TokyoWaltz

TokyoWaltz Guide

Judo Guide: Where to Start and What to Explore

This reading guide is for anyone beginning to explore judo. It connects core ideas and vocabulary with ways to read about techniques, practice, competition, history, and two past TokyoWaltz experiences in Japan.

Recommended first reads

Start here

These three readings establish the whole art, the vocabulary used across the site, and the place of safe falling in supervised practice.

  1. 1
    Wiki

    Judo

    Begin with the scope of judo as both a Japanese martial art and an educational practice before moving into terminology or individual techniques.

  2. 2
    Wiki

    Judo Terminology

    Learn the words used for people, equipment, training methods, technique groups, and contest terms so later articles are easier to navigate.

  3. 3
    Wiki

    Ukemi

    Understand why receiving a fall is a continuing supervised skill and how it supports progressive throwing practice.

Build your foundation

Learn

Use these pages to understand how conduct, balance, and grade language shape the way judo is discussed.

  1. Wiki

    Dōjō Etiquette

    See how respect, cleanliness, attention, and controlled risk organise practice—and why etiquette is not identical in every dojo.

  2. Wiki

    Kuzushi

    Use balance, positioning, and application as a framework for reading about throws without reducing them to a fixed three-step formula.

  3. Wiki

    Judo Belt Ranks

    Read kyū and dan grades correctly while keeping in mind that beginner belt colours vary by organisation, country, and age group.

Practice note: Judo techniques, including breakfalls, throws, holds, strangles, and joint techniques, should be learned under a qualified instructor in an appropriate training environment.

Follow your interests

Explore

Choose a branch rather than trying to read every technique page. The directory remains the single place to browse the full official list.

  1. Wiki

    Judo Techniques

    Understand the main Kodokan branches and the important difference between the technical catalogue and what current competition rules allow.

  2. Wiki

    Judo Technique Directory

    Browse or search the 100 officially named Kodokan techniques in their existing directory instead of duplicating that list here.

  3. Wiki

    Gokyō no Waza

    Place the historic five-group, 40-throw teaching sequence inside the broader modern Kodokan syllabus.

  4. Wiki

    Ippon

    Learn what a full contest score means and why exact criteria must be checked against the rules in force for an event.

  5. Wiki

    Jigoro Kano

    Connect judo’s founding with Jigoro Kano’s wider work in education rather than treating the art only as a set of techniques.

  6. Wiki

    Judo in Manga and Anime

    Explore how fiction has represented dojo life, school clubs, competition, technique, and gender without treating stories as documentary history.

Connect knowledge with place

Experience in Japan

These links connect the background to a Japanese institution and two past personal records. They are not current booking or participation offers.

  1. Wiki

    Kodokan Judo Institute

    Read about the Kodokan’s history and continuing institutional role. This is background knowledge, not a visitor, booking, or access guide.

  2. Journey

    Kodokan Youth Judo Summer Course

    Read our personal record of joining a youth course in August 2026; it describes a past experience and does not advertise current enrolment.

  3. Journey

    Judo Camp at Tokai University Tsumagoi

    Follow our account of a two-night judo camp in August 2026 as a Journey story, not as a currently available public programme.

Keep exploring

Where to go next

Continue with the wider Japanese martial arts context, or follow the connection between judo and popular culture.

Guide

Japanese Martial Arts Guide

Compare judo’s place with other Japanese martial traditions and choose another discipline to explore.