What is the judo moral code?
The judo moral code is an eight-part set of values, invented by judo’s founder Jigoro Kano. The eight values are courage, courtesy, honour, honesty, modesty, respect, self-control and friendship and all eight are covered in the Koka Kids judo moral code series, with supporting material for coaches to use including poster and sticker templates.
In this eight part Moral Code series we look at how we can encourage these values in a dojo through every-day examples.
Honour
Honour – it means to do what is right. Even (or especially) when it’s the harder choice. It’s about sticking to principles, and acting with integrity. But how do we teach that to children in our dojo? We can try to show by example. Here, are six examples that are common in judo and show honour…
Six examples of Honour in the Dojo
- Competing with a spirit of FairPlay, with integrity and without trying to bend the rules in your favour.
- Shaking the hand of your opponent, no matter if you win or lose
- Learning and respecting judo’s history and traditions
- Keeping your word and sticking to your principles.
- Following the judo moral code!
- Bowing to a photography of Jigoro Kano in the dojo.
Getting the judoka to think about their behaviour
- Can they think of an example when they have acted with honour at the dojo? What about at school? Or at home?
- Which champion from the Olympics or Paralympics impressed them most for their honourable way of competing?
- Can they add their more examples of Honour to this Study Sheet?
- Which of the examples on the ‘Honour in the Dojo’ poster do they like the most and why?
