Judo is originated and developed in Japan. Judo is not bujutsu (martial art) but a budo (martial way) and a sport which prevails all over the world nowadays.

Dr. Kano Jigoro (嘉納治五郎), the founder of Judo, was born in 1860 in Higashinada-ku , Kobe of Japan. When Dr. Kano attended the Tokyo Imperial University, he started to learn Tenjin Shinyo-ryu and later Kito-ryu of Jujutsu. After gaining solid knowledge of Jujutsu, he began to transform Jujutsu in a scientific way and named his system as Judo to make it different from Jujutsu and conform with the objectives of sport.

Dr. Kano established kodokan in 1882. He introduced the dans ranking and adopted a system of accreditation for judo athletes the year after. In 1990, Dr. Kano set up the rules and regulations for referees of competitions. He maintained contest (shiai or jiai with rendaku) is a vitally important aspect of judo. He urged the students of Judo to work hard and engage in more contests during trainings. Dr. Kano believed that through training in the techniques of judo, the practitioner could nurture their physical and mental strength, and gradually embodied the essence of the Way of Judo – good character, right etiquette and manners, self-control, the strive for profession and the betterment of the nation and society in general. That is, it was judo in the sense of

“Maximum Efficiency with Minimum Effort (Sei-ryoku Zen-you)” and “Mutual Welfare and Benefit (Ji-ta Kyou-ei)”.

Judo became a school curriculum in 1911 and since then the Government of Japan helped spread the sport across the country. Dr. Kano travelled to Europe to make known Judo outside Japan in the 1930s. Judo was officially announced as an Olympic event in 1964 Tokyo Olympic.

Geographically close to Japan, Judo was soon introduced to Hong Kong by local Japanese or overseas Chinese from Japan as a recreational activity. In 1940, a Judo course was attached to a bodybuilding & fitness centre (莫理素健身院) and the target students are foreigners. Then in 1960, Mr. Fung Ngai (馮毅), together with some expats, organized Judo Courses with YMCA (西青會).

In 1964, Mr. Koon Fook Cheung (管福祥) established the Far East Judo Club (遠東柔道會) and Mr. Stephen Tsai Teh Bei (蔡德培) set up the Judo Department in South China Athletes Club (南華會). The Kowloon branch of Caritas conducted Judo classes in 1965. In 1966, Mr. Takeo Iwami (岩見武夫) is the first Japanese to establish a Judo school in Hong Kong. Since then, Judo began to be developed systematically and substantially.

Judo eventually develops into a kind of sport and it is one of the reasons why Judo grows vigorously across the world. The exchange and betterment of techniques are essential in the development of the sport of Judo. Founded in 1970, the Judo Association of Hong Kong, China has subsequently put tremendous efforts in hosting a wide range of local and international tournaments in addition to offering trainings and competitions to junior and elite athletes as well as conducting coaches and referees courses for those who wish to contribute to Judo. The development of the sport of Judo is inspiring and fruitful. Hong Kong gains excellent achievements in all kinds of international competitions in recent years and hopefully, in the years to come.

http://www.hkjudo.org/aboutus