Jiu-Jitsu Club de France

Description

A Parisian judo club, cradle of French judo, founded on 20 September 1936 at 82 rue Beaubourg by Moshé Feldenkrais with the help of his scientist colleagues from the Institut du Radium, including Frédéric Joliot-Curie, and Paul Bonét-Maury. The club was directed by two vice-presidents, Feldenkrais and Bonét-Maury, with Jigoro Kano as honorary president; at its official creation in 1936 Kano attended as a member of the Committee of Honor. In 1937 the club merged with the Club Franco-Japonais, founded by Mikinosuke Kawaishi in July 1936, retaining the JJCF name, with Kawaishi as chief instructor (Martin's thesis dates the merger to the 1939 mobilisation); by the Occupation years it was located at rue Thénard in the Latin Quarter, with Bonét-Maury as president and Kawaishi as professor. From 1942 the club joined the Fédération française de lutte as a specialised judo section, through Bonét-Maury's administrative work; under the Occupation it held low-key public demonstrations, trained practitioners on Kawaishi's method (including the color belt system) and, in late May 1943, its section organised the first French judo championship at the Salle Wagram (3,000 spectators; Jean de Herdt first champion), followed by a second championship on 9 May 1944 at the Palais de Glace. According to English Wikipedia the club still exists today. A staff fact on Feldenkrais' own teaching at the club is derivable from Bonét-Maury's teacher interaction (place_id = this club) and is therefore not recorded as an instructors entry.

Also known as

JJCF · Jujitsu-club de France

Locations (1)

• location_onParis

  Rue Thénard, 5e arrondissement, Paris

  warning No sources cited

Founder

Instructors (2)

• person
  Kawaishi Mikinosuke

  Instructorsports_martial_artsKōdōkan Jūdō

  1937 – 1944

  Confirmed

  Confirmed

  Four independent secondary sources agree.

  The evidence establishes the claim: it is sufficient and consistent, and any conflicting evidence is resolved.

  fact_checkassessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  4 sources expand_more

  fact_check

  Four independent secondary sources agree.

  “The jūdō club would merge in 1937 with Kawaishi's club, the Club Franco-Japonais, which had been created by Kawaishi Mikinosuke [...] (1899-1969), in July 1936, the same year as the foundation of Feldenkrais' club. The new club would retain the name given by Feldenkrais, and Kawaishi then a Butokukai 4th dan-holder in jūdō who had arrived in Paris in October 1935, would become the chief instructor”

  — Carl de Crée. (2013). Shōnen Jūdō-no-kata ["Forms of Jūdō for Juveniles"] - an experimental Japanese teaching approach to Jūdō skill acquisition in children considered from a historic-pedagogical perspective - part IIlink info

  “Moshe Feldenkrais invited Mikinosuke Kawaishi to join the club as a teacher.”

  — Moshe Feldenkrais; Elizabeth Beringer. (2010). Higher Judo: Groundworkinfo

  “En 1939, avec la mobilisation, le Club Franco-japonais perdit l'essentiel de ses effectifs. Les deux clubs fusionnèrent et si pendant un temps certains élèves reçurent deux cartes d'inscription, c'est le JJCF qui perdura avec Paul Bonét-Maury comme président et Kawaishi comme professeur.”

  — Martin, Grégory. (2011). Essai sur les territoires du judo en Francelink history info

  “In occupied Paris, the Jiu-Jitsu Club and its judoka, especially Paul Bonét-Maury, president of the club, and Mikinosuke Kawaishi, who provided technical guidance, promoted judo as a sport.”

  — Hoshino, Utsuru. (2019). The establishment of Judo in Paris during the Occupation from 1940 to 1944: Focus on the activities of Jiu-jitsu Club de Francelink history info
• 
  Moshé Feldenkrais

  1936 – 1940

Trained here (1)

• 
  Paul Bonét-Maury

  sports_martial_artsKōdōkan Jūdō Confirmed

  Confirmed

  The Martin thesis states explicitly that Bonét-Maury began studying judo under the direction of Moshé Feldenkrais; three other sources corroborate it.

  The evidence establishes the claim: it is sufficient and consistent, and any conflicting evidence is resolved.

  under Moshé Feldenkrais (1936 – 1940)

  fact_checkassessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  4 sources expand_more

  fact_check

  The Martin thesis states explicitly that Bonét-Maury began studying judo under the direction of Moshé Feldenkrais; three other sources corroborate it.

  “Paul Bonét-Maury a débuté l’étude du judo sous la direction de Moshe Feldenkrais.”

  — Martin, Grégory. (2011). Essai sur les territoires du judo en Francelink history info

  “Paul Bonét-Maury, first IJF Secretary-General, was one of Feldenkrais' students.”

  — McPartland, Terence. (2012). Moshe Feldenkrais and Modern Judo: The Strange Forgotten Tale of a Physicist who Learned Judo link history info

  “Le premier club français de Judo se forme à Paris au milieu des années 1930 au Quartier Latin sous l'impulsion de Moshe Feldenkrais (1904-1984), physicien d'origine ukrainienne qui travaillait dans le laboratoire de Frédéric Joliot-Curie. Ce club sera dirigé par deux vice-présidents, Moshe Feldenkrais et Paul Bonét-Maury.”

  — Grognet, Jean-Marc. (2015). Une courte biographie de Paul Bonét-Maury (1900-1972) ou les vies parallèles d'un pharmacien : chercheur et judokainfo

  “Paul Bonet-Maury, one of Feldenkrais's first jujustu students, became the head of the French Judo Federation.”

  — Moshe Feldenkrais; Elizabeth Beringer. (2010). Higher Judo: Groundworkinfo

Tags

judo · france · paris · club · history

Sources