Judo is a Japanese form of wrestling. The sport of Judo originated from the lethal Japanese martial art Jujitsu, originally a method of self-defence and unarmed close combat. You may be surprised then that the word Judo translates as the "gentle" or "supple way"

Judo can be best described as a form of real competative fighting skills, that qualifies both as an Olympic sport and martial art.¹

Just over 100 years ago,  a Japanese Jujitsu teacher Jigaro Kano devised a safer form of the martial art, with all the lethal and maiming techniques removed, which he named Judo. This safer style allowed full competative combat without the risk of deliberate injury to either contestant.

In competition, the objective of Judo, is to score points in any of the three following ways:

• throwing your opponent on their back,
• obtaining a submission from an armlock or strangulation, or
• in ground fighting holding down an opponent on their back for an agreed amount of time.

In addition to competition, Judo as a form of physical excercise improves fitness, provides a mental challenge as well is helping improve self discipline and confidence.  

The sport of Judo is open to all people from children over the age of 5 to adults.

^{1 Sensei Robin Otani President of the British Judo Council "What is Judo? The BJC Perspective 2007"}