What Is The Difference Between Yudo and Judo?

ChungTongKwan Yudo and Olympic Judo have the same roots - Kano, Jigoro - but in terms of what they do and how they do it......they are opposites.

Following the death of Kano, during the first year of World War II, Kano's students began to change the focus of Kodokan Judo from self-improvement and self-defense to competition, something which Kano himself opposed (revisionist sport historians not withstanding). Following the unconditional surrender of the Empire of Japan, and its occupation by United States forces, the martial art dojos (training centers) were closed as a part of the official occupation policy of attempting to eradicate the "militaristic nature" of Japanese culture.

The Judo headquarters, Kodokan, was allowed to reopen for the teaching of Judo, however, after Kodokan officials convinced the occupying power that the Kodokan was not a martial art dojo. Rather that it was a training center for an emerging Olympic sport, and so it became henceforth. This proved to be the model for other Japanese martial arts as well, especially after the Japanese government renounced its support for the martial arts.

Today, Kodokan Judo is an Olympic sport governed by a member body of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC makes no pretense of being a martial art organization, and the IOC's member body for Judo has effectively renounced the military art lineage of the sport it now governs.

ChungTongKwan Yudo, on the other hand, is a traditional Korean military art.  "Traditional" in the sense that we honor and value our heritage and our unbroken lineage. "Korean" in that since the death of the Founder of this oriental art, all of the modification, revision, and progress of the art, as a martial art, that is as taught by the Founder, has taken place in Korea under the direction of senior Korean practitioners trained under the Founder. It is a "military art" in the sense that it is taught and practiced for purposes of self-protection and the defense of one’s family, the elderly, the impaired, and the otherwise defenseless.

ChungTongKwan Yudo, has no attack, relying upon the practitioner's use of the assailant's momentum and force in order to defeat him (or her). It encompasses a continuum of response by the practitioner, from simple avoidance or pain control, up to and inclusive of lethal force.  A response based upon the threat presented by the assailant(s).  It is an effective, ethical, and lawful means of self-defense, relying upon simple but skillful technique.

Judo, as practiced under the International Judo Federation, is an Olympic sport.  All belts, or rank, issued under the IJF, and its member national governing bodies, are sport ranks.  Any pretense to martial art rank by those holding a rank certificate from an Olympic body is just that, a pretense. Those who train in sport judo train as athletes.  These athletes are trained by coaches.  This is a very elaborate international system which encompasses its own knowledges and skills, well outside the role and scope of the traditional military arts.  The sport of Judo exists on its own merit, without any need for approval or recognition from the martial arts.

ChungTongKwan Yudo is a traditional military art.  As such, it encompasses a large number of areas of study, from traditional medicine to military tactics, which are totally outside the current scope of  Kodokan Judo or the Olympic sport of Judo, whichever way one prefers to refer to it.  The military art is a life-long study, which encompasses a body of knowledge that is many times larger than that of the sport.

In the International Yudo Federation, if one is referring to the sport practiced so successfully by the Korea Judo Association, we use the term “Judo”.  If one is referring to the military art preserved by the ROK Yudo Association, we use the term “Yudo”.  Two fields of human endeavor from the same source, now opposites.