Shōnen Jūdō-no-kata [“Forms of Jūdō for Juveniles”] ―an experimental Japanese teaching approach to Jūdō skill acquisition in children considered from a historic-pedagogical perspective – part I

Abstract

Introduction. The purpose of this paper is to examine Kanō Jigorō’s intellectual development and pedagogical conceptualization of jūdō as an education for children, and the struggles that jūdō would endure during his life and after his passing in achieving this goal. In addition, we examine the potential merit which Shōnen jūdō-no-kata (“Forms of jūdō for juveniles”, a recreational teaching program for children that involves randori, atemi and emphasis of jū [non-resistance]) deserves in children’s jūdō in the light of that struggle. Material and methods. To achieve this, we offer a critical analysis of the available scholarly studies on the way jūdō has been taught to children in the West, when compared to Japan. We also analyze the history of jūdō for children hereby making use of both Western and Japanese resources. Results. Contrary to what is often purported, Western-style jūdō practice appears to exert mostly negative effects on the mental and social development of children, hereby increasing aggression, violence, social dysfunction and body image dysphoria. However, jūdō instruction programs which emphasize traditional values such as self-discipline and self-control, and which included kata but avoided competitive fighting, significantly improved academic achievement and social behavior in normal children and in those with a history of delinquency. Western jūdō teaching to children in the form of fighting or games overemphasizes competition and winning, and in this way contradicts the intentions of jūdō’s founder. Conclusions. Shōnen jūdō-no-kata shuns the competitive element and brings children’s jūdō instruction back closer to Kanō’s intentions.