r/judo

Need to vent. For context, the UK now has a trial scheme for BJJ players to earn a Judo grade as a conversion (i.e stop sandbagging by using ne waza in our competitions please). I posted about this a few months ago too, the response was negative but I went along to the first trial as it was run by Ray Stevens and I’ve wanted to train at his place, I thought a seminar that covers both sports would be a good learning experience.

I got promoted from 6th kyu to 2nd kyu which I personally believe is much too high considering I only started Judo in November, but the guy who independently graded us is a 7th dan and works for British Judo so I’m not going to argue.

I spoke to my coaches and they were surprised as well. I explained that I’d like to keep the belt as an ‘honorary’ belt and carry on with standard gradings until I’m ready for the next belt a few years down the line. Anyway they asked me some questions about my BJJ and Judo competition performance for evidence of my crappiness, contacted British Judo to get them to put me back to 6th kyu without informing me, British Judo said ‘no’, so they called their friend who used to work there to pull some strings and I’ve been demoted to 6th Kyu again.

I’m not happy with this as I didn’t ask them to do this. Their reason was I won’t do well or get hurt in competition but I had to find out through an Instagram comment that they also think I’ll make their club “look stupid” by wearing a blue belt if I train at other gyms and that I’m only allowed to grade at their gym. They said they’d cross out the signature in my grade book which I personally think looks WAY worse than doing poorly in a competition, it looks more like sandbagging to me

It doesn’t matter that they or anyone else disagrees because I was given that grade legally under the BJA. I’m more annoyed that it was taken away without my permission as it also means I can’t attend green belt and above training sessions such as Kata and officiating. Their reasons that I won’t be able to hang with green-brown belts is bs as well as I’m holding my own in randori with others that level who are actually trying to throw me. It just reads like an old-school macho ego play that’s normally reserved for middle-aged BJJ black belts. I would much rather look shit in competition than a sandbagger.

Ultimately to me it’s just a belt, I don’t really care about chasing grades, and I’ve trained with blue belts who couldn’t do anything to me in tachi waza and blue belts who made me look like it was my frist day walking. Just very disappointed that my gym is doing crazy politics over this

TLDR: got legally fast-tracked, coaches didn’t like it, did some bullshit to demote me without even asking me first

Hey everyone, I'm a white belt and I admire Judo's premise of using minimum force to take down an opponent. That being said, when I go to randori, all of it goes out the window. I tense up and grip hard, and when I occasionaly throw it's without a proper lead-up/strategy.

How do go from Randori = seek and destroy, to Randori = practice and growth?

Hi all,

I am going to my first competitive dan grading this Saturday, and it is also my first Judo competition... ever. I mainly would like some advice relating to competition intensity, the only grappling competitions I have done are 2 BJJ ones, in both I was caught by the difference in sparring and competition intensity. I was hoping for some advice in how I can moderate my intensity correctly, not going in too slow but also not going in like a "spazzy white belt" and getting easily countered, I am a pretty small fighter, 63kg M, so I probably can't set the pace particularly easily, especially if my opponents are 68-70kg.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks

For a bit of additional context, this is the BJA Dan grading in High Wycombe on Saturday the 11th July.

It seems to be a common theme in that judo takes some time to develop fundamentals or to become 'good', especially compared with wrestling for example.

At the same time, locally, judo has usually been clubs offering 1, 2, maybe 3x/week for most that I have seen over the years and it doesn't usually become more often until they are already getting good results in comp where they then 'work' to make it more times/week.

For those who have seen students (maybe other nations) getting in 3-5x/week early, like wrestling, do you see significantly more development much quicker?

Is it really a long learning curve, or more that it is just generally done less often for early judoka?

So I’ve been watching some jflo trying to add some throws to my nogi game. I see sasae to osoto and standing ouchi to Uchimata. Which do you like better and why?

Hi all, if you tap into my post history/profile you’ll see I trained bjj originally. I’ve started cross training in judo mainly to give myself a stronger stand up game but also because we’re trying to bring back a style called collar and elbow here in Ireland. Judo helps with it.

My question is we recently held a collar and elbow competition here which i participated in and did quite well but the jackets we wear which are different to judo gis cause a lot of friction both due to the nature of the techniques and the fact we can’t break our collar grips.

The back of my neck is torn up quite badly and I’m wondering does anyone have any tips on how to prevent this and/or encourage healing? I’ve been moisturising my neck and taking ibuprofen but the swelling is still there after over a week and it’s still very raw.

