http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judo 

 

Judo history
Martial art in which two opponents use movement, balance, and leverage to gain advantage over each other. Judo was first developed in the early 1880s by Japanese educator Kano Jigoro. He regulated some jujutsu techniques and eliminated the more dangerous ones, introducing the new martial art in 1882. Kano established the first judo school in Tokyo, Japan. In 1951 the International Judo Federation became the sport’s governing body. Judo first appeared as an event in the Olympic Games in 1964.
Encarta Encyclopedia

www.judoinfo.com/history.htm

 

 

For the higher level kyu grades who are looking forward to working on their 1st Dan - you should start getting familiar with the first Kata – the Nage No Kata.

There’s a couple of throws that aren’t taught very often (or aren’t used very often in competition)
(And remember, you should be able to do the kata as both tori and uke!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nage-no-kata

http://www.judoinfo.com/katanage.htm