ANCIENT ORIGINS

WHEN TO YIELD IS TO WIN

Judo means "gentle way" in Japanese. Derived from jujitsu, the combat skill of Samurai warriors, judo stands apart from other Olympic combat sports in that it holds up yielding as strength, teaching fighters to bend like the bamboo before hitting back. Dr Jigoro Kano established the Kodokan Judo school of martial arts in the late 19th century to stem the decline of combat teachings. He based his new skill on a weight and momentum, the aim of his combat to break an opponent's posture, throw him and hold him.

Judo soon spread to Europe and was practised by gendarmes at training school in Paris as early as 1902. The International Judo Federation was not formed until 1951, however, and the first world title was fought for in 1956, eight years before judo's Olympic debut, fittingly in Tokyo. Today, judo is played in thousands of clubs, associations and schools across the world.