Enso Judo

What is Judo?

Judo is a grappling martial art created by Jigoro Kano in 1882. Jigoro developed Judo from many different branches of Japanese jujutsu, but Judo primarily focuses on grappling versus striking. Grappling means that the focus is on throwing, pining, chokes, and joint locks. Whereas, in a striking martial art, the focus is on punches, kicks and strikes with knees and elbows. The primary factor that makes Judo unique among martial arts is its two founding principles: Mutual welfare and benefit (自他共栄 jita kyōei) and the efficient use of thought and strength (精力善用 seiryoku zen'yō). These principles make judo a very safe and constructive learning environment. One of the things that makes Enso Judo Boise different from most other Judo clubs, is our focus on a practical application of Judo as opposed to a competition focus. Judo is an olympic sport and can be practiced with winning in competition as the primary goal. However, Enso Judo takes a martial approach in which the primary goal is the perfection of the application of technique in a more combat focused environment. This allows us to utilize techniques that may be against the rules of competition, but are very useful in a more real life scenario. All techniques are taught and practiced with a primary focus on maintaining safety for both the person practicing the technique (Tori) and their partner (Uke).