"Judo is the way of the highest or most efficient use of both physical and mental energy. Through training in the attack and defence techniques of judo, the practitioner nurtures their physical and mental strength, and gradually embodies the essence of the Way of Judo. Thus, the ultimate objective of Judo discipline is to be utilized as a means to self-perfection, and thenceforth to make a positive contribution to society."
Dr. Jigoro Kano
Judo Founder
(1860-1938)
DVDs
JUDO’S GENTLE TIGER
Television Movie Starring George Harris
The transfer is not good. Not a bad movie, it deserves a better release.
This feature film is quite possibly the for runner of the "KARATE
KID" it was shot in the late 1970’s and tells a story of a young boy
who studies Judo to find himself.
The young boy is training in Judo
and becomes a champion not just on the mat but also in life as his
teacher Judo’s legendary George Harris (1964 Olympian).
The boy
who was born to a Japanese mother and an American father finds himself
living with his father who has no appreciation for the Martial arts and
only understands the language of money. Without giving away the story
the father in the end comes full circle and his son becomes a hero to
the father as he teaches his father the true meaning of life thru his
martial art.
Buy it at Amazon
HUMAN WEAPON
History Channel TV Show
The Ultimate search of a Human Weapon, Each episode of HUMAN WEAPON
charts an expedition through foreign continents, famous cities, exotic
villages, back alleys and lush landscapes with hosts Jason Chambers –
mixed-martial-artist and professional fighter – and Bill Duff – former
professional football player and wrestler, who will learn how each
individual location gave birth to its distinct form of combat and will
study their form of martial art.
One of the episodes of the
series is JUDO: SAMURAI LEGACY, and the hosts travel to Japan to learn
“the gentle way” from the original source.
Buy it at Amazon
MASTERING JUDO
Instructional DVDs
These series of DVDs featuring legendary Hal Sharp and Master Okada,
who is an instructor at the Kodokan Judo Hall in Tokyo Japan which was
started by Jigoro Kano in the late 1800, is truly the right DVD for all
beginners of Judo. You will learn so much to get you on the right start
of learning Judo the Gentle art. In the first DVD you will learn all
the break falls, unbalancing techniques, history of Okada , Odo and
Kano taught by American Judo Icon Hal Sharp. Plus you will learn warm
up exercises, proper belt tying procedure, seiza (kneeling), tai sabaki
or body shifting and everything you need to get you going as a beginner.
Buy it at Amazon
Sanshiro Sugata
A film by Akira Kurosawa
Sanshiro, a strong stubborn youth, comes to the city to apprentice at a jujitsu school. His first night, he sees Yano in action, a master of judo, a more spiritual art, and he begs to be Yano's student. As the youth learns technique, he must also learn 'satori,' the calm acceptance of Nature's law. If he can balance strength and control, then judo may become the training regimen for the city's police, Sanshiro can gain respect from an old teacher in a jujitsu school, and he can win the hand of Sayo, that teacher's daughter, who is also sought by jujitsu's finest master, the implacable Higaki, who vows to kill Sanshiro in a midnight fight on a windswept mountainside.
The movie is good, it has many elements we love in Kurosawa's movies. The copy is bad, but the English subtitles are beyond horrible.
Please Criterion Collection, save this wonderful movie from oblivion!
Sanshiro Sugata 2
A film by Akira Kurosawa
This 1945 Japanese film by renowned director Akira Kurosawa, is a sequel to its better known predecessor, Sanshiro Sugata (1943). Both concern the relationship between Shogoro Yano (Denjiro Okochi), the founder of the martial arts discipline of Judo, and Sanshiro Sugata (Susumu Fujita), one of his principal students. Like many such relationships, this one is shown to be a blend of the spiritual and the intimately personal. As the film was made during World War II, it not surprisingly contains vignettes in which Europeans are made to appear extraordinarily piggish and vulgar. This film was re-released in a slightly shorter, re-edited and subtitled version in 1981 and was first seen in the U.S. at the Film Forum in New York City in 1989. It is of interest both as a tightly-crafted martial arts master-and-student film, and as an early example of Kurosawa's mature style.
The copy is bad, and the English subtitles are terrible.
Please Criterion Collection, save this wonderful movie from oblivion!
Throw Down
A film by Johnny To
Acclaimed director Johnny To's most personal movie. This is a film with many references to Kurosawa’s Sanshiro Sugata. Throw Down is a modern film about people who challenge each other to Judo matches at the drop of a hat. It's like some wacky Judo culture powers the lives of these varying individuals, who all manage to show up at Szeto's club for a screwball series of negotiations, followed by a sudden free-for-all brawl that involves every Judo practitioner around—and there are a lot of them! Nobody bats an eye when Judo is invoked as the big factor in their lives, and even the most random of people seems proficient in the sport. The "everybody knows Judo" conceit is an odd one, but it works. This is mostly due to Johnnie To, who directs the film with a droll matter-of-a-fact acceptance, where nothing seems to surprise anyone.
Judokas were waiting for a movie like this for a long time. Enjoy!
Sanshiro, The Judoist
Anime / VHS
"Sanshiro the Judoist" is an adaptation of Tsuneo Tomita's "Sanshiro Sugata," the novel which formed the basis for Akira Kurosawa's debut feature SANSHIRO SUGATA. Master Yano unites the minor schools of jujutsu into judo at his school, much to the displeasure of the other teachers. So his pupil Sanshiro must demonstrate the strengths of judo over Jujutsu in a public match. VHS in Japanese with English subtitles. Part of the "Animated Classics of Japanese Literature" series.
The story is based in real events. Yano Shogoro is modeled after Jigoro Kano, the Judo founder and Sugata Sanshiro is based on his student Saigo Shiro. This book , over the decades has been turned into 6 features films, 6 television dramas, 4 manga comics and 2 animation films. For some Sanshiro also was a big inspiration to George Lucas's Star Wars. Think for a moment, Yano is Yoda, Sanshiro is Luke, Judo is The Force and Jujutzu is the Dark Side!
This animated versions is certainly valuable to fans of anime and is suitable for young audiences as a tool to get them curious about Japanese literature, film and Judo.