Judo or Jūdō (柔道, jūdō^?, meaning "gentle way") is a modern Japanese martial art and combat sport, that was created in Japan in 1882 by Dr Kano Jigoro. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an opponent to submit by joint locking or by executing a choke. Strikes and thrusts by hands and feet as well as weapons defences are a part of judo, but only in pre-arranged forms (kata) and are not allowed in judo competition or free practice (randori).

The philosophy and subsequent pedagogy developed for judo became the model for other modern Japanese martial arts that developed from traditional schools (koryū). The worldwide spread of judo has led to the development of a number of offshoots such as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which was developed after Mitsuyo Maeda brought judo to Brazil in 1914, Sambo, and Bartitsu. Practitioners of judo are called jūdōka.

Wikipedia [accessed 10 May 2010] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judo