Jigoro Kano was a jujitsu expert who focused on throws. He melded jujitsu styles into one form that eventually became known as “judo.” His Kodokan judo style still lives today.
Contribution to Judo:
To help judo be incorporated into Japanese schools, he removed some of its more dangerous moves. By 1911, largely through his efforts, judo had been adopted as part of Japan’s educational system. In 1964, it became an Olympic sport. Pedagogical innovations attributed to Kanō include the use of black and white belts, and the introduction of dan ranking to show the relative ranking among members of a martial art style. Well-known mottoes attributed to Kanō include “maximum efficiency with minimum effort” and “mutual welfare and benefit”.