Dr. Jigoro Kano is the founder of Judo in 1882. Gracie Jiu Jitsu and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu come from Judo. There are different points of view as to why is it Gracie Jiu Jitsu and not Gracie Judo. In the modern era, there have been ongoing research on how Judo and Jujutsu arrived in Brazil. One fact is clear and that is how big it was for Kano to develop Judo. Let me quickly give you some background knowledge before I address and get the heart of this writing; Isao Okano: the 1964 Olympic Champion in Judo.
Firstly what should be common knowledge is Dr. Kano was originally a student of different styles of Jujutsu in Japan. When he was studying the arts were dying out. With insights into training and as a learned educator, Kano revolutionized and saved Jujitsu by creating the Kodokan and the art of Judo. Dr. Kano was very intelligent by creating several teaching and learning concepts such as a belt ranking system to separated novices and experts and a structured curriculum that used techniques that could be practiced at full speed such as throws, grappling, locks and chokes. Having techniques that could be used against other training partners’ safety, Jigoro presented free sparring structures called Randori, and with this methodology, students quickly start to evolve their techniques and strategies against in real to see what was effective.
What Dr. Kano also did was structure into his curriculum of Judo two very important principles that he felt Jujitsu lacked at the time. There needed to be more than the principle of “Ju” that softness can overcome hardness found in Jujutsu. The first major principle that Kano established was Maximum Efficiency (Seiryoku Zen’yō). Today we hear about maximum efficiency minimum effort in Judo, but was is in Kano’s writing were a better way to teach and apply jujutsu with such a guiding principle in one’s training and more so further to have maximum efficiency to be used in one’s life both physically and mentally.
The second guiding principle introduced was mutual benefit/mutual prosperity/mutual welfare (Jita Kyōei). It was this idea found in Judo that started to see how important it was to help your training partners, your community, your city, and your country. Judo’s ideals were at the base learning techniques and being effective. This was the lowest level of understanding and was observed by Kano in the different Jujutsu schools. The teachers and students were tough and often fought each other in the streets, which led to a negative image in Japan. In reflecting now Brazil went through the same thing in the late 1990’s were many Jiu Jitsu schools fought each other in the streets and in the clubs.
Kano saw the next level of understanding Judo with his principles of Maximum Efficiency is how you use it in your daily life in all the things you do not just in your application of Jiu Jitsu techniques. Seiryoku Zen’yō is the path to better use of your physical and mental strength. And finally, the third level of Judo how much you contribute to society with the use of mutual benefit. All this being explored helped save Jujutsu from dying out in Japan. Judo saved JuJitsu as it was a better way of teaching and practice of jujutsu at the time.
So now you know what everyone knows about Dr. Kano. Now lets get to the point of this writing as to WHY YOU 100% NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ISAO OKANO
Isao Okano Sensei
Okano is a famous Judoka with an amazing story and a short competitive career winning Gold in the Olympics in 1964 and also the World Championships of Judo held in Brazil the next year of 1965. During this time, Isao was influential to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as you will see.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is amazing Martial Art and very popular around the world now. BJJ instructors and students are always researching new techniques and exploring the great history. Now that I have your attention I want to express that one person that every student of the arts of Grappling and specifically BJJ should 100% research is Isao Okano- 6th Dan. And if you are thinking about why he has been a 6th dan for over 40 years, the simple answer is Okano does not want more rank!
Below is a video about him that you need to review:
Isao Okano made a big impact on several big-name instructors in Brazil during his performance in Brazil in 1965. Some even went on to train with him in Japan only to bring that knowledge back to Brazil. The major link to Modern BJJ is Okano’s influence on Master Oswaldo Alves. If you know know who Master Alves is, ask a few of the big and currently Jiu Jitsu professors where they learned their drills? And for now, please hold that thought.
This quote was written from the Global Training Report in Brazil. The full link is below. Master Oswaldo Alves(Red Belt BJJ) says, “For sure. I practiced at Kodokan [講道館]and Tenri University [天理大学], and also at Okano’s judo training center. (Isao) Okano was my favorite judoka after I saw him in the 1965 Rio World Championship.”– source http://global-training-report.com/alves.htm
By now I hope the idea of doing some more research on Okano sensei is going through your mind. He is an absolute treasure that influenced much more than Judo and BJJ.
In the meantime, I asked you to hold onto that thought about modern BJJ drills. Here is an exercise you can start asking the BJJ instructors: Where did close to 85% of these modern BJJ drills come from? Many will say Atos and Andre Galvao. The next question should be, who taught Galvao these drills or where did he see them from? And from there as your source gets closer. Ask one more question, who taught the drills to the Brazilian instructor that Galvao got them from? Hint…Hint Master Alves.
All many roads lead to Okano Sensei. And now you know.
ISAO OKANO’S TEACHING METHODS AND CURRICULUM ARE THE REAL GOLD THAT YOU SHOULD 100% STUDY AND PRACTICE:
– Prof. “little” Tony Pacenski
Yokota Air Base – Tokyo Japan
www.tonypacenski.com
PS: I want to thank James Coleman for his discussions with me about Okano.
