History of Kosen Judo
(Originally Published at Brunocarmenisjudoblog)
Until 1998 Hirata was the last living person who practiced Kosen Judo. He experienced the ground work system, that Kano Shihan had added to Kodokan Judo directly. Hirata died in July 1998 at age 76, he was 162cm tall and weighed about 62kg, but he wa san outstanding performer of judo ground techniques ne waza.
Takeda Motsuge, born in 1794 in the city of Matsuyama founded the Fesen Ryu school. He started with jujitsu as a young boy and had learned the Namba Ippon Ryu from Takahashi Inobei and furthermore he had studied at the schools of Takenouchi Ryu, Sekiguchi Ryu, Yoshin Ryu, Shibukawa Ryu and Yagyu Ryu.
In 1867 the Samurai warriors started to disappear and it is when Takeda starter to work on fighting without arms, with special attention to ground work. Nowadays some Fesen Ryu schools also take throwing techniques into consideration.
After Kano Shihan has started his new discipline, within shortly he defeated mst of the jujitsu schools. But the one of Mataemon Tanabe, which has challenged the Kodokan Institute, defeated everybody thanks to the oustanding ground work, includine armlocks, chocking techniques and pins. Kano Shihan was really amazed by the ability of the students of this school and therefore asked their Sensei Tanabe to reveal to him the secrets. He chose his best students and sent them to study with this great Master.
The difference between the two methods, Kodokan and Kosen, concerns more the style rather than the organization. The first was more oriented towards throwing techniques, while the second was specialized in ground work.
At the beginning of 1900 most of the techniques were not yet well defined and most of the fights, which took place on the ground, were rather violent. One had to surrender in order to avoid to really get hurt or injured.
It is said, that in those first years most of the fights took place only on the ground, that there was no time nor space limit. The fights would last for hours until one of the opponents was not declared the winner, because the other surrendered, lost his senses or was pinned for 30 seconds. It was only possible to with a full point ippon, if one scored half point wazaari the fight was declared a draw.
Kano’s method on the other hand was open to all, without causing any accidents or injuries and could be considered more a physical activity rather than a martial art.
Kano added to Kodokan judo the ground techniques defining them Kosen. The main ones of this style were pins and chocking techniques, without prohibiting throws.
Most of Kano Shihan’s students had a deep passion for judo and trained very hard. The Kosen style was highly considered throughout the nation and had reached a very high technical level in which the ne waza spirit was included.
Most of them specialized and went for Tanabe’s style, as his students would win all competitions. But Kano Shihan could not accept such situation, because their supremacy undermined the delicate balance he tried to establish within the Kodokan.
In 1925 the Kosen style was so strong, that Kano Shihan had to establish new fighting rules in order to restrict it. He established a proportion between ground techniques 30% and standing techniques 70%, principle which up to today is in force within the International Judo Federation.
The idea of the founder was, that the Kodokan was supposed to represent a synthesis of the old Ju Jitsu and was therefore not supposed to make any preference between one style or the other.
Futhermore he also wanted to promote his method abroad and therefore needed to send people who were able to defend Kodokan’s ideals whenever facing any kind of challenge. He decided to send his students specialized in ground work of the new Kosen style abroad.
Among these there were Hirata, Tomita and Maeda. Maeda went to the US along with Tomita and after several draw backs ended up in Brazil were he taught his technique to the Gracie brothers. Brasilian Ju Jitsu concentrates quite a lot on ground work as it comes from the Kosen style.
Ground techniques are quite refined and various, but unfortunately Kosen Judo was stopped by the Second World War as all other sports were prohibited and taken up again only when it was ended.
The Kosen style is a kind of judo, which has been picked up by the main high schools and technical institutes during the Meiji Period going from 1816 until1914, year in which the First National Japanese High School Championship took place at the Kyoto Imperial University.
Following several developments in time the school system changed. The old schools have become universities and nowadays Kosen Judo is practiced only in seven universities, which have a dedicated championship. The former Imperial Universities are those of Hokkaido, Kyoto, Kyushu, Nagoya, Osaka, Tohoku and Tokyo.
Shichitei Judo / Kosen Judo Tournaments
Japan’s seven national universities began their Judo Tournament in 1952. The forerunners of this event were the Kosen Judo Tournaments dating back to before WWII. Today’s seven national universities are Hokkaido U., Tohoku U., Tokyo U., Nagoya U., Kyoto U., Osaka U., and Kyushu U. These schools share a storied tradition. Every year, their Judo clubs meet to test their skills against one another and see who trained hardest. This fierce, but friendly competition embodies the spirit of Shichitei Judo and keeps alive the Kosen tradition. Students train without respite, developing not only their minds and bodies, but their fighting spirit; and their endeavors, in turn, develop the art of Shichitei Judo, itself.
From its inception, Judo has been comprised of standing techniques and groundwork. Shichitei Judo has always emphasized the cultivation of the latter, strong Newaza. From the third tournament in 1954, Shichitei rules permit students to use Hikikomi to pull the opponent straight into Newaza. Also, Shichitei Judo emphasizes the uninterrupted flow of matches, allowing players to fully demonstrate their prowess by flexibly using the mat space in and outside the competition area to the greatest extent possible. Contestants are expected to understand the principles underlying these rules and compete with dignity and respect for their opponents.
