The Genius of Kano
The biggest genius of Kano, I think, was that he could make a more effective martial art by removing the most lethal/damaging techniques. The eye gouge is an amazingly effective way to end a fight, sure, but you only get to practice it at most two times with your partner - and even then you have to be pretty persuasive to get that second rep in. You can fake it - go right up to the point of gouging the eye - but because you can't practice an eye gouge in a live situation, your ability to pull one off in a real confrontation would be in question. So Kano took those techniques that he felt could not be safely executed in a live situation, and he gave them the boot. Striking? You can only kick someone in the face but so many times before they want to stop playing with you (and by the way, stop saying that Judo has atemi waza... the Nage No Kata head bop is a useful training tool, but it isn't meant to teach people how to strike). Neck breaks? Only 1 rep per partner. Gone. And on down the list.
What you are then left with is a martial art where you can go all out with your full range of techniques (or, in the case of submissions, until they tap, and you simply have to disregard the tap to finish the technique). Now, you can attempt to apply your knowledge against a resisting, moving, and attacking opponent, without fear of breaking him or her. And by getting to practice in this live situation (aka, Randori) over and over and over again, you are now much more likely to be able to apply your knowledge in a "real" encounter. So by taking out the "effective" techniques, Kano made Judo more effective. Genius!
As a quick side note, I have always wondered why he took out leg locks. BJJ has shown that leg locks can be practiced safely, similar to how we practice arm locks... Anybody know the answer?
As another side note, Sensei Kano, in addition to being Genius, was also Really Smart. He was a brilliant marketer. He took the time to create this nifty new art, but it could have easily died on the vine, like so many other great ideas. But he was able to get his message out effectively by working with the Tokyo Police, using his position with the Japanese Ministry of Education (and how awesome would it be if we could get Judo included in PE curricula in the US?), working to get Judo into the Olympics, and sending his top students to be Judo emissaries around the world. And there is probably more, but I just don't know about it. Anyway, the existence of Judo today owes itself to both Dr. Kano's genius and his cleverness. It's pretty rare to find someone who has both...
5 comments:
It is a myth that judo was created in a day in August, 1882. It took Kano-sensei about 30 years to do it. That being said, it was IMO, done right. He first had to remove layers of 1200 years of koryu ju-jutsu and keep what he believed was within his vision of judo.
His genius was in the fact that he knew that judo would not evolve in a day or even in a year.
BTW, he may very well have been the most educated Japanese person of his day. He spoke fluent English, French, Dutch, German, and had very good basic knollege in Spanish, Portugese, Greek, Italian and the four main dialects of Chinese.
They say there's a thin line between genius and insanity - and none of us are on that line!
So you're saying that I am well into the "genius" part?
Of course, Chad, because you seem to be able to understand some of what I say, you have to be on the genius-side of the line with me!
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