fug
12-01-2003, 01:00 PM
This article is partly about Judo and aging, Pat
http://www.judoinfo.com/draeger.htm
Judo, as a classical budo, or martial "way", of Japan, was intended by its founder, Jigoro Kano, to be less martial and to be rather a vehicle for the spiritual and physical development of man; it was deliberately designed as an educative system which gives built-in play man's ability to demonstrate perseverance in useful endeavor. By perseverance, regardless of the superficial achievements (rank, contest successes, prestige), every judoist can realize improvement of mental and physical self, and can be prepared, therefore, to make a better application of his mental and physical energies in his daily living. Idealistically, it was additionally hoped by Kano that such concomitants would bring about a more cooperatively-harmonious society, since it was composed of persons matured as responsible citizens by Judo.
Idealistic as this concept of Kano's is, none but the most uninformed will argue that it is an acceptable one, or that it is not worth striving for. But what is the direction of today's Judo training? Where is it leading to and what benefits does it produce? These are vital questions. Let us stop a moment and think intelligently about present-day Judo.
We must see it in comparison with original Kano Judo if we are to make a valid evaluation. Who, as among instructors of Judo today, has troubled to delve into the facts and circumstances surrounding original Judo? This is a natural beginning point, one from which honest analysis in comparison must them. Sources for this information, it is true, are hard to come by, for the decades have all but plowed them under and dimmed the light surrounding them. Yet, the instructor who makes today's Judo his life must be charged with the responsibility for obtaining the truth about original Judo.
It can be argued that even original Judo is not a budo form, for the founder, himself, painstakingly removed that which he considered objectionable martial tone from his teachings which, in the main, went to form Kodokan Judo. Just what constitutes a true budo form is beyond the orbit of this article, but modern-day Judo is even less within the budo sphere than was Kano's beloved Kodokan Judo.
It is patent that no budo can house a sport form and still be a budo form. Modern-day Judo, with its concentrations on sporting aspects of Judo, thus fails to qualify at this earliest juncture from the requirements of budo forms. The bad as it may, the deviation from budo principle is not a vital essence for our discussion, and we must turn to the direct issue at hand, that of the direction of modern-day Judo training as compared with its original intent and purpose as set by the founder, Jigoro Kano.
Make no mistake, today's Judo is not parallel to Kano's original product, not a mirror-image of it, and is more diverse from than congruent with it. Having stated a fact, there will be those who, though admitting that this is indeed true, defend the position of modern-day Judo.
The stance which they take wrest largely on the word "progress". What has taken place by way of modification, change, amendment, and so forth to the original Judo is charged to normal progress. These defenders of modern-day Judo trends plead the orderly evolutionary process which all substance must undergo. An entity such as Judo which undergoes constant handling by the multitudes is seen never to regress, but to get better by virtue of the "improvements" being made to it. Their stance is debatable, but functionally defensible as they point to other sports which reflect similar progress -- records improve as times, distances, and performances get better. How then came Judo go backwards by the same forces working in it, on it, and for it? To these defenders I mention the handling of pieces of art, foodstuffs, beverages, and host of other things involving mechanical dynamics. Handling becomes "mishandling" more often than not, and the net result is a deterioration of the product. And there are some sport entities which have gone "backwards" by mishandling. How does this apply to Judo?
For one thing, the Judo training system, as is in vogue in our modern-day society, is in reality a cruel system insofar as it is wanton to recognize the inexorable decline of a judoist's physical and mental powers as the judoist descends the chronological ladder, as each of us inevitably must. Modern-day Judo training manifests in this cruelty by insisting that, regardless of age or other bodily limitations, the proof of the judoist is in the contest. The judoist for advancement in rank, and once established as a yudansha comment is more often than not forced to pay himself physically against opponents far younger than he; opponents whom he is expected to defeat if he is to gain the advancement or if used to continue his popularity via the route of respect to other judoists.
Such an attitude has no basis in fact, neither by Judo tradition nor by physiological exactness, and it may even be argued that Judo leaders in any sector of a national movement who cherish this attitude and enforcement are actually straying away from the intrinsic purpose of Judo training.
With respect to age-old traditional budo customs, from which Judo was designed, we find no lack of recognition of the limitations that increasing age brings upon technical skill. It is a well-known fact among budo expert teachers than a participant's technical life, his active value as a participant in any martial endeavor, is proportionate to the ma-ai necessary to that endeavor. Ma-ai is the interval between combatants or an engagement distance which permits each opponent to apply his proper actions.
