Our History
In 1968, ten young ambitious judo instructors simply followed their passion to establish Budokan Dojo. For 50+ years, Budokan Dojo has been teaching judo to hundreds of students, including National Champions and Olympians. Budokan Dojo operates out of Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington and offers classes to students of all ages, with levels ranging from Junior to Advanced. Students of the Budokan Judo Dojo will learn all of the basic throws, pins, chokes, armlocks and break-falls that makes Judo a dynamic Olympic sport and effective system of self defense. Classes are taught by experienced instructors who have years of teaching experience and have competed at the highest national and international levels.
History of Judo
Judo means the gentle way (柔道) and was created by Jigoro Kano (嘉納 治五郎) in 1882. Judo’s roots come from Tenjin Shinyo-ryu jujutsu and Kito-ryu jujutsu. Unlike its predecessors, Judo emphasis is on free sparring (randori 乱取) alongside removed striking and weapon training elements of the martial art. Kano’s vision for Judo were derived from the principles of seiryoku zenyou (精力善用, maximum efficiency, minimum effort) and jita kyōei (自他共栄, mutual welfare and benefit). These principles have allowed Judo practitioners (Judoka 柔道家) to safely practice for over 100 years.
Since then Kano-sensei’s art has become a modern Japanese olympic sport that emphasizes grappling and leverage to safely defeat any opponent by using throwing techniques (nage-waza 投げ技) and/or grappling techniques (katame-waza 固め技). Judo is practiced all over the world and was the inspiration for other popular martial arts like Sambo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.