Matthew Syed: Comment
Some of the many victims of Vladimir Putin's foreign and domestic
policy will be curious to know which aspects of judo's philosophy the
former President finds so meaningful. Well, Vlad? Is it the disavowal
of aggression and the disqualification of anyone indulging in such? Is
it the bit about repudiating tactics that rely on brute strength? Or is
it the emphasis on gentleness, from which the term judo is derived?
There is a lot of gobbledegook written about various sports and their
supposed "meanings", but in the case of judo there seems to be a
genuine affiliation between the philosophy espoused by Jigoro Kano, the
sport's founder, and the art as it is practised today. Kano studied a
number of martial arts and became captivated by the idea of utilising
an opponent's strength against him. "Maximum efficiency" became the
rallying cry of the sport and it was taken up by thousands in Japan
and, eventually, across the world.
The only problem with the explicit repudiation of violence in judo
(punching and kicking results in disqualification) is that it makes for
pretty dull viewing.
A match consists of the two fighters clasping each other's shoulders
while keeping their rumps as far apart as possible (to avoid getting
tripped over), with the flinch and counter-flinch giving the overall
impression of a crab in the early stages of a fit.
But if the sport is dull to watch, it is a joy to take part in. I was a
regular at judo sessions for three years in early adolescence and loved
the stylised falling, mat-hitting and all-round muscular exertion. Best
of all were those odd occasions when we got to grapple with the
opposite sex. I owe my first erotic experience to judo.
But back to Mr Putin. Some of the strongman's apologists will doubtless
relate many of his political successes to his devotion to judo
principles. Look, they will say, at how he utilised Georgia's
aggression in South Ossetia to bolster Russia's wider policy towards
the former Soviet satellite states while simultaneously demonstrating
the impotence of the West. Which just goes to show that philosophy is
nothing without interpretation - yet another insight glimpsed by the
Master, Kano.
