Judo, kendo, karate, aikido, kyudo — eight arts, one clear purpose each, and how to tell them apart.

Every one of these arts is practiced within an hour of wherever you are sitting, and knowing what you are looking at turns a blur of white pyjamas into something you can follow and even join.

By the end

You will be able to name the major Japanese martial arts, say in one sentence what problem each one solves, and know which one you would actually want to try.

Who this is for

Curious adults who have seen a dojo, a film, or an Olympic bout and cannot tell judo from jujutsu from aikido — and who want the real answer, not the movie version.