Thank you. Hello and welcome to the History of Japan podcast, episode 196, Fist of Legend, part three.

Last week, we left off with judo's transformation into Japan's first martial sport.

The founder of judo, Kanojiguro, assembled his first dojo, his first practice hall,

the Kodo Khan, in 1882.

But before long, the number of interested students expanded well beyond his capacity to

personally support.

Now, we spent a little time discussing the philosophy behind judo last episode and how

Kano viewed it as a path of moral cultivation as much as an exercise or a competitive sport.

In my opinion, however, there were three things that Kano did early in the history of

judo

that helped bolster the young sports reputation, guaranteed success, and ensure that it would

have no shortage of imitators.

First, he created a clear, straightforward ranking system.

I've heard some telling say that he borrowed that ranking system from Go, the traditional

board game brought over from China, very early in Japan's history.

I don't know enough about the history of Go to say whether that's accurate or not.

However, the game does use a similar ranking structure today.

Before Kano, different schools had very different traditions regarding

how they ranked students. Ranks had a variety of names, but only one really mattered. A student

who had learned enough in the eyes of their instructor would receive a certification indicating

that this student was licensed to teach that style. Beyond that licensing, which

made you an official instructor, ranking, particularly among students with different teachers,

...