The International Judo Federation (IJF) was founded in July 1951. The IJF was originally composed of judo federations from Europe and Argentina. Countries from four continents were affiliated over the next ten years. Today the IJF has 200 National Federations on all continents. There are over 20 million people around the globe who practice

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

, according to the IJF.

History

Since 2009, IJF has organized yearly

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and the World Judo Tour consisting of five Grand Prix, four Grand Slams, a master tournament, and a Continental open tournament. The IJF initially named Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

its honorary president and IJF Ambassador in 2008. That status of Putin's was suspended in 2022, in reaction to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. The IJF also cancelled all competitions in Russia, but allowed their athletes to compete as neutral athletes. After the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, all of the other 31 international Olympic sports organizations banned Russian athletes. But IJF President

Marius Vizer Marius Vizer (born 7 November 1958) is a Romanian former judoka and judo coach, and businessman. Since 2007, he has been the president of the International Judo Federation. Vizer also holds an Austrian passport. Judo Between 1995 and 2001, he w ...

, a long-time close friend of Russian President

, wanted instead to let Russians and Belarusians continue to compete as neutral athletes. Finally, both national federations withdrew of their own accord, until June 2022 when they again competed. Ukraine boycotted IJF events beginning in June 2022 because the Russian team was allowed to compete in and entered competitions. Judo is one of the few

Olympic sports Olympic sports are contested in the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games. The 2020 Summer Olympics included 33 sports; the 2022 Winter Olympics included seven sports. Each Olympic sport is represented by an Sports governing body, inter ...

which goes against the recommendation of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

Events

World Judo Championships The World Judo Championships are the highest level of international judo competition, along with the Judo at the Summer Olympics, Olympic judo competition. The championships are held once every year (except the years when the Olympics take place ...

World Judo Juniors Championships The World Judo Juniors Championships are the highest level of international judo competition for juniors, 21 years of age or less. The championships are held once every year (except the years when the Olympics take place) by the International Jud ...

(1974 to 2011 U20 / 2012 to now U21) *

World Judo Cadets Championships The World Judo Cadets Championships are the highest level of international judo competition for juniors, 18 years of age or less. The championships are held every second year by the International Judo Federation, and qualified judoka compete in t ...

(U18) * World Veterans Judo Championships (30 to +80 in 11 Age Group) * World Kata Judo Championships * IJF World Tour ( Masters, Grand Slam, Grand Prix, Continental Open) *

Judo European Cup is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

Presidents of the IJF

Aldo Torti Aldo may refer to: * Aldo (given name), male given name ** Aldo (footballer, born 1977) ** Aldo (footballer, born 1988) * Aldo Group, a worldwide chain of shoe stores * Aldosterone in shorthand * Aldo Bonzi, a town in Argentina {{disambiguation ...

, Italy, 1951 * Risei Kano, son of

Kanō Jigorō was a Japanese educator, athlete, and the founder of Judo. Along with Ju-Jutsu, Judo was one of the first Japanese martial arts to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport. Pedagogical inno ...

, Japan, 1952–1965 *

Charles Palmer Charles Palmer may refer to: * Charles Palmer (1777–1851), Member of Parliament for Bath * Sir Charles Palmer, 1st Baronet (1822–1907), English shipbuilder, businessman and Liberal Member of Parliament, 1874–1907 * Sir Charles Palmer, 2nd Ba ...

Great Britain, 1965–1979 *

Shigeyoshi Matsumae was a Japanese electrical engineer, inventor of the non-loaded cable carrier system, the Minister of the Ministry of Communications (Teishin-in, between August 30, 1945 and April 8, 1946), politician and the founder of Tokai University. He is a ...

, Japan, 1979–1987 *

Sarkis Kaloghlian Sarkis may refer to: * Sarkis, Iran, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Saint Sarkis the Warrior, a saint of the 4th century * Patriarch Sarkis of Jerusalem (disambiguation), three Armenian patriarchs, from the 13th to 16th centuries **P ...

, Argentina, 1987–1989 *

Lawrie Hargrave Lawrie is a (patronymic or paternal) family name of Scottish origin which means "crafty." Variants of which include: Laurie, Lorrie, Larry, Laury, Lawry and Lowrie. It is also used as a given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Lawrence. Sur ...

, New Zealand, 1989–1991 *

Luis Baguena Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

Spain, 1991–1995 *

Yong Sung Park Yong may refer to: *Yong (), Chinese character for "permanence", unique in that the character contains eight strokes common to Chinese characters; see Eight Principles of Yong *Yong (), Chinese character for "use" or "function"; in Neo-Confucianis ...

, South Korea, 1995–2007 *

, Romania/Austria, 2007– *

Russia, 2008–2022 (honorary) (expelled)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Sports organizations established in 1951 Judo organizations Organisations based in Lausanne

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...