h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

By and large, I thought your article was well written and informative. I thought I'd post a few corrections though...

I'd say that intelligience is needed for Judo, and is one of the reasons why I like the sport so much. It's all very well being a triathlete who can run mararthons without breaking into a sweat, but if you don't use the old grey matter, fitness and technique may not matter at all. Technique has to be varied depending on the size and shape of your opponent. In judo, there is always a formal way of doing any given technique, but there are many little variations which make the technique more effective, depending on who you're fighting.

Judo IS a good sport for self defence. Very often a fight will develop into a grappling situation, and Judo is largely about grappling. I'm not saying it is THE best sport, but when it comes to self-defence, there is NO single sport that can be called the best one to learn. Self-defence and sport are two totally different things. I don't know of any sport that will allow eye-gouges, blows to the groin or other such damaging moves, but you'd use them all in a self-defence situation if you were being attacked.

There are some minor correction regarding timings - a hold needs to be maintained for 25 seconds for an Ippon win. A koka is worth THREE, not one point, and two Waa-ari scores is Waza-ari awasete Ippon. The scores are given according to how the person lands on the mat, with Ippon given for a throw where the erson lands on their back with impetus. Lastly, if a contest goes to Hantei, there can be no draw, as the referee also indicates who he thinks has done better - the decision will either be unanimous or 2-1 in favour of one competitor.

There are nine kyu grades in the British Judo Association - white (novice) is not counted as a grade but these grades are - yellow, then two divisions of orange, green, blue and brown.

You are corect in saying that Jigaro Kano was not awarded a 12th Dan, as suggested by one of the comments. In fact, i do not recall that he ever had a grade. After all, as he devised judo, what higher authority could have awarded him a grade in the first place?

I've probably been a little picky here, but do want to say that your article was written well, and was a good basic summary.

aka Makikomi
3rd Dan, BJA