Judo Competition (Sydney, 1963)

I’ve been researching early films on judo and self-defense. British Pathé is a great newsreel archive, a treasure trove of 85,000 films unrivaled in their historical (and cultural) significance. Spanning the years from 1896 to 1978, the collection includes footage from around the globe of major events, famous faces, fashion trends, travel, science and culture.

Here is a link to a New South Wales judo championship in Sydney (1963) where you can see female judoka in action. The running commentary is amusing: “…they don’t call it ‘fighting' in judo, they call it ‘playing’…” 😁

Enjoy! 

'Judo Competition - Sydney (1963)’ <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F459Ke0sFhU>

If you know of other comprehensive newsreel archives for researching old martial arts films please share! 🤝