TY - JOUR
T1 - The sportification of judo
T2 - Global convergence and evolution
AU - Sato, Shohei
PY - 2013/7
Y1 - 2013/7
N2 - This article re-examines our understanding of modern sport. Today, various physical cultures across the world are practised under the name of sport. Almost all of these sports originated in the West and expanded to the rest of the world. However, the history of judo confounds the diffusionist model. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, a Japanese educationalist amalgamated different martial arts and established judo not as a sport but as 'a way of life'. Today it is practised globally as an Olympic sport. Focusing on the changes in its rules during this period, this article demonstrates that the globalization of judo was accompanied by a constant evolution of its character. The overall 'sportification' of judo took place not as a diffusion but as a convergence - a point that is pertinent to the understanding of the global sportification of physical cultures, and also the standardization of cultures in modern times.
AB - This article re-examines our understanding of modern sport. Today, various physical cultures across the world are practised under the name of sport. Almost all of these sports originated in the West and expanded to the rest of the world. However, the history of judo confounds the diffusionist model. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, a Japanese educationalist amalgamated different martial arts and established judo not as a sport but as 'a way of life'. Today it is practised globally as an Olympic sport. Focusing on the changes in its rules during this period, this article demonstrates that the globalization of judo was accompanied by a constant evolution of its character. The overall 'sportification' of judo took place not as a diffusion but as a convergence - a point that is pertinent to the understanding of the global sportification of physical cultures, and also the standardization of cultures in modern times.
KW - Japan
KW - cultural exchange
KW - martial arts
KW - non-western
KW - sport
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U2 - 10.1017/S1740022813000235
DO - 10.1017/S1740022813000235
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84879039832
VL - 8
SP - 299
EP - 317
JO - Journal of Global History
JF - Journal of Global History
SN - 1740-0228
IS - 2
ER -