What Is Yudo?

Yudo is the Korean lineage of the Oriental Martial Art of Judo. It is founded upon the philosophy and teachings of Kano, Jigoro. The original name for this fighting art was Kano-ryu Jujutsu, later termed Kodokan Judo. Kano, the leading Japanese figure of the last century, had developed his fighting art from the best of the Jujutsu systems still existing at the end of the 19th Century.

 During the Japanese Empire's brutal occupation of the Korean peninsula in the first half of the last century, the study and practice of Judo was mandatory for all school children . Ironically, recent academic research indicates that the Japanese martial art systems were most probably derived from the Korean fighting systems carried to Japan by prisoners of war among the tens of thousands of Korean monks, nuns, artisans, intellectuals, and skilled tradesmen, forcibly taken captive during the Imjin War (also known as the "Hideyoshi Invasions") during the last decade of the 16th Century.

 During the Japanese occupation, all Judo in Korea was under the direct supervision of Judo's headquarters, the Kodokan in Tokyo. After the military defeat of the Empire of Japan, and the liberation of the Korean peninsula from Japanese rule, the Choson Judo Association was formed in October 1945.

Having thus severed their relationship with the Kodokan, yet remaining under the supervision of senior Judo black belts, many of whom were trained and promoted to senior rank by Kano, Jigoro himself, the Korean lineage avoided many of the changes in Kodokan Judo, which began shortly after the death of Kano.

In 1950, the Choson Judo Association was split into the Republic of Korea (ROK) Yudo Association, for the practice of the traditional military art, and the Korea Judo Association, for the practice of sport judo in Olympic and other international competition. This division of Yudo, into a traditional military art component and a separate and distinct sport component, continues today in the Republic of Korea.