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Judo, the gentle way, is a "grappling" or "close-quarter" style of martial art which is derived from the fighting art of Jujutsu. In 1882, Jigoro Kano opened the Kodokan, which was Judo's first training facility. In 1964, Judo became an official Olympic sport and thereafter, Judo has been considered as much a martial sport as a martial art. A Judoka, or Judo practitioner, is skilled in unbalancing his/her opponent and following up with a throwing an opponent and applying a submission technique such as a joint lock or choke. Judokas typically do not learn these advanced submissions until they reach the higher ranks. Nevertheless, Judo teaches a young martial artist balance and the application of throws without relying soley on brute-strength. The savvy use of leverage is at the heart of Judo training.
As with any martial art, your child's personal comfort level is key to his/her enjoyment in Judo. Because it is a grappling art, Judo relies on continuous physical contact with an opponent. Whether or not this is a problem with your child should be discussed beforehand.
Like most traditional eastern arts, Judo has a belt-ranking system and, in fact, it was Judo's founder, Jigoro Kano, who developed the first colored (kyu) belt and black belt ranking system we see so much of today. Also, even though Judo is a relatively young martial art compared to arts such as Karate and Jujutsu, it's practitioners maintain a high standard of traditional values present in the study of the older arts. Judo also maintains the use of Japanese terminology to describe its technique.
A unique element in Judo training is the practice of breakfalls. Since Judo training is dominated by throws to a tatami (mat), it is in a student's best interest to learn proper falling technique. This ensures a more "spread-out" distribution of body weight and less chance for injury when hitting the mat. Many drills are devoted to this practice exclusively.
However, the focus remains the hip throws, sweeps, shoulder throws, and submissions. As mentioned earlier, the submissions taught will emphasize self-defense at the higher ranks, while at the lower ranks, learning how to gain leverage on the ground and pinning your opponent to the mat will be taught.
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