Our Philosophy
Our mission is to impart to our students not only the physical skills of Judo, but its philosophy and traditions.
Judo, or “The Gentle Way” is a martial art developed by Dr. Jigoro Kano which makes use of the principles of leverage, balance, movement and making use of the opponent’s strength. It uses the opponent’s power and weight to work against him and thereby to subdue him.
The main principles of Judo are “Maximum Efficiency” and “Mutual Welfare and Benefit.” The goal of maximum efficiency teaches the judoka (or student) to use the least amount of physical strength necessary to throw an opponent. This is accomplished by proper use of technique and timing. The goal of mutual welfare and benefit is an extension of Dr. Kano’s belief that Judo could help the individual become a better member of society. Dr. Kano felt that the personal discipline that Judo taught would extend beyond the dojo into daily life and could allow the judoka to become a more productive member of society.
We try to introduce students to Judo as a lifetime pursuit, a skilled art requiring infinite perfecting. By introducing traditional Judo etiquette and teaching the Japanese names of the techniques we also introduce our members to the sports cultural roots.
For many of us, a Judo Dojo is a place of stability and community, where people watch out for you, in and out of the the dojo.