TOKYO — Right from the start, Colton Brown could sense the difference between judo and his other sports. It wasn’t like basketball and football, where trash talk was celebrated, contempt was intentional and respect existed but not as prominently.
Judo can trace its origins back to the 19th century, when a Japanese educator named Kano Jigoro created a system of unarmed combat. He didn’t allow strikes of any kind; instead, he required combatants—those who wanted to win, anyway—to use an opponent’s force against them. Competitors removed their shoes before competing. They bowed to their opponents. They also schooled in the tradition, majoring in advanced respect classes, training their bodies, of course, but with equal weight on bolstering their minds.