JUDO  was founded in 1882 by Dr. Jigoro Kano. That was the middle of the Meiji period in which Samurai and jujutsu were falling into disfavor. Kano recognized the inherent benefits of the Japanese martial art of jujutsu. Kano founded judo after many years of studying various extant jujutsu styles. Along with developing practical physical and philosophical principals to be applied to everyday life Kano wanted to preserve as many techniques from the ancient jujutsu schools as possible.    

Judo encompasses all forms of combat techniques. While most often associated today with throws and ground controls, Judo also includes strikes, arm-bars, strangles, and weapons. Judo is practiced most usually with a partner. Judo was the original mixed martial art.

There are several forms of judo practice including randori (free practice), kata (prearranged formal technique), and shiai (tournament competition). While many judo schools today have their main emphasis on competition judo in actuality competition was originally meant to be a minor segment of judo. Kano intended for more emphasis to be placed on randori and kata.

At Arkansas Goshinkan we strive to teach the full body of knowledge that is Judo. While we encourage competition for anyone interested developing only elite athletes is not our goal. We stress learning the full body of Judo techniques, as well as the underlying physical, moral, and philosophical principles behind them. In order to do so kata is practiced as well as randori. We always place value on learning the Japanese terminology for Judo, along with studying underlying Japanese cultural issues important   to Judo as a way of life and a martial art. 

Our younger students practice and learn basic throwing and pinning techniques. Adolescents and adults  learn throwing and pinning techniques, as well as chokes, arm-bars, and self defense versions of Judo (jujutsu).

While the vast majority of Judo practice involves physical activity, the ancient method of oral transmission of the art and culture is also observed. In other words – there’s a fair amount of verbal dialogue.