The Early Development of Judo Out of Disparate Jujitsu Schools

Luis Miguel Chong Chong has been a leader with many companies in North America, including Mexico City's Disruptiva Works, S.A. de C.V., as well as Ensi Group, in Los Angeles, California. Before beginning his career in business, Luis Miguel Chong Chong competed in judo for the Instituto Politécnico Nacional -National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico, and was junior national champion for years. 

The early history of judo begins in the 1500s, with takenouchi-ryu, a martial art that was foundational to what later became judo and jujitsu. This martial art was developed extensively by the samurai, as it was the only art to focus on self-defense without using a weapon. This deep study led to branching off of countless similar styles, such as kyushinryu, mirua-ryu, kito-ryu, and tenshin-shinyo-ryu. In the 1880s, amid significant political change in Japan, Dr. Jigoro Kano began to unify elements from these disparate styles into what is now known as judo.

Judo, unlike jujitsu, focused on development of mental and physical skill as a comprehensive education program as well as a competitive sport. Practitioners learned techniques such as kicks and advanced joint locks only in advanced study, as these techniques were considered too dangerous for competitive judo. Over the next 30 years, judo grew to become one of the world's most popular sports, and absorbed most leading jujitsu schools' techniques and practices, preserving them as form studies called kata for posterity.