A question about Judo..
A question about Judo..
Author
Discussion

Lil' Joe

Original Poster:

1,548 posts

208 months

Saturday 23rd January 2010
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I have heard conflicting things about Judo. On the one hand I have heard you train throws only, and on the other that it involves submission holds a'la BJJ.
So, which is it? If it's the latter I think I may be more interested in it for fitness/self defence purposes.

Any info/thoughts/opinions?

Cheers guys.

ewenm

28,506 posts

267 months

Saturday 23rd January 2010
quotequote all
WHen I did judo as a kid, floor-work was just as important as learning the throws, so we did lots of holds. I'd go along to your local club and watch a couple of training sessions.

Lost_BMW

12,955 posts

198 months

Saturday 23rd January 2010
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A long time ago I admit but when I did Judo as a kid we did a lot of submission work - some look very like the BJJ moves but with different (les exciting!) names. Teaches you to be fit and disciplined too but I'm sure BJJ etc. would too.

Lil' Joe

Original Poster:

1,548 posts

208 months

Saturday 23rd January 2010
quotequote all
Oh good. anyone have any opionions on how judo compares to other martial arts from a self-defence perspective?

deevlash

10,442 posts

259 months

Saturday 23rd January 2010
quotequote all
did somebody say judo?
BJJ came from judo, basically helio gracie took judo and focused upon the ground game and vastly improved the "guard". Judo has pretty much all the same moves as BJJ with some exceptions due to the differing rules, shoulder locks arent allowed in judo for example so omaplatas are out, however gogoplattas (kagato jime in judo parlance) and triangle chokes (sangaku jime) are very much in.

Judo is biased towards the stand up however with little time allowed in competition to work on an elaborate guard pass or sweep. Im judo you need only pin someone for 25 seconds on their back to win the bout (I say only but it's bloody difficult!). Also, judo throws look cool as hell and Im going to use this opportunity to post this picture of me throwing someone yet again (I have no shame biggrin )



A good rule of thumb is that if a fight starts on the ground the judoka (assuming we're only using BJJ vs judo skills and no strikes or skill differential) will get subbed by a BJJ player, if it starts standing the Judoka will toss the BJJ player around at will. The good thing about a good judo throw is that it lands you in side control straight away giving a huge advantage.

As for self defence, it's served me well on a few occasions (with one notable exception, theres no judo defence for a glass across the back of your head! hehe ) Obviously theres no striking but it does allow you to take a fight to the ground very against an unskilled opponent. A good throw on someone onto concrete can usually wind them and quite often pop a few ribs. Also if youre in side control and theyre winded you can choose to break their arms, choke them or simply smash their face repeatedly. I had some videos of me throwing some ned that had attacked me and was caught on cctv, I had to take them down though. People say that you dont want to take a fight to the ground as his mates will just kick you but frankly, if there's more than one attacker you're probably going to get a kicking regardless of whether you remain standing or not.

Also Fedor Emelianenko started out as a judoka.

deevlash

10,442 posts

259 months

Saturday 23rd January 2010
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gratuitous judo in mma gifs, it can work pretty well without the gi too as you can see











deevlash

10,442 posts

259 months

Saturday 23rd January 2010
quotequote all
oh, we usually train about 2/3rds stand up and 1/3rd ground during a 2 hour session at my club.

Lil' Joe

Original Poster:

1,548 posts

208 months

Monday 25th January 2010
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Cheers Deevlash. So would you recommend judo over BJJ? I have to say I do like the intricacies of BJJ, shoulder locks etc, but maybe the way to go is judo first and then some BJJ later?

deevlash

10,442 posts

259 months

Tuesday 26th January 2010
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I'm biased and would recommend judo but BJJ is good fun too, Ive done a bit of BJJ but nowhere near as much as Ive done Judo, I just prefer throwing someone over my shoulder! It depends what you want really, the 2 sports are easily defined, judo for stand up with a bit of ground work or BJJ for practically zero stand up and very basic take downs but a lot more intricate ground game.

