What country did Judo originate in?

Judo is a martial art that was born in Japan, and it is now known around the world as an Olympic sport. Judo was established in 1882 by combining jujitsu, a form of wrestling, with mental discipline.

Techniques are generally intended to turn an opponent’s force to one’s own advantage rather than to oppose it directly. A ritual of courtesy in practice is intended to promote an attitude of calm readiness and confidence. The usual costume, known as jūdōgi, is a loose jacket and trousers of strong white cloth. White belts are worn by novices and black by masters, with intermediate grades denoted by other colours. Jūdōka (students of judo) perform the sport with bare feet.

The early history of judo is inseparable from its founder, Japanese polymath and educator Jigoro Kano (1860–1938). He collected the knowledge of the old jujitsu schools of the Japanese samurai and in 1882 founded his Kōdōkan School of judo (from the Chinese jou-tao, or roudao, meaning “gentle way”), the beginning of the sport in its modern form.

Kanō eliminated the most dangerous techniques and stressed the practice of randori (free practice), although he also preserved the classical techniques of jujitsu (jūjutsu) in the kata (forms) of judo. By the 1960s judo associations had been established in most countries and affiliated to the International Judo Federation, which is headquartered in Budapest, Hungary.