the problem with Judo

Underground
1

The art of Judo is awesome, in my mind very close to and equal to bjj. However, it is a TMA. Most US dojo's:

-Give belts out too quickly

-Have a bunch of untested old men and kids as black belts

-Think that we want a new eastern religion and way of life, when all we really want is to throw a dude.

-Are 100% closed minded when it comes to bjj and feel that they have nothing to learn from bjj.

-Think that a 50 year old 108 lbs. women can kick my ass 'cause she's a green belt.

I'm sure you can add some more. I like judo, if there were clubs that trained hard I would go.

2

  • Referees that wear suits.

  • Banning everything but 'elbow locks' and some chokes for being 'too dangerous', but allow people to get spiked on their heads.

  • Jacktown Judoka.

3

"-Think that we want a new eastern religion and way of life, when all we really want is to throw a dude."

Perhaps more a problem of certain westerners who would mistake Saku for Kid.

4

lol I like this thread.

5

I train judo (in addition to other arts) and I will concur that the belts are given out too quickly (at least in comp. to bjj)...

6

"- Referees that wear suits."

But they dont wear shoes.

7

Believe it or not, many American judoka still do not know what BJJ is. They are more familar with sambo wrestling due to the similarties and large cross over between the two sports.

8

"The idea of what a belt means in judo is different than in bjj. Judo is awesome if you train hard and competitively, like bjj schools are run. The problem is that most judo schools aren't like that."

Belts, shmelts. I thought that was all TMA shit, anyhow? If you're good, you're good. If you win a tournament, you're the champ.

And wait and see what bjj clubs are like in 30 years. They wont be all run by first generation bjj bbs from brazil. But just because you play baskbet ball at a gym with some not so good guys, doesnt mean you cant simply have fun playing ball.

9

"Think that a 50 year old 108 lbs. women can kick my ass 'cause she's a green belt"

yeah judo and damn near every other tma.

imho judo gets a bad rap,its versatile and effective, im talking about judo as a martial art not judo as a sport and there is a distinction.

Anyway,with so many competitive styles of groundfighting/grappling,i believe it boils down to the fighter and how he applies what he knows.

10

Actually the US is a pretty weak country in the international judo world ... something like seven medals (none gold) in nine olympics since 1964 (the first olympic judo) isn't good. But there are obviously good clubs and weak clubs, like in anything. Jimmy Pedro's club for instance is very good. Your typical recreational club won't be so good, anymore than your typical recreational softball team would be a good match for the Detroit Tigers.

On the other hand, would you really expect a recreational club to have top level competitors, whether in judo or baseball? Black belts in judo aren't given primarily for competitive excellence (that's what olympic medals are for), they're given for having basic skills and teaching (in the same way that Ali's trainers could never have lasted a round against him, but could still improve his fighting).

11

^^"Jimmy Pedro's club for instance is very good." I can vouch for that statement, having been a student there for the past seven months. If you're willing to put in the time, his school is great with top flight instructors. Hawn, Brestyan, Mike Pedro, and Jim Pedro himself. Can't say enough good things about his dojo........

12

The art of Judo is awesome, in my mind very close to and equal to bjj. However, it is a TMA. Most US dojo's:

-Give belts out too quickly

Perhaps at the local YMCA, yes....as has been discussed in detail on this thread...belts in Judo arent held with the same mystical reverance as in BJJ (especially in Japan)

-Have a bunch of untested old men and kids as black belts

Untested as in how? You arent just HANDED a black belt in Judo...If you think tested means winning fights on the Ultimate Fighter TV Show then you definitly are in the wrong school. You have to understand that people all have different reasons for learning a new skill....We all arent learning Martial Arts so we can walk around in fight gear and say "LOOK AT ME I'M TOUGH!"

-Think that we want a new eastern religion and way of life, when all we really want is to throw a dude.

Not sure where you were studying dude... Did you stumble into a Yoga class by accident??? Judo is a Japanese art and is it that hard to bow and show your instructor and fellow students some respect? If all you really want to do is a throw a dude, then get some instructional Judo DVDs and start a fight club with a bunch of local teenage wiggers and trailer park trash.

"-Are 100% closed minded when it comes to bjj and feel that they have nothing to learn from bjj."

Perhaps this comes from the elitist attitude that CERTAIN advocates of BJJ seem to have.... How receptive are you to the Jehova's witnesses that come to your door to tell you exactly "WHY THEIR WAY IS BETTER AND WHY YOU SHOULD DO THE SAME".

-Think that a 50 year old 108 lbs. women can kick my ass 'cause she's a green belt.

LMAO...believe me, I've been a black belt in Judo for many many years....while I'm a LITTLE heavier then 108 lbs and a LITTLE younger then 50 years old, I know my limitations and would just hope that I'd be able to (fingers crossed that the situation never presents intself) defend myself enough to run like hell in an ugly situation. The overwhelming majority of women in Judo hardly believe they can kick ass on guys in tapout beanies, we are just trying to be a little bit more capable of defending ourselves and a be a little bit better at a sport we love....However this does sound strangely like a twist on an urban legend I've heard that any purple belt in BJJ could EASILY defeat Mike Tyson, Ray Lewis, Alexander Karelin, Dieselnoi and Kosei Inoue in a streetfight.