Judo will cripple you

[Fist To FACE]

After years of dedication to judo it gave me a black belt (first dan) and unparalleled skills at taking anyone down.

It also gave me:
1) Osteoartheritis on all my fingers from GI gripping
2) Pinched nerve in my neck
3) Bad lower back from not wanting to fall on my back and lose by Ippon.
4) Destroyed cartilage in my knees because of some throwing techniques like uchimata

That sport is probably the most tough on the joints ever, and to be competing in it will add 60 years to your body. My brother retired from judo at 29. TWENTY NINE! He walks like yoda because of hip surgery. The nature of the sport is geared to demolish you like no other if you want to stay serious in Judo.

[Oktavius]

Seems like its an ugly truth with most sports, particularly combat sports

[knoxpk]

while all combat sports CAN hurt you I think there are some that are "safer" due to the rules of the game..............
BJJ for instance will have less high impact throws and less concern about Ippons so contorting in mid air is not a problem..however with all the joint locks and such I can see that it is a possibility to injure certain joints like the wrist, knees, ankles, elbows through prolonged hyperextension or stress.

Wrestling is fairly safe and while there are injuries it is more like a runner turning his ankle...an accident ...rather than the design of the maneuver causing the injury.
There are hard throws but how you land is not important in scoring so yes protecting your self has no drawback(Like an Ippon) the ground work uses leverage more so than pressure against a joint.

[Tom Hishon]

bjj or mma is better for you than judo man. Except for football and boxing, judo is hardcore like no other.

I don't see Yoon Dong Sik or Hidehiko crying...

[masterfighter]

That is why i don't compete in Judo. I decided when i was a kid that it was pointless to learn how to fall properly and not hurt yourself and then to compete and attempt not to fall the way you learnt it and hurt yourself instead. I concentrate on ne-waza instead.

[Cojofl]

High intensity judo training will decimate your body. An awful lot of high level guys have stop competing due to injury rather making the decision themselves.

There is a reason every starts to appreciate groundwork more once get to 30.

Ippons hurt you but its the kokas that injure you.

[azjudoboxer**]

Just about any combat sport or "collision" sport which Judo, Wrestling and BJJ are listed as, will fuck you up over a lifetime. My Sensei has a really f'ed up knee.

[sha]

Gripping the gi alone is enough to give you arthritis ? damn... isn't there any way to avoid it ?

[Spoonman7]

Judo is the football of combat sports, I had blisters on my fingers all of the time from gripping the gi. I love the sport but it is rough, the only serious martial arts injury I have had is when my knee got popped from a leg lock, which happened to me this week.