Sport: Gentlemanly Jujitsu

At Paris' unheated Palais des Sports last week, the barefooted contestants, dressed in pajama like costumes, clambered carefully into the canvas-covered ring. At a signal from the referee, the contestants knelt on their haunches, Japanese style, heads bowed low. Then they hopped to their feet and came out fighting. Much of the fighting was a soundless, antic pantomime with the contestants warily circling each other, clutching pajama tops, watching the opponent's feet like two children taking their first steps on the dance floor.

After four minutes, the silence was broken by a bloodcurdling...