Jigoro Kano NEVER said that strength was bad...Here's what he actually said

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00]Hi, this is Shintaro. Today, we are going to be discussing a very important dichotomy, the strength and technique.

[00:00:09]A lot of people think that because Kano was small and a lot of the Japanese martial artists are not big, people think that they championed only training technique while discouraging being strong.

[00:00:27]That was never the case. Uh I'll discuss a little bit our biases when we're reading some of these words, but today before that, I will be reading a little bit from Mind Over Muscle, so Kano's words, and see exactly what he talked about because I think the term "seriyoku zen'yo" is misunderstood, and again, we are projecting some biases of our own into it. So, if you want to learn more about judo history and how it came to be from the forceful, very brutish jujitsu and sumo into the judo that we have today, check out my book The Origins and History of Judo, linked below.

[00:01:11]So, there is a chapter in Mind Over Muscle called "Importance of a Sports Training", which is found in the part of Judo and Physical Training. You have to understand that Kano championed physical education and physical training. He was not against it. So, sometimes when I make videos talking about judo warm-ups and the calisthenics that is found within the Japanese curriculum, like the video I made, and I always say this coupled with a lot of randori and proper judo training and rope climbing, the stuff that you see the Japanese do, it's more than enough. The gym isn't the end-all be-all. People will that I'm against strength and I'm against fitness.

[00:01:59]That was never uh what I meant. And I know that these things can be misinterpreted or misunderstood, but fitness can take many shapes and forms.

[00:02:10]So, let's see what he actually said about this topic.

[00:02:16]So, in the importance of sports, he says, "It is necessary to develop your muscles to some extent. However, and the development of a sound well-functioning body with a balanced musculature is ideal from the physiological standpoint. That must be the goal of physical education."

[00:02:39]So, Seiryoku Zen'yo simply means putting your energy to good use, meaning whatever you're training and the strength that you're gaining through that particular program or discipline, it should yield good results in whatever you're trying to do, whether it is randori or living a good life.

[00:03:04]So, clearly here he is encouraging muscular training. And if you look at these exercises here, this is very good exercise. There's a lot of them. They're coupled with a lot of balance work and uchikomi and incorporating calisthenics basically into judo. He also talks about a lot of disciplines can create a disproportionate body where some muscles are bigger. For example, if you look at archers, they have one bicep, some of them, that is bigger than the other or uh some disciplines only require upper body, etc. He talks about swimming being a good uh discipline. He talks about building a proportionate body and also it's just great for your health and endurance. Also walking and running.

[00:03:58]And he talks with a lot of admiration about calisthenics, but he says that it is great for your body. It does not create injury like other disciplines, but the problem is you cannot it does not really reflect real life.

[00:04:15]I'm not doing push-ups in real life or in the office.

[00:04:20]Same with pull-ups and muscle-ups and flag etc. He said, "However, a lot of the good stuff about calisthenics can be incorporated into judo and with a self-defense program. And here you can see uh these techniques that uh are presented in front of you where you can incorporate them while at the same time within the context of judo. And you see people doing this like push-ups and squatting your partner, putting your partner on your back and running or climbing up the stairs. And then when you get to the finish line, you do uchikomi or nagekomi or whatever. You see, it's very well incorporated into something that you can do and it can yield positive results when let's say you're doing randori or in a self-defense situation. So, this is what he means by putting your energy to good use. So, for example, we have this uh thing where sometimes we see a big bodybuilder and we see him do just daily tasks like carrying the groceries up the stairs. He cannot do it without taking a break or running to the end of the street and we started to laugh or something. Okay, ask yourself, why do we do that?

[00:05:40]It's because the energy is not being put to good use. We just don't have words for it. So, all that training, let's say he's benching three plates and he's squatting five plates.

[00:05:52]But, when it comes to regular everyday tasks, he is not putting that strength into good use. So, think of technique as like the channel or the carrier of that strength, of that fitness, everything that you have reaped during your physical training.

[00:06:12]And with that technique, you can yield good results. A lot of people think that Seryoku Zen'yo is just meaning using the little amount of force for the biggest amount of results when you're fighting.

