As we enter the month of October, we are fast approaching World Judo Day in just under four weeks on the 28th. We celebrate Jigoro Kano on this day as it is his birthday, and so the European Judo Union have decided to dedicate the entire month to the founder.
The aim is to bring the founder of judo and his goals to the judo community. Over the course of the next four weeks the EJU Education Department will bring you the teachings of Jigoro Kano on our social media channels.
World Judo Day is celebrated by the entire community and the IJF has already announced the theme this year to be, ‘solidarity’. As the International Judo Federation highlight in their news, many around the world have faced hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic yet we seem to be more united than ever as we have been forced to realise what is truly important, humanity and our connection with one another.
This is a perfect theme to follow on from the 2020 ‘Together We Are Stronger’ celebration. Solidarity has proven to be a strength of ours in this sport, supporting each other, whether it be in local communities or pledging our support to those who have found themselves as refugees.
On the 28th of October the community will join together and in the words of the IJF, ‘to think of solidarity by telling yourself that the hand you extend today may be the one you need tomorrow.’ Solidarity isn’t something you can do on your own.
Author: Thea Cowen