I'd be interested to learn what people understand the philosophy of judo to be, and how it differs from other Japanese/Okinawan arts.

Budo

Tough one. Of course the underlying principles would be: max effect, min effort; yeilding to an attack to develop force to throw; better your life through training; etc.
I think most of the philosophical ideas associated with Judo come naturally. I never make an effort to do any of the above stated...they just happen with the training. You make friends, you train hard, you get better, and it all kind of falls into place (at least for me). Kano wanted Judo to be a vehicle for expression and self-improvement. Most Judoka I know have a good personality and train because they like it and see its benefits. There are always exceptions, as there are always people with a chip on their shoulder: we are still individuals. All in all, I think self improvement is a fundamental part of the Judo philosophy...and I think it occurs naturally in a good training environment. Then again, most martial arts, even more modern martial arts, would probably yeild the same ideas and results. Good environment, self improvement.
Is this the type of thing you were looking for, or did I go way off the subject?

[This message has been edited by immrtldragon (edited 03-08-2004).]

Judo, in principle teaches very little opposition to force. Many Japanese and Okinawan arts teach opposing force: Karate for example. This is the difference in hard and soft styles. Hard styles: strike hard and end fight quickly, when they come forward, make your foot collide with their body to add their force with yours and hurt them bad! Soft Styles: perry and misdirect, when they come forward, slide to the side on an angle and gain an advantageous lock or joint manipulation or in some way help them go where they are going. This helps to force them to the ground or gets you into an advantageous postion with no force used. Harmony is the key here. This is very breif, but hope it helps a bit.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Slayr:
Judo, in principle teaches very little opposition to force. Many Japanese and Okinawan arts teach opposing force: Karate for example. This is the difference in hard and soft styles. Hard styles: strike hard and end fight quickly, when they come forward, make your foot collide with their body to add their force with yours and hurt them bad! Soft Styles: perry and misdirect, when they come forward, slide to the side on an angle and gain an advantageous lock or joint manipulation or in some way help them go where they are going. This helps to force them to the ground or gets you into an advantageous postion with no force used. Harmony is the key here. This is very breif, but hope it helps a bit.[/QUOTE]

Black Belt magazine just started a two-part article about the origin of Judo which my help. The first issue has UFC veteran Chuck "the Iceman" Liddell on the cover. It may help shed some light on judo's philosophy as well.