Judo

[haggholm]

If you read my journal at all, you not only know that I now do judo, but may even be getting tired of hearing about it. Alas, you’re out of luck! —I’m here to talk about it some more, because this is my journal: I write about what I like and feel like, and I like judo, and I feel like judo…

My Gracie Barra BJJ gym first started offering judo classes in January, when a couple of judo instructors were brought in for one class per week—this was soon increased to two. Judo, of course, sharing a history and a huge set of techniques with BJJ, ties in very well. With a focus on stand-up fighting, throws, etc., it complements BJJ—which focuses on groundwork, chokes, joint locks—very well. I get the impression that our gym was reasonably strong in stand-up in stand-up already¹, but clearly it could be improved substantially with the addition of instructors who specialise in it.

Of course, judo is an eminently capable martial art on its own: Like BJJ, it has a rich history and culture of competition, and competition is a great way (perhaps the only way?) to keep a martial art honest, by weeding out ineffective techniques, and with tournaments preventing the idiosyncrasies of any one school from any cobwebs entering the picture.

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Of course, since I don’t compete—never yet have, though I probably should²—the main reason why I decided to take up judo was that I thought it would be fun. The fact that it merges seamlessly with my jiu-jitsu is nice, but hardly a make-or-break feature… Well, I’m here to tell you that I was right: Judo is so much fun!

Initially I found it a little bit intimidating, since I had little confidence in my ukemi and didn’t like to take falls. I still have to force myself to relax sometimes, but a couple of months of judo have taught me that falling in randori really won’t kill me—though sometimes it kind of sucks when the other guy is a judo guy with the judo tendency to fall with and on you. I weigh close to 190 lbs all by myself; I don’t need a similarly-sized guy adding his own falling body weight on my ribs as I hit the ground…

It’s also the first martial art I’ve taken thus far where I feel like I’m actually sort of getting it right away. Karate, BJJ, and fencing all were and remain struggles. I don’t really mind that, but it’s nice to see a change.

I should hasten to add that I don’t imagine that my feeling that judo is so far easier to pick up is any indication of talent. Rather, two years of BJJ has equipped me with a basic repertoire of judo throws that I’m not very good at, but basically know, so that they can be brought up to a useful level fairly quickly in a more conducive setting—in classes that focus almost entirely on stand-up, with coaches who rightly regard it as their specialty… Judo is said to be very difficult to learn, and I’m quite sure I will hit a wall sooner or later and start struggling with the usual plateaus of progress and learning, but right now I’m coasting on the fact that I’m not starting from square one. And while I am fairly at peace with progress-in-spite-of-lack-of-talent as a useful challenge in martial arts, it’s nice to learn something without struggling for once.

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Technique notes:

A game of footsweeps ending with hiza guruma seems to be my strongest randori game so far. I often try to go for uchi mata, but I’ve yet to hit it. I have more luck with harai goshi. In uchikomi/nagekomi practice, harai goshi is often my strongest throw…though some days some wires get crossed in my brain, or something, and I can hardly do it at all.

My most satisfying throws tend to be o goshi. However, it seems it only really works for me on people taller than I am, when I can more easily fit in my entry… I do like the throw a lot, though, and even moreso since it works unmodified without a gi.

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¹ Though as I’m not really involved in competitions in any way, my word is hardly authorative.

² I’m sure it would do me some good, but it’s hard to feel gung-ho about it when the argument pro sounds like the motivation for eating your broccoli.