Kano Jigoro was not a strong child. 5 feet 2 inches and weighing just 41kg, he was bullied a lot in school. He always dreamt of becoming stronger, so he could defend himself.
With a lot of effort, Kano managed to finally persuade his father to give him permission to learn Jujitsu martial arts. But the Jujitsu school he went to taught kids in a peculiar way: the student would take fall after painful fall from their teachers, till they began to understand the mechanics. Only after they proved themselves by making their opponents fall, would they be taught proper movements.
This learning through falling was slow and even more painful for young Kano!
Because of Kano’s small stature, he had a really hard time beating his seniors to prove himself. And so, he started trying unconventional techniques. He tried sumo techniques but it didn’t work. He tried to learn from other schools of Jujitsu. But nothing worked. Until he tried something he read from a book about English catch wrestling!
Kano lowered his stance, and “pulled” his opponent forward. He ducked under their arm and grabbed them by the leg. He then lifted them on his shoulders in one motion like a fireman’s carry and threw them forward on the mat!
The unfamiliar technique worked! Kano used no force and yet made the opponent fall.
Over the next few years, Kano studied more and improved his training. He started learning about human anatomy. And soon became an assistant trainer himself.
When he was just 23 years old, Kano earned his Jujitsu teaching credentials!
He started his own teaching center. Where he started teaching his own style of martial arts. He calls it Judo – which means the gentle way. He wanted to teach how strength and force was not important.
Kano’s teacher would come by a couple of times a week to support him. But as more time went on, his teacher became more and more upset!
Because Kano was now beating his teacher more times than he was being beaten! And that too without using excessive force.
The roles had reversed. The student had become the teacher!
One day, Kano explained to his teacher: that his astonishing results were due to Kano studying what needs to happen before the opponent falls. “You have to break the posture of the opponent before moving in for the throw…”
That day, Kano’s teacher gave all his books to Kano stating: “I have nothing further I can teach you.”
Unbalance your opponent
When Kano’s Judo students started beating other Jujitsu school students in competitions held by Tokyo Metropolitan Police, people started noticing. All Kano had done was studied the human body intently to figure out how people become unbalanced.
His lesson was simple: don’t start with brute force. Don’t jump in to throw punches.
- Observe your opponent. How are they standing? How is their weight distribution?
- Apply off-axis pressure. “Kuzushi.” Balance isn’t lost from the front. It’s lost at odd angles. You don’t push an opponent. You pull them, but at odd angles. You pull them diagonally so they lose their balance.
- When they are off balance, you throw your punch.
That’s how you can expend less energy and yet win. That’s how you can defeat even bigger opponents than you.
Size and strength doesn’t matter with Judo.
This is precisely the strategy Kano used to make Judo popular as well. Kano realized that all the other schools of Jujitsu were overly focused on strength and using deadly techniques to win.
If Kano would have pushed his Judo school in the same way, he would have faced stiff competition. If he would have said: my martial arts training is better than yours, his success would have been slow. Even though his students were winning more competition.
So instead, he found a diagonal approach. He positioned Judo as character building.
He started training women and children that other schools avoided.
And he threw in his punch when the opponent was off balance. He got Judo included in the school curriculum. He pitched it as character development instead of just another school of dojo brawl. That’s how Judo spread. Through educational institutions. And became the most popular school of martial arts taught in the whole world!
Kano never stopped learning.
Kano was the one who gave the white belt to black belt dan ranking system to the world. He did it out of necessity, because his school taught children and adults alike. But the gamification made it sticky as well! People continued with Judo training longer.
On his deathbed however, Kano asked to be buried in a white belt instead of black. Because he wanted to be remembered as a learner, not a master.
Action Summary:
- Don’t take your opponents head on. Break the posture of the opponent first.
- Observe first. Find their diagonal. The spot where they have weak footing. And then pull them in an unexpected way. When they are off balance, it’s much easier to strike and win.