Created in 1882, Judo is regarded as the modern Japanese martial art which has been included in Olympic games.
Very quickly after its development, it became one of the most favorite martial art to be learned.
Judo is based upon the Jujutsu fighting style with some special features like throwing strikes, takedown, neutralize an opponent with a choke or lock.
Due to its effectiveness in combat sports and other defense-related purposes, Judo is famous everywhere and is being practiced all over the world.
So the question is, Where Judo is the most popular in the world? The Judo is the most popular in Japan and France.
The popularity of Judo in Japan is understandable because the discipline was developed in Japan, and it is now famous around the world as an Olympic game.
Judo was established in 1882 by combining Jujutsu, which is a form of grappling and wrestling along with mental discipline.
So Japan is its native country, and they kept it alive as their custom and culture, but the next question arises,
Why Judo is so popular in France?
The Answer is of the question “why Judo is famous in France” is, the French narrative about Judo; “Judo is about discipline, respect and it teaches you to how to look for excellence, these are values that we believe are essential in life and it’s even better if you can learn about them when you are young”.
Till the last news from CNN, there were 0.6 million registered Judo practitioners – also known as Judokas – in and there are almost 5700 gyms or training centers spreading the art in France.
As per the first Judo world champion from France and the president of the French Judo Federation, Mr. Jean Luc Rouge, “The people of France adopted Judo like their very own and they not only developed it as a sport but also as an educational system and as a lifestyle. And there are Judo clubs all over the county, and we are in every city, every village, we are everywhere”.
When France produced its first world champion in 1975, there were a few thousand practitioners in the country.
After that, the nation accepted Jean Luc Rouge as their hero and role model, and they began to indulge in the game and made it one of the most practiced supports in the state along with Tennis and football.
Franc’s domination and progress in Judo for decades.
After adopting Judo as a lifestyle and following their hero Mr. Jean Luc Rogue, France gave more world champions to the world like David Douillet, Lucie Decosse, Emillie Andeol, and Teddy Riner.
France has its great participation of champions in Judo, which can be shown by the considerable share of Teddy Riner in this martial art.
Riner, the French fighter, has won two Olympic gold medals and 10 world championship titles along with being a five-time champion of European title in Judo.
He maintained a winning streak till 154 fights before getting battered by a Japanese Judo practitioner back in Feb 2020. As per CNN, Teddy Rinser is the all-time best Judo player in the world.
Judo from Japan to France
So France is the country keeping Judo alive, which is almost being dominated by other activities in its homeland; Japan.
In 1935, France was introduced to Judo, when Japanese Martial Artist Mr. Mikinosuke Kawaishi, famous as the “father of French-Judo”, first visited France.
Mikinosuke developed a method for teaching this art to the non-Japanese or non-Asian, and he launched the Japan-France Judo Club that was operational in 1956 when the very first practitioner of Judo, Bernard Pariset, enrolled in the World Judo Championship. And this way, he set the stage for the boom and raise of Judo in France.
It began in the ’50s and still, it is raising day by day in the country which is the exact opposite to the inventing country because, in Japan, the number is really decreasing day by day and France is the going to be the next go-to country for Judo in upcoming years or decades.
Judo in France, First come First Serve
Another reason for the popularity of Judo in France is the First come First Serve formula. Like many European countries, France doesn’t have native martial art.
Mostly the effective and the well-known arts of fighting belong to the Asian countries. Hence, The Judo was the arguably first unarmed fighting technique that came to France, and they adopted and accepted it like their own.
Reasons for the decline of Judo in Japan
We can say Japan the land of Martial Arts where many of the arts of fighting were originated, for example, Kendo, Aikido, Kickboxing, Kyudo, Kenjutsu, Laido, Ninjutsu, Kenpo, Naginata, and many many others.
For this reason, it can be seen that the citizen have a lot of choices for taking any martial art. So their population has been divided into many categories in regard to learning fighting arts. Those who are old school fighters, stick to the main art, and they prefer to stay with Jujutsu, which is the main source from which Judo was derived.
On the other hand, the French are sticking with the one they earned early success with. In the very beginning of Judo years in France, a few of the French Judo fighters came to the limelight by winning some titles.
And then, the nation followed it’s heroes. And those heroes spread this martial art with their influence on the population.
Ok, so these reasons show how and why Judo is so popular in France, and soon it is going to outnumber the origin of Judo.
The next question is, are there some other countries where Judo is so popular? Yes, there are some others too which doing good in Judo. Let us have a look at the list.
Other countries where Judo is popular
Russia and Cuba are the other countries doing well in Judo.
But due to some reasons, they are not at the level of France.
For example, Russia has won a few titles in this sport, and they have considerable judo clubs and students in the country, but they have their own fighting technique which is one of the most effective and powerful sports, Sambo (more info read about the effectiveness and other details about Sambo).
And same like French people found their national heroes and influential role models in Judo, Russian people not only have their native combat sports but they have a hero like Khabib “The Eagle”.
Khabib is the best martial artist in the history of mixed martial arts who dominated the world with his best grappling skills and perfection in Sambo.
So this way, the era of Khabib has taken the focus towards Sambo. Furthermore, the Russian army and a considerable part of the population are attached to their native fighting art, Sambo.
The other country is Cuba, many Olympic medals belong to Cuba regarding Judo, but Cuba is best known for Amateur boxing, and to some extent, professional boxing too.
Cubans are best known for their boxing ability. They usually compete in the Olympics and take the gold medal in boxing, and those who want to adopt it as a profession, shift to America to start their professional career because professional boxing is not allowed in Cuba due to its brutality and cruelty.
For these reasons, France is the only country other than Japan that is doing well with Judo.