The shorter the ma-ai -- that is, the shorter the engagement distance between combatants -- the more youth and strength is required for correct functioning. Conversely, as the ma-ai increases, the needed for youth and strength diminishes; the lack of age constraint is less a handicap.
http://www.judoinfo.com/draeger.htm
Judo, as a classical budo, or martial "way", of Japan, was intended by its founder, Jigoro Kano, to be less martial and to be rather a vehicle for the spiritual and physical development of man; it was deliberately designed as an educative system which gives built-in play man's ability to demonstrate perseverance in useful endeavor. By perseverance, regardless of the superficial achievements (rank, contest successes, prestige), every judoist can realize improvement of mental and physical self, and can be prepared, therefore, to make a better application of his mental and physical energies in his daily living. Idealistically, it was additionally hoped by Kano that such concomitants would bring about a more cooperatively-harmonious society, since it was composed of persons matured as responsible citizens by Judo.
Idealistic as this concept of Kano's is, none but the most uninformed will argue that it is an acceptable one, or that it is not worth striving for. But what is the direction of today's Judo training? Where is it leading to and what benefits does it produce? These are vital questions. Let us stop a moment and think intelligently about present-day Judo.
We must see it in comparison with original Kano Judo if we are to make a valid evaluation. Who, as among instructors of Judo today, has troubled to delve into the facts and circumstances surrounding original Judo? This is a natural beginning point, one from which honest analysis in comparison must them. Sources for this information, it is true, are hard to come by, for the decades have all but plowed them under and dimmed the light surrounding them. Yet, the instructor who makes today's Judo his life must be charged with the responsibility for obtaining the truth about original Judo.
It can be argued that even original Judo is not a budo form, for the founder, himself, painstakingly removed that which he considered objectionable martial tone from his teachings which, in the main, went to form Kodokan Judo. Just what constitutes a true budo form is beyond the orbit of this article, but modern-day Judo is even less within the budo sphere than was Kano's beloved Kodokan Judo.
It is patent that no budo can house a sport form and still be a budo form. Modern-day Judo, with its concentrations on sporting aspects of Judo, thus fails to qualify at this earliest juncture from the requirements of budo forms. The bad as it may, the deviation from budo principle is not a vital essence for our discussion, and we must turn to the direct issue at hand, that of the direction of modern-day Judo training as compared with its original intent and purpose as set by the founder, Jigoro Kano.
Make no mistake, today's Judo is not parallel to Kano's original product, not a mirror-image of it, and is more diverse from than congruent with it. Having stated a fact, there will be those who, though admitting that this is indeed true, defend the position of modern-day Judo.
The stance which they take wrest largely on the word "progress". What has taken place by way of modification, change, amendment, and so forth to the original Judo is charged to normal progress. These defenders of modern-day Judo trends plead the orderly evolutionary process which all substance must undergo. An entity such as Judo which undergoes constant handling by the multitudes is seen never to regress, but to get better by virtue of the "improvements" being made to it. Their stance is debatable, but functionally defensible as they point to other sports which reflect similar progress -- records improve as times, distances, and performances get better. How then came Judo go backwards by the same forces working in it, on it, and for it? To these defenders I mention the handling of pieces of art, foodstuffs, beverages, and host of other things involving mechanical dynamics. Handling becomes "mishandling" more often than not, and the net result is a deterioration of the product. And there are some sport entities which have gone "backwards" by mishandling. How does this apply to Judo?
For one thing, the Judo training system, as is in vogue in our modern-day society, is in reality a cruel system insofar as it is wanton to recognize the inexorable decline of a judoist's physical and mental powers as the judoist descends the chronological ladder, as each of us inevitably must. Modern-day Judo training manifests in this cruelty by insisting that, regardless of age or other bodily limitations, the proof of the judoist is in the contest. The judoist for advancement in rank, and once established as a yudansha comment is more often than not forced to pay himself physically against opponents far younger than he; opponents whom he is expected to defeat if he is to gain the advancement or if used to continue his popularity via the route of respect to other judoists.
Such an attitude has no basis in fact, neither by Judo tradition nor by physiological exactness, and it may even be argued that Judo leaders in any sector of a national movement who cherish this attitude and enforcement are actually straying away from the intrinsic purpose of Judo training.
With respect to age-old traditional budo customs, from which Judo was designed, we find no lack of recognition of the limitations that increasing age brings upon technical skill. It is a well-known fact among budo expert teachers than a participant's technical life, his active value as a participant in any martial endeavor, is proportionate to the ma-ai necessary to that endeavor. Ma-ai is the interval between combatants or an engagement distance which permits each opponent to apply his proper actions.
The shorter the ma-ai -- that is, the shorter the engagement distance between combatants -- the more youth and strength is required for correct functioning. Conversely, as the ma-ai increases, the needed for youth and strength diminishes; the lack of age constraint is less a handicap.
