Dr. Jose P. Rizal: Father of PHL judo?
IS National Hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal the father of Philippine judo? He could be. Former Philippine Amateur Judo Association president, retired police officer Rey Jaylo, attested to the possibility that Rizal indeed brought judo from Japan to the Philippines.
According to Jaylo, Rizal earned the distinction of being the first Filipino and, for that matter, Malay, to have practiced and taught the Japanese martial art.
Consolacion Cristobal-reyes wrote that during one of Rizal’s visits to Japan, he learned to admire the simple but bountiful beauty of the country, the industriousness of its people and the distinct Japanese arts and culture.
Judo was among the arts that caught Rizal’s attention, who, at that time, was courting a Japanese lady who Jaylo identified as Osei San.
The girl’s father, Jiguro Kano, Jaylo said, happened to be a proponent of the Kodokan style of judo and in his desire to attract the girl, he enrolled at the school ran by Kano.
Rizal fell in love not only with the girl but the sport as well. Judo’s principle employs mental and physical strength taught him by Kano.
Rizal won both and espoused judo when he returned to the country.
Kodokan, as a discipline, involves the practice of the “Way of Ju,” which means the “natural way that accords with the truth of the universe and the one that human beings have to follow.”
“Dr. Rizal’s exile to Dapitan City gave him the opportunity to practice the educational theories he learned from his travels around the world,” Cristobal-reyes wrote in her article. “He opened a school of judo for boys aged 17, mostly descendants of the living citizens of the town.”
“Aside from teaching his students the three Rs [reading, writing, arithmetic], Rizal made his pupils do rigid physical training he learned while a judo student,” Cristobalreyes wrote. “With the seashore serving as outdoor gymnasium, he and his pupils set up bodybuilding paraphernalia composed of parallel bars, Roman rings and chinning bar.”
“Together with his physical fitness program, Rizal propagated the Japanese sport of judo, Spanish fencing, American boxing, Filipino indigenous sport arnis and marksmanship,” the article furthered.
Jaylo said that this is probably the reason why up to this day, youth from the Zambaonga Peninsula, especially those from Dapitan City, continued to be source of outstanding judokas for national teams who brought honors in various international competitions.
John Baylon, a two-time Olympian (1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona), is one of them. He won nine gold medal in judo at the Southeast Asian Games besides capturing medals, too, in Asian Games and World Masters.
He hails from Zamboanga, now famous for producing the country’s first Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz-naranjo and boxer Eumir Felix Marcial.
Friday marks Rizal’s death anniversary. He was shot by firing squad at Bagumbayan, now Luneta, on December 30, 1896.