Posted by Hari on Dec. 7, 2014, 1:13 p.m.
Judo is a modern martial art, combat and Olympic sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the objective is to either throw or take down an opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue an opponent with a pin, or force an opponent to submit with a joint lock or a choke. Strikes and thrusts by hands and feet as well as weapons defenses are a part of judo, but only in pre-arranged forms (kata, ) and are not allowed in judo competition or free practice (randori,). A judo practitioner is called a judoka.
The philosophy and subsequent pedagogy developed for judo became the model for other modern Japanese martial arts that developed from kory? (, traditional schools). The worldwide spread of judo has led to the development of a number of offshoots such as Sambo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu
There are three basic categories of waza (techniques) in judo: nage-waza (throwing techniques), katame-waza (grappling techniques) andatemi-waza (striking techniques).Judo is most known for nage-waza and katame-waza.
Judo practitioners typically devote a portion of each practice session to ukemi (break-falls), in order that nage-waza can be practiced without significant risk of injury. Several distinct types of ukemi exist, including ushiro ukemi (rear breakfalls); yoko ukemi (side breakfalls); mae ukemi ,(front breakfalls); and zenpo kaiten ukemi ,( rolling breakfalls)
The person who performs a Waza is known as tori (, literally "taker") and the person to whom it is performed is known as uke,( literally "receiver").