Principles of Judo Training as an Organised Form of Physical Activity for Children

Abstract

When organising judo training for children, it is essential to ensure maximum safety, and use an appropriate training methodology adapted to the age of the youngest judo athletes. This paper aims to review the current literature containing judo training principles and safety-related considerations for preschool (4–6 years) and school-age (7–12 years) children as an organised physical activity. Data were collected until October 2021 from eight international scientific databases (PubMed, Scopus, UpToDate, Web of Science, Cochrane, EBSCOhost, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar). In the overviews, we found various times and frequencies of judo training for children. In preschool, the training time was 30–60 min with a frequency of 2–3 times per week, whereas in the school-age group, the training time was extended from 45 to 90 min 3–4 times per week. The most common injuries included upper arm injuries, followed by those of the lower limbs. In the future, it would be an advantage to systematise the methodology of judo training as an organised form of physical activity that can complement the daily dose of exercises recommended by the World Health Organization for maintaining children’s general health.