Judo has developed in Britain over a period of approximately sixty years, during which time the scale of activity, the organisational form, the nature of pedagogic processes and the content of rules have changed considerably. The study initially locates Kodokan Judo in its original social context, Japan, relating its specific initial form to forces within Japanese society in the late nineteenth century. Chapter 2 gives an account of early Judo activity in Britain, before World War Two, giving detailed attention to the social composition of the practising group at the time. The central empirical focus of the study, in Chapters 3 to 6, is on Judo activity in Britain since 1945, examining authority and organisation, relations with Japan, approaches to training and contest participation, approaches to teaching, rules and refereeing activity. The material presented here indicates that Judo has become more bureaucratic, contestoriented and concerned with spectator-appeal, losing elements of 'moral/philosophical' orientation which were important in Judo's original conception and which remained so in British Judo up to the early 1960s. The final chapter provides a sociological explanation of the changes previously detailed, analysing them in the light of certain themes In the original conception of Kodokan Judo, the changing social composition of the Judo population In Britain, the nature of Judo leadership at different times and the focus of Judo activity in different periods. The overall conclusion on changes in British Judo is that Judo has moved into the 'field of sport', becoming an Olympic sport, with certain of its 'star' exponents achieving high sporting status. It is concluded that these developments are In line with certain possibilities inherent In the original formulation of Kodokan Judo, which combined traditional Japanese and modern Western elements, reflecting tensions in Japanese society in the Meiji period.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:256184 |
| Date | January 1981 |
| Creators | Goodger, Brian Christopher |
| Publisher | University College London (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10019047/ |
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