THE ROLE OF JUDO IN THE CONTEMPORARY HISTORY OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

Abstract

Judo is an ancient Japanese martial art that came to Yugoslavia after World War II. Its importance was immediately recognized, primarily in the field of training police and military forces. In addition, it has also established itself as a sport where Yugoslavia and then Serbia won several Olympic medals and world championship titles. The close cooperation between judo and the police has produced a multitude of police personnel for whom judo was a key determinant. Thus, in the 1990s, the so-called judo clan was formed, where prominent judokas held the highest police positions. For Kosovo and Metohija, Radovan Stojičić Badža stands out, who broke the miners’ strike in Trepča in 1989. Then, in the 1998-1999 war, Goran Radisavljević Guri stood out as a fearless soldier and a brilliant commander. When the so-called Kosovo declared independence in 2008, judo would play an important role in promoting it. At the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Majlinda Kelmendi won a gold medal, the first for the so-called Kosovo. It was a moment of hudge national pride for so-called Kosovo and in 2020 a monument of Kelmendi in Peja was unveiled as a prominent individual for the history of this so-called state. A series of Olympic medals followed, making judo by far the most important sport for the so-called Kosovo and playing a significant role in promoting its so-called independence.