Letter to the editor Judo, the way of mutual welfare and benefits
I would like to congratulate Dr. Nikos Malliaropoulos for the initiative to organize a Judo and Martial Arts issue in this prestigious journal1, a topic with increased number of publications in the last decades.2 However, despite the broad range of topics suggested in the initial call for papers1, only four papers (including the editorial) about judo/martial arts were published, which can be an indicative that the high -level quality required by the British Journal of Sporst Medicine is still to be achieved by researchers working on this topic, although no information was provided in the editorial concerning the number of papers submitted and the proportion of articles approved. Other aspects in this editorial also deserve attention: (a) despite the fact that the Kodokan Judo Institute 3 and the International Judo Federation4 present the date of judo creation as 1882, the authors presented 1888 as the year judo was invented, but no reference was given for this fact; (b) the affirmation that "very little has changed since judo was invented.."(p.1137)5 is greatly different from what researchers in judo history6 and sport sociology7 have presented, especially about what has been called judo Westernization or reflexive judo institutional modernization7,8 and women participation, mainly in Japan9; (c) it is well known that Dr. Jigoro Kano (the founder of judo) proposed this modality to achieve different groups and to contribute to physical, moral and intelectual development6 and that there is a tendency to believe that martial arts can contribute to children development especifically 10, but the use of the International Judo Federation4 as reference to describe the benefits of judo lacks scientific background. Prudent skepticism was recommended11 and a lack of evidence was presented12 concerning the real effects of martial arts programs on children development. Furthermore, many recent cases of catastrophic head and neck injuries13, and of female Japanese athletes being physically punished by their coaches, among other problems, have been reported recently in judo.14 Thus, a more balanced and critical view would be preferred in this editorial; (d) although a traditional judo especialization course has been promoted by the International Budo University (Japan) for many years15, and a specialization for judo coaches has been offered by Leipzig University since 199116, the authors of the editorial opted to describe only a course in which one of them is the coordinator and another is a former student, while no competing interests were reported; (e) finally, there is no such institution called "International Judo Federation Union" as presented in the end of the editorial. I hope this letter helps to improve the information provided by the authors and contribute to discussions concerning judo and martial arts research for mutual welfare and benefits as proposed by the founder of judo, Dr. Jigoro Kano. Emerson Franchini Martial Arts and Combat Sports Research Group, School of Physical Education and Sport, University of S?o Paulo, Brazil The author of this letter declare no competing interests.
References 1. Khan, K. Call for papers - the ECOSEP BJSM judo and martial arts issue 2013. http://blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2013/04/02/call-for-papers-the-ecosep-bjsm -judo-and-martial-arts-issue-2013/ (accessed 19 Nov 2013) 2. Peset F, Ferrer-Sapena A, Villam?n M et al. Scientific literature analysis of judo in Web of Science ?. Arch Budo 2013;9:81-91. 3. History of Kodokan Judo. Kodokan Judo Institute. http://www.kodokan.org/e_basic/history.html (accessed 19 Nov 2013) 4. What is judo? International Judo Federation. http://www.worldjudoday.com/en/WhatisJudo-57.html (accessed 20 Nov 2013) 5. Malliaropoulos, N, Callan M, Puim B. Judo, the gentle way. Br J Sports Med 2013;47:1137. 6. Carr KG. Making way: war, philosophy and sport in Japanese judo. J Sport Hist 1993;20:167-88. 7. Villam?n M, Brown D, Espartero J, Guti?rrez C. Reflexive modernization and the disembedding of judo from 1946 to the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Int Review Sociol Sport 2004;39:139-56. 8. Saeki T. Organizational reformation of the All Japan Judo Federation organization: a sociological study of issues surrounding the conflict between tradition and modernization in a sport. Int Review Sociol Sport 1994;29:301-15. 9. Miarka B, Marques JB, Franchini E. Reinterpreting the history of women's judo in Japan. Int J Hist Sport 2011;28:1016-29. 10. Diamond A, Lee K. Interventions shown to aid executive function development in children 4 to 12 years old. Science 2011;333:959-64. 11. Strayhorn JM, Strayhorn JC. Martial arts research: prudente skepticism. Science 2011;334:310. 12. Mercer J. Martial arts research: weak evidence. 2011;334:310-1. 13. Kamitani T, Nimura Y, Nagahiro S, et al. Catastrophic head and neck injuries in judo players in Japan from 2003 to 2010. Am J Sports Med 2013;41:1915-21. 14. Judo coach's physical assault off emale athletes is a warning to entire Japanese sporting world. http://www.japan- press.co.jp/modules/news/index.php?id=5054 (accessed 20 Nov 2013). 15. International Budo University Special Course - Budo Specialization Program. http://www.budo-u.ac.jp/english/pdf/Information.pdf (accessed 20 Nov 2013). 16. International Coaching Course. http://www.uni- leipzig.de/~itk/itk/html/general_information.html. (accessed 20 Nov 2013).
Conflict of Interest:
None declared
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