Judo's forgotten history in legendary games

Judo was founded in the late 19th Century by a Japanese educator Jigoro Kano. Judo earns the respect as the first-ever martial art sport from Japan to be received internationally and become an Olympic sport. The history of the sport is exciting and inspiring, but there is an often-forgotten aspect of the art-form which focusses on gaming!

Judo has had a monumental presence in the video gaming world and was the theme behind some of the very best and earliest video games. We'll be taking a look at those awesome games here.

1. Street Fighter

Although Street Fighter was not an exclusive Judo video game, one of the main characters did use this martial art as his main fighting style. Abel, one of the game's main characters, towered above the other fighters with a dominating presence. He used a mix of martial art fighting techniques, but his predominant style was based on Judo. Street Fighter is arguably one of the most successful video games to date, and most 90s kids will remember playing with friends perched on the end of a sofa or bed.

There is even a Street Fighter slot machine out now, meaning Judo is influencing themes in online gambling as well as video gaming. And this slot is exceptionally popular because of its exciting features.

2. David Douillet Judo

David Douillet Judo is a video game playable on desktops and the PlayStation 2. It was developed in Belgium but is authentic in that the game is set in a Japanese Judo centre. You battle it out in beautiful Japanese surroundings that mimic a real-life fighter from Japan.

If you're wondering who David Douillet is, he is the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Game gold medallist for heavyweight Judo. Further European championship victories made him the most successful Judoka in the sport's known history. He also won a bronze earlier in his career, making him the only person to have three Olympic medals in the sport. It's pretty clear to see why a video game was made in his name.

Now Douillet does his battles in Parliament as a French politician and once served as the country’s Sports Minister. 

3. Brian Jacks Uchi Mata

We said that Judo had a place in the earliest forms of video gaming, and it doesn't come much earlier than the 1986 release of Brian Jacks Uchi Mata. Brian Jacks was the GB athlete for the sport in the Olympics, and Uchi Mata the deadliest move in the game.

The game was played on the Commodore 64 and was noteworthy because it was the first video fighting game that allowed players to try out hidden moves and counter moves. Interestingly, the control scheme used in the development of this game was used in Street Fighter by Capcom, although a more updated version exists today.