[00:06:26]That can be true because you have to be smart about how you're doing it. Let's say if I'm fighting a 120 kg guy, if I'm moving him, he's going to be a lot lighter. I'm not going to fight him from a static position. Or I have to feel how their weight is shifting like Kosei Inoue when he was doing the Ouchi Gari Mata in the plus 100. He would feel them sway and with it he would go along rather than to just resist or force his way into a technique. He talks about striking, too.

[00:06:59]He says, "If you're strong, you you should not be striking forcefully.

[00:07:05]You should be striking swiftly and with good form and that's will have a better result. Again, it's the technique. Think of it as a carrier to the strength that you have gained.

[00:07:17]Not either technique or strength. Now, if you have good technique, it needs to carry a lot less strength, sure, but you yourself are not weak or unfit. So, for example, when I showed uh Takeoaka fighting in the All Japan, yes, he is the weaker one in this equation, but he himself is a very powerful fighter. He's one of the fittest men in the world. He's He's the world champion, after all. So, when he was fighting this much bigger guy, yes, he's not weak, but he's using his technique as a carrier for his strength and also, contrary to his opponent, he is putting his strength to a good use far better and far more efficiently than his opponent. So, this is what it means. It doesn't mean that Oh, just be weak and work technique and there you go. No, it's you have to study.

[00:08:21]Technique is study, but also you have to study physically. Physical education is also important.

[00:08:28]I think, personally, th- this dichotomy, it comes from I don't know the exact origins, but it reminds me of the quote by Nietzsche, where he says, you know, uh silly are those or naive are those that think they are pacifists or peaceful simply because they have no claws or no teeth.

[00:08:53]So, it it's this dichotomy that if you're powerful, you're not virtuous, but if you're weak, you're virtuous or you're the pacifist.

[00:09:02]I think it comes from this. So, you should That's why we champion technique rather than just brute strength. Sure, if you you have brute strength and you have far less intelligence or grappling IQ or you you haven't trained your technique properly, you don't have proper understanding, yes, uh a much smaller guy who's very fit and knows what he's doing, he's going to be a lot better. I'm sure a lot of you have tapped a very big guy who who's been doing jiu-jitsu for a month and he's much bigger than you. I'm I'm sure all of you listening have had this.

[00:09:38]Why? Because you know how to put your strength and exercises that you've done into good use, unlike them, because they don't know how. They don't have that carrier, which is the study of technique and the study in and of itself. So, again, it's putting your energy to good use. And finally, when we talk about the three levels of judo, the highest level is to contribute to society and putting your energy to good use, meaning helping others, saving lives, living in a good way where you don't need the other people's help to do daily tasks, so you yourself can accomplish them or help those that cannot do them themselves.

[00:10:22]This is what it means, seiryoku zen'yo.

[00:10:23]It's not uh I'm just king of technique, but I don't go to the gym or I don't do any fitness-related exercises. In Kodokan, we we did all of the stuff that you just saw.

[00:10:35]Every time.

[00:10:37]Again, the the gym isn't the end-all be-all. You can be fit and strong in so many ways.

[00:10:43]In calisthenics, in the dojo, with those techniques or exercises.

[00:10:47]A good swimmer is not a weak person.

[00:10:50]So, now I know, because of the gym culture that we're in in these last two decades, we think that everything should be measured through the lens of the gym exercises, the squat, the bench.

[00:11:01]But that doesn't have to be the case. If you If you climb a rope, you know, nonstop up and down, up and down, okay, you don't do pull-ups, but that But I'm sure you're very strong.

[00:11:13]And that's how it should be seen. He championed physical education. He never said, "Just be weak." Otherwise, we would all be in the library or training aikido.

[00:11:23]But that's not the case.

[00:11:25]So, it's again putting your energy to good use. But So, taking a lot of steroids, will that help you? No. If you don't have the study, if you don't have the IQ, if you don't have the proper strategy, the proper approach, the technique, which is the carrier of that strength, you will never be a champion, even if you take 10 g every week. And vice versa, you can understand all the physics in the world and how it works, but if you yourself are frail and lazy, it will never happen.

[00:11:56]So, take from that what you will.

[00:11:59]Um If you know a little bit about the dichotomy of, you know, weakness with virtue and strength being linked to brutality and tyranny, let me know where it comes from because I find it interesting and I think this is our bias when it comes to this stuff.

[00:12:17]So, if you have anything to add, let me know down below. This was Shadi, and thank you for listening.