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Kano sensed a shared spirit between old Japanese culture, Western sport theory and Chinese philosophy. When he named his style Kodokan Judo it was not only to distance it from the contemporary ju jitsu schools, but also to emphasize that this was a martial art which shared ancient Taoist concepts as well as European ideas of social progress.
We all go forward together was an idea that Kano embraced, and expressed as jita kyoei. This was not a concept with tangible roots in any Oriental philosophy.
After Kano's discovery of the importance of kuzushi, he included the principle of seiryoku zenyo. This seems to have from English philosophy, although it fit perfectly with Taoist thoughts found in Chinese literature.
In 1884, the Kodokan bylaws were drawn up. In these, seiryoky zenyo and jita kyoei were firmly established.
"Taking together all the merits I have acquired from the various schools of ju jitsu, and adding my own devices and inventions, I have founded a new system for physical culture, mental training and winning contests. This I call Kodokan Judo." - Kano.
 seiryoku zenyo
Often translated as maximum efficency, minimum effort. This translation leads to an understanding of how to achieve a set goal, usually on a physical level, with the use of balance, leverage and inertia. A different translation, though equally valid, is make good use of your energy. This reflects social and spiritual aspects of energy or vitality, and how a person's efforts should be directed towards productive, positive achievements, not wasted on negative or damaging actions. |
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 jita kyoei
Usually summed up as either mutual welfare and benefit or simply mutual prosperity. It suggests that if individuals consider other people then everybody will benefit. Selfishness benefits only a few, and for a short time only. In the dojo an example of this can be easily understood regarding training with a partner. If either tori or uke is not concentrating or training hard, their partner's opportunity to improve their skills is diminished, and the overall ability of the dojo members is lessened. If tori and uke work hard together, both of them will improve their skills, which in turn will benefit other members of that dojo.
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