Heres a video of some international judo fights which ended when they hit the ground, a lot of the techniques are the same as you can see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u41omoNO4U

I'd recommend you go along to a Judo club and a BJJ club, try them both out and see which one you prefer. You can always go to both and then be the best takedown guy at the BJJ club and the best groundwork guy at the judo club!

Martial Arts Man

6,703 posts

208 months

Tuesday 26th January 2010
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The decision here may simply come down to being able to find a club.

BJJ is still pretty rare tbh, despite all the chatter regarding it.

You'll find a judo club in every town, small or large.

Personally, I think that whichever you choose, you'll develop some excellent self defence skills.

However, if it were me, I'd be picking Judo. My reasoning; well, in a self defence scenario, do you really want to be rolling around on the floor? I wouldn't, just in case scrote's mate turns up mainly. BJJ can't really help you if you are prone and about to get booted in the face.

Done to a non practicioner (who is simply not used to hitting the ground so hard), a good, hard judo throw will knock the sutffing out of them.

I'd do a little boxing if I were you alongside the Judo. You'll be a bad man in no time smile

ShadownINja

79,250 posts

304 months

Tuesday 26th January 2010
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deevlash said:
People say that you dont want to take a fight to the ground as his mates will just kick you but frankly, if there's more than one attacker you're probably going to get a kicking regardless of whether you remain standing or not.
Very interesting about the judo/bjj references and comparisons. Only thing I disagree with is the statement above. I'd rather be standing so I can run asap. Get all loveydovey on the ground and you are handing your head to his mates on a plate.

wy906

3,169 posts

196 months

Tuesday 26th January 2010
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Loving this thread and the youtube link!

Ta!

deevlash

10,442 posts

259 months

Tuesday 26th January 2010
quotequote all
ShadownINja said:
deevlash said:
People say that you dont want to take a fight to the ground as his mates will just kick you but frankly, if there's more than one attacker you're probably going to get a kicking regardless of whether you remain standing or not.
Very interesting about the judo/bjj references and comparisons. Only thing I disagree with is the statement above. I'd rather be standing so I can run asap. Get all loveydovey on the ground and you are handing your head to his mates on a plate.
Oh, thats what I meant too, if there's more than 1 person then leg it if at all possible before the fighting even starts!

deevlash

10,442 posts

259 months

Tuesday 26th January 2010
quotequote all
Martial Arts Man said:
The decision here may simply come down to being able to find a club.

BJJ is still pretty rare tbh, despite all the chatter regarding it.

You'll find a judo club in every town, small or large.
Actually thats a good point, judo is well established in the UK and there are a lot more clubs etc. All the BJ clubs Ive been to have tended to be in MMA gyms and they tend to be somewhat, erm, grotty hehe You'll find Judo in a lot of nice clean sports cetres if that matters to you.

As judo is so much larger and better organised you'll find a lot more opportunities to compete in Judo and those competitions will be able to cater for your ability level better than the smaller field of BJJ competitors currently can. Its also worth noting that theres never been a UK world champion in BJJ whereas Judo has had several and is an olympic sport and as such attracts a lot of funding for equipment etc so the mats tend to be a bit nicer!

The last BJJ club I was at was being instructed by a purple belt, whilst he was very good thats not exactly top of the line BJJ whereas my Judo coach is a 6th dan and theres about 12 black belts on the mat on any one night.

Oh and BJJ people tend to cover their kits in daft looking patches which looks stoooopid!

ShadownINja

79,250 posts

304 months

Tuesday 26th January 2010
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deevlash said:
ShadownINja said:
deevlash said:
People say that you dont want to take a fight to the ground as his mates will just kick you but frankly, if there's more than one attacker you're probably going to get a kicking regardless of whether you remain standing or not.
Very interesting about the judo/bjj references and comparisons. Only thing I disagree with is the statement above. I'd rather be standing so I can run asap. Get all loveydovey on the ground and you are handing your head to his mates on a plate.
Oh, thats what I meant too, if there's more than 1 person then leg it if at all possible before the fighting even starts!
TBH, one on one, I'm happy to stay standing. Maybe it's ok round your area but the chav dog owners don't bother picking up dog poop...