HOW TO USE THIS INFORMATION

Articles In This Section:

Whether readers are using this book for private or class study, they are recommended to proceed in the following way:

1. Read the sections of the Introduction that follow very carefully. Try to commit to memory the basic principles of Judo. Think about them, and how you would apply them, so that the knowledge is absorbed and becomes part of you. Do not skip over this section, dismissing it as mere theory. It is vital, for the principles stated here underlie all Judo and Self-Defense movements, and will be constantly referred to in the lessons.

2. Study the lessons one to a hundred in the correct sequence. There is a reason for the order of learning the movements. Experience has shown that it is the best order. For example, Judo is taught before Self-Defense, because just knowing the tricks of self-defense alone is not much good. You would be very lucky if they worked, because you must have experience of making Judo movements, and have developed timing and skill, and the instinctive knowledge of what your opponent will do next that is part of Judo, before self-defense tricks are useful to you.

3. Study one lesson each week. If you can only have one practice each week, you will find that it will fill the evening. If you have several practice evenings, go over the week's lesson again and again. Do not move on to the next week's. Beginners tend to do a movement twenty or thirty times, and then to say: "I know this one now. I'll do something else." They might reflect that experts will practice a movement for ten years, and still agree that they do not "know" it. A week is a short time to be practicing one movement, not a long time. If you really cannot complete a lesson in a week, take longer of course, but then your course itself will take longer. Assuming normal progress, and allowing two weeks' holiday each year, these hundred lessons will last two years. At the end of that time, you will have a sound knowledge of all the movements you are likely to need in your Judo career, and a good grounding in Self-Defense as well. Suggestions are then made as to how you can continue your studies, and there are appendices on "How to Form a Club" and "How to Present Public Displays", which might be of use to some readers.