The key to the success of judo in France

Judo, created to adapt the knowledge of the Samurai to the changes in Japan during the 1st Meiji, is now remarkably well established in France with five hundred and sixty thousand participants and a number of world-class champions. How can this success be explained? Daniel Berthelot shows how, following an incredible history ranging from the Folies Bergères to the Radium Institute before being taken back into the fold by Japanese masters, this tradition-conscious discipline was able to adapt itself to the French character and temperament. The coloured belt system was invented to meet a need for rapid recognition within the sport. The federation also knew how to count on its champions. Today French judo has a solid and independent personality. It likes to think of itself as an excellent educational sport, which can create a social life capable of taking into account people's differences. It flourishes, in this way, at all levels of society.