Dear Judoka,

I wish you a happy World Judo Day! For the very first time in history, a full day dedicated to our sport has been set up. I know that many of you accross the planet, have prepared a special event to celebrate the educational dimension of Judo. I am very proud, and we can all be very proud of that. Thank you to all of you.

The International Judo Federation, in its missions, has the duty to develop judo in all sectors. When Master Jigoro Kano created judo in 1882, he wanted to create a means of education and he did it. This is the foundation of our discipline. Nowadays, I want this dimension to be better known by all the judoka and generally speaking by everybody.

Respect by Judo Club Krems (Austria)Our discipline has values that grow naturally in the dojo and on the mat, particularly through the various exercises that all of us have learned in our club. These values must of course find a favorable echo in everyday life and beyond that, in the society.

October 28, the birthday of Jigoro Kano, will from now on be an annual day of awareness about judo and its values. This day will be the one of all the judoka. I wish that all practitioners, clubs, national federations and Continental Unions rally to highlight the greatness of judo.

This year the value of respect was chosen as the main theme of the first World Judo Day. But this worldwide action is not limited only to a single day, now we need to work to ensure its success and I count on you to be efficient relays.

With all my friendship and respect for the work undertaken on a daily basis in all the dojos around the world.

Marius L. Vizer,
IJF President

WHAT'S NEW?

We have added several useful information on the website, please follow the links below:

And now...

The first World Judo Day is now over. Thank you to all of you for the support and the great efforts that you made. This proves how big judo is throughout the planet. We are now receiving a lot of reports and pictures on what you have organized on October 28th. Please continue to send us a presentation of your own event to be published on the WJD website at press@ijf.org. In the upcoming weeks, we will explain how the WJD will continue to be developped in order to prepare the next edition.