柔道
じゅうどう · juudou · JLPT N4 · noun
judo
🥋 柔道 = gentle (柔) + way (道): the gentle way
柔 (juu) means soft or yielding, 道 (dou) means way or path, the same 道 as in 剣道 kendo and 茶道 tea ceremony. Judo wins by yielding to an opponent's force rather than meeting it head-on. English judo is just juudou with the long vowels shortened.
道 — 辶 (walk) + 首 (head)
Originally a compound of 辶 'walk/movement' and 首 'head', depicting a path one walks while looking ahead. The literal sense 'road, way' extended metaphorically to 'method, doctrine, the Way (Dao)'. This philosophical meaning became central in Daoist and Confucian thought.