida. “He changed the ancient jujutsu to make it more philosophical, more of a way of life. He was also a professor at the University of Japan. He was a scholar and would not allow his students to use judo for street-fighting, or else they would be kicked out. He also opened a school for judo, called the Kodokan [Judo Institute].”
Judo is mainly about forcing an opponent to the ground, usually by throwing. Actually striking or harming an opponent is not permitted. There is also an emphasis on respect, as the opponents have to bow to each other before and after each match.
The demonstration itself began with all the members of the club stretching and doing some warm up exercises. After that, club members Sean Craft and David Simon led student volunteers onto the mat to demonstrate a few basic judo techniques.
After the demonstration, the club put on a match to display more advanced judo techniques, sparring two at a time.
“It was good,” said Rabin Pun, a senior computer science major who volunteered to partake in the demonstration. “I came here just to see, but I got to demonstrate myself. I liked that.”
Even those who chose not to participate in the demonstration were impressed with it.
“I thought it was really cool,” said Justin Kass, a freshman computer science major. “[It’s] basically like what I did in high school, which was wrestling. It’s similar to it, except here you use the entire body.”
Though the event had sparse attendance, the few who came were overall impressed with the prowess of the Judo Club.