Why does France love Judo?

Although Japan will forever be known as the founder of Judo, there is another country that rivals Japan in terms of loving Judo. This country is France, which has a very strong population of Judoka and like the Japanese, they’re also internationally recognized as a Judo powerhouse.

Just glancing at Olympic results over the years will bring up a number of French medalists in Judo which says it all. Naturally, you may wonder why this happened as out of all of the countries in the world, why France?

The answer has multiple reasons, and it’s fair to say that Judo will probably be around in France forever. So, if you want to know why Judo is so popular in Judo, then read on.

Judo is part of the French education system

You may be surprised to hear that in some schools, Judo is part of the French education system. That’s right, just like some schools in England teach soccer as a compulsory part of physical education classes, France teaches Judo.

It should be known that not every French school practices Judo and most don’t. However, if the head of physical education in a French school puts Judo on the curriculum, then it becomes compulsory. This means that kids of all ages will sometimes be required by law to participate in Judo.

If you take a handful of kids from a young age and get them to practice Judo, then some will go on to train for years, becoming black belts in the process. If you ever take a culture and systematically make it part of education then it will become engrained in the culture.

Although some countries like the USA and Russia have similar programs with wrestling and Sambo, most countries in Europe don’t have such a romantic view of martial arts being taught in schools. This is one of the reasons why Judo is so popular in France – because the kids are surrounded by it from a young age. If you did this with any sport or activity, then you could expect to see it blossom.

More examples of Judo’s cultural dominance in France

Although this isn’t a reason why Judo is so dominant in France, it is an example of how powerful it is in terms of influence. Back in 2015, the French Judo Federation banned Judo from being taught to MMA fighters by Judokas. France actually has an interesting history with MMA, where it was banned as a public event up until 2020.

Long story short, for a while – French Judo has been against MMA and has tried to preserve Judo as the main martial art within the country. This would explain its moves to hinder the growth of MMA. This serves as a good example of just how influential and powerful Judo is in France. If it could effectively ban MMA and MMA fighters from learning Judo, then this says it all.

France was one of the first European countries exposed to Judo

Back when Judo was still growing during the 1930s, one of the first countries outside of Japan to learn the art was France. This was overseen by the Judo founder Jigaro Kano who wanted to help expand Judo’s growth on a global scale. Why did Kano choose France of all countries? That’s not really known. However, the point is that France got a taste of Judo early on, which will have undoubtedly helped its foundations in the country.

Remember, this would have happened during a time when most traditional martial arts weren’t massively popular. For instance, you may have had boxing and wrestling back then, but most of the eastern martial arts were still developing. Because of France’s early introduction to Judo – it quickly grew faster than other competing martial arts. This makes sense, considering Kano helped oversee its expansion – and France welcomed his attention.

It wasn’t just Kano who helped bring Judo’s influence to France though, as his disciple Mikinosuke Kawaishi also relocated there. During the 1940s, his presence helped bring Judo to the French masses which only grew Kano’s previous efforts. Combined with Paul Bonet-Maury, he helped create the French Judo Federation which only added to previous Japanese efforts to build Judo in France.

Success creates a positive cycle

This point isn’t exclusive to Judo – that success creates a positive cycle. Imagine you’re a French school kid and you see the success of Teddy Riner being paraded around French media. This will only inspire future generations.

The result of this isn’t just cultural either, it’s often financial. If a country is successful in one area of sports then there’s a good chance it will gain more financial backing. Sometimes, public funds will be used to push certain sports due to national pride. In France’s case, this is what happened with Judo. As a result, the positive cycle continues to grow and Judo becomes bigger and bigger, just like soccer in Brazil.

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, Judo is a big deal in France. However, this isn’t a coincidence. Instead, its growth can be traced back to the 1930s when it was pushed on the French by the Kano. Had Kano chosen to bring Judo to somewhere like Italy instead, then maybe France’s history with Judo would have been very different.

From there, Judo then became culturally recognized in France when it became a part of its education system. This resulted in a nation of Judoka, some of who would go on to represent France on the biggest stages. Due to the success of this, even more French people got interested in Judo which then led to where it is today.