Article on Judo and BJJ

[Hanzou]

I started Judo at 34 and am in the Ultraheavy weight division. Aside from some sprained toes, bruised ribs once, and a sore tailbone after a tournament - I had no injuries in a year's time. Nearly a year of BJJ has given me numerous small injuries (bruised ribs again, seriously jammed fingers, tweaked knee and shoulder). Its anecdotal and a small sample size for sure, but I think the notion of Judo being that dangerous is a bit inflated. Unless you are reckless or have really bad mats.

I do think that BJJ can be practiced in such a way that is very technical and softer; i.e. you can control the intensity. You can't say the same for Judo. You're either getting thrown, or not getting thrown. Not a lot of in between. I'll admit that.

Well to be fair Piedmont, you weren't 35 and older when you started.

But yeah, I'm certainly not calling Judo dangerous, I'm simply saying that there's more of a chance to get hurt in Judo than other martial arts. That said, there's far worse things you can do to your body after 35 than joining a Judo club.

 

[PiedmontChun]

Well to be fair Piedmont, you weren't 35 and older when you started.

But yeah, I'm certainly not calling Judo dangerous, I'm simply saying that there's more of a chance to get hurt in Judo than other martial arts. That said, there's far worse things you can do to your body after 35 than joining a Judo club.

Fair enough. I suppose if its a choice between recreational crocodile wrestling, or taking up Judo instead..... there is a clear winner If a choice between Judo and BJJ, BJJ has a marginal advantage, safety wise.

 

[Hanzou]

Fair enough. I suppose if its a choice between recreational crocodile wrestling, or taking up Judo instead..... there is a clear winner If a choice between Judo and BJJ, BJJ has a marginal advantage, safety wise.

Agreed, but @Tony Dismukes has a point about where you're training too. My first Judo club was full of sadists who liked to use white belts as practice dummies. I was in my early 20s when I practiced there, and I would come home pretty banged up.

My second experience with Judo (via my old Bjj gym) was much better.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Agreed, but @Tony Dismukes has a point about where you're training too. My first Judo club was full of sadists who liked to use white belts as practice dummies. I was in my early 20s when I practiced there, and I would come home pretty banged up.

My second experience with Judo (via my old Bjj gym) was much better.

Yeah, I’ve trained Judo with people who will make sure you are absolutely as safe as can be while doing a contact sport. I’ve trained with other people ... let’s just say that your ukemi better be on point.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Judo is not necessarily a sport btw it first a Martial Art.

Depending on who you talk to, they would reverse this. I'd consider judo first a sport, then a martial art. IMO, it's the sport version of classical jujutsu.

 

[now disabled]

Depending on who you talk to, they would reverse this. I'd consider judo first a sport, then a martial art. IMO, it's the sport version of classical jujutsu.

Yeah I can see that, I just view it as a MA first then sport, but probably to most it will be the other way

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Yeah I can see that, I just view it as a MA first then sport, but probably to most it will be the other way

Like I said, depends who you talk to. When I was working with judoka, maybe one in five of them competed. They all could have competed if they wanted to, but they didn't have a desire to compete...they just enjoyed the art.

 

[now disabled]

Like I said, depends who you talk to. When I was working with judoka, maybe one in five of them competed. They all could have competed if they wanted to, but they didn't have a desire to compete...they just enjoyed the art.

And still I bet took it just as seriously as the ones that did choose the sport path

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Frankly if you're over 35, I would avoid taking up serious Judo practice. The risk of injury dramatically increases the older you get, and the chance of injury will be compounded over time since you'll be making beginner mistakes as you're performing throws and breakfalls.

Obviously if doing Judo is one of your lifelong ambitions, by all means, but if your goal is to simply learn a grappling art for health or self defense, I would look elsewhere.

I don't remember my early Judo training being that hard on the body. Of course, I was in my early teens, so maybe that explains it. But the falls in NGA are pretty similar to the falls in Judo, and while it's hard to start learning to fall in your 40's, I've started people into the art as late as their 60's (and that's not exceptional people) who managed well enough. Maybe it differs more than I think, though.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

If he over 35 absolute rubbish total crap ....are you saying that anyone over 35 cannot take up Judo seriously ...................are you for real? jeez a person over 35 i just as capable of learning break falls as one under 35 ...you are amazing ...truly ....sorry but no and just bigger no any person can take up an Art and at any age and do it seriously

ND, that's a bit over the top, man.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

My flexibility is awful and always has been going back to the days when I played soccer as a kid.

You, too, eh? I have never had any significant flexibility in my legs, not when I played soccer (including in high school), not when I was rock climbing, not in any of my MA training. I blame it on genetics. I don't know if that's true or not, but it's my chosen excuse.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Yeah, my main point is that over 35 you need to be extremely careful if you're starting Judo practice. Obviously if you've been doing it since you were a kid, it's not a huge deal, but if its your first time doing it, you could be in for some serious injuries as you progress in the sport. That isn't a knock against the art, but people should really know what they're getting into as an older adult looking to begin Judo practice. One wrong fall can put you out of practice for a very long time.

Part of the reason Bjj has edged Judo out in the US is because it is less hard on the body (and the sheer size of practitioners and talent pool of wrestling in the states).

That's probably more true if you compete than if you just train the art.

 

[pdg]

I think the problem with any age thing is assigning a number...

Some people are 'older' at 30 than others are at 60...

I'm not denying that age plays a role (it'll generally be harder for someone at 40 than the same person at 20), but overall condition is more important than age.

 

[TMA17]

Very true pdg.

 

[TMA17]

I attended my first Judo class today where I participated. (same place I observed a few weeks ago). I loved it. Started with conditioning, then we moved to footwork/grabs and breakfalls. I then transitioned to a pully system they have with bungee cords attached to the wall. Worked 25 reps each side. I then took my belt and wrapped it around the sensei's belt and tried to do the same movement, only pull him off the wall. After that I transitioned to throws on a mat with a higher level student. At the end of class he has everyone climb a tall 20-30 ft rope. The other students worked on ground today. I was the only one doing throws. Saturdays are their ground days. It was a great workout and fun. The instructor trained in Germany.

BJJ and Judo are both fantasatic and I have enjoyed both so far. I enjoyed Judo more, possibly because it's more standup focused. I got a little bored with these crazy intricate moves on the ground I was learning in BJJ, but it was still great overall.

Judo so far seems more intense and aggressive. I like how I felt after leaving Judo class.