Ju No Kata: A Kodokan Judo Textbook Book

A must read for every martial artist!

As a Gracie Jiu Jitsu student and a history buff of sorts, I really enjoyed the historical perspective and philosophical insights into the man who is essentially the ancestral founder of what is referred to today as the 'gentle art'.

The similarities between the foundation stories of Judo and Gracie Jiu Jitsu and the founders themselves was a real surprise for me, but on reflection perhaps it shouldn't be? To paraphrase Bruce Lee, human beings all have the same general physiology, martial arts is an expression of that physiology so it's therefore natural that similiraties exist across cultures in how we express our physical selves. Trying to claim 'ownership' over origin is therefore futile and misses the higher purpose of martial arts.

Jigoro Kano seems to share this view, which probably indicates that Bruce Lee read and was influenced by his work but it also provides the context for Gracie Jiu Jitsu's evolution from its Judo roots.

The philosophical insights on Jigoro Kano suggests that Helio Gracie's evolution of the Judo he learnt from his brother and/or one of Kano's students into Gracie Jiu Jitsu, may be the highest form of compliment to Kano's foundational principles of: 'seiryoku zenyo' and 'jita kyoei'.