Thanks

So I have dabbled in judo, my school had a class for it 1x a week I really like Harai and Uchimata and also Ogoshi, I do Harai and Uchimata off the overhook fairly consistently and off the underhook I don’t mind them either. But I hear Ogoshi is what I should really be going for in nogi. But it’s a lot harder to setup honestly and it’s hard to close the distance a lot of times I’ll just go for it and turn it into a backsweep/de ashi. Any suggestions for better nogi Ogoshis? I also have been trying cross body osoto and ouchi from my underhook as well. Any suggestions are great

I have been doing judo for 3 months. While I can do the techniques during practice when my uke is standing still, I can't do them in randori or during movement drills (the one where your uke tries to off-balance or drag you while you try to enter for a technique—I can't remember the name).

Especially during randori, I can't seem to enter for a technique, even when I move quickly. My uke often moves more slowly than I do but is still able to get into position for a technique. I also can't break my opponent's grip. Every time I try to enter, their hands stop me.

What should I do?

A friend I usually practice with says this is normal and that I'll be able to do it later, but I want to improve as much as I can now. I train three times a week, and I was thinking about using resistance bands at home as well. Would that actually help? If so, what should I attach the band to, and what kind of exercises should I do?

Also, I sometimes can't perform Osoto Otoshi or Osoto Gari properly even when my uke lets me. What should I focus on to improve?

Hey guys Im a BJJ beginner but I love watching some of the judo guys (shintaro, gunji mostly on YT) and appreciate the art of throwing people, mostly as a result of being the one receiving the throw.

We’ve been learning uchimata this week in BJJ and I was the one my professor used to demonstrate the technique in a competition scenario with momentum/full commitment, and I was surprised at the amplitude!

My own attempts were less graceful. I am more confident in my hand position, but when I do my attempt it often looks like my partner and I are both doing a beautiful groin stretch followed by some hopping and eventual finish.

I’m wondering now if i incorrectly assumed the leg closest to me was the “target” so to speak and am not going deep enough or somehow otherwise doing it incorrectly. Learning that it’s apparently called “inner thigh “ throw reinforced this.

Anyway I know BJJ guys are not judo guys so I wanted to ask the experts. If y’all have any references, experience, common ways noobs screw this up, I would love feedback.

been doing judo for about 6 years now and my newaza is decent for judo standards but Ive been thinking about trying BJJ properly. problem is I keep watching BJJ matches and seeing how differently they approach ground work and im curious about one thing

The turtle position In judo I live there. It's my go-to when I'm in trouble. But from what I understand in BJJ turtle is basically just asking to get your back taken right? So I feel like if I start BJJ Im gonna get wrecked immediately because my instincts are all wrong. Like my brain is gonna be like turtle is safe while the BJJ guy is already putting hooks in lol

anyone here made the switch? How long did it take you to unlearn the judo habits? And did you get your back taken a thousand times before you figured it out? Lowkey scared but also excited at the same time

I am a 24 male, 196cm 120kg "mostly" muscle, not ripped but not fat. I am planning to cut down to -100. I have an orange belt in judo, and white belt 4 stripes in BJJ and 4 months of greeco roman wrestling experience, but i have been taking a break for a year due to injuries and lack of time. I recently got more time and i am fully healed so I am planning on coming back to judo in August.

How long would yall say it would take me to become a champion in nationals, European and worlds? (Im from norway btw)

My current workout plan that i have been following strictly since last month is weight training 5 times a week and judo 2 times a week (for now, it will be 3 later). Those judo sessions are self training, because my club wont open until August. The same schedule will apply when the club opens. I know it seems like i am lying and wont keep up, but my gym is literally a 6 minute walk from my house.

PLEASE DONT TAKE THIS AS A EGO TRIP I KNOW THIS IS ALL HYPOTHETICAL. Just laying here in bed, cant sleep hahahah. Its 3 am so im just going full "what if" thinking mode. Judo is the only sport i genuinely love and have a desire to get good at my whole life. Wishing you all the best!

I know he's not the best in the world and right now he's even at the twilight of his career, but I loved his game. He had such a strong ambidextrous ouchi and de ashi and he made me realize the beauty of ashi waza in general.

Got thrown in randori with a super hard ippon seoi nage by a strong brown belt. The landing was fine, but somehow, in the process of getting loaded onto tori's shoulder, I sprained my rotator cuff pretty hard.

I'm wondering if this has happened to anyone else, and how to potentially avoid it in the future?

I've gotten thrown with seoi nage at least a hundred times and never felt anything in my shoulder until now, and I'm wondering if I did something wrong somehow. (I don't ascribe any maliciousness to the brown belt guy, but I suppose he could've been at fault too).

I'll be out of the game for at least 3 to 4 weeks, so I'm pretty bummed out.