Does judo transition well into BJJ?

[Rdude92]

I've heard in a BJJ/judo heavy podcast that a person who knows judo, if he transitions to bjj, he's experience in judo doesn't matter, he will still be a white belt bjj level.
Thoughts?

 

[Kenny from MD]

Differs person to person. If you are good at, and by good- I mean UNDERSTAND judo, you have a massive head start in jiu jitsu.

 

[kenetics]

Well since bjj is rooted from judo, I say yes...

 

[efficientjudo]

Given that the IBJJF don't allow Judo black belts to compete as white belts, I don't think that is exactly true.

 

[Uchi Mata]

It's useful, though as the metagames of the two have diverged so much it's less useful than it would have been in the 90s. In general being a good grappler is helpful for being good at grappling (who knew?) as many of the attributes that are necessary to be good at BJJ like balance, sensitivity, posture, pressure, etc. are developed in all the other styles. Personally I think wrestling is probably a little bit better for coming into BJJ (there's a learning curve with the gi for sure, but many of the instincts wrestling instills are better for BJJ than the ones inculcated by Judo), but any grappling expertise will help you learn more quickly. And that's really what it's about: a Judo BB starting BJJ is definitely still a white belt as there's huge swathes of the repertoire they've most likely never seen, but they'll pick it all up MUCH faster than someone with no grappling experience because they've got a lot of context already established.

 

[ArtemV]

Sure it does. You can basically win matches from getting a takedown and stalling. Providing you have the fundamentals of Judo down, fundamentals of the ne-waza game so you don't make any stupid mistakes that some people down.

Judo is good for balance, but the level of ne-waza at my club is pretty poor. Pick a few takedowns (from judo) and work with them, they don't need to be fancy - just effective.

Judo does definitely transition well, but if you want to be good in bjj competitions... go to bjj

 

[QingTian]

I think a typical Judo BB would be blue. But it wouldn't be totally unfair for him to compete in white due to differences in rules and skill set.

IME transitioning to BJJ is like adding icing to the cake. I had to learn how to pass new guards and how to open up subs. It took me about 10 sessions in BJJ to start tapping blues. Then a few months to tap my first purple. Then a long plateau from there because I ran out of Judo skills to adapt to BJJ. I finally tapped my first brown after two years going into open mats... I am much stronger than him though

 

[lechien]

I've heard in a BJJ/judo heavy podcast that a person who knows judo, if he transitions to bjj, he's experience in judo doesn't matter, he will still be a white belt bjj level.
Thoughts?

That is a myth spread by over zealous bjj fanatics.

I had my share of judokas on the mats and they are not white belt bjj levels.

It would take time to make the necessary changes to adapt to the rules but they have a huge advantage compare to a total newbie.

 

[Rdude92]

I think a typical Judo BB would be blue. But it wouldn't be totally unfair for him to compete in white due to differences in rules and skill set.

IME transitioning to BJJ is like adding icing to the cake. I had to learn how to pass new guards and how to open up subs. It took me about 10 sessions in BJJ to start tapping blues. Then a few months to tap my first purple. Then a long plateau from there because I ran out of Judo skills to adapt to BJJ. I finally tapped my first brown after two years going into open mats... I am much stronger than him though

I've been training judo for 4 years now and am thinking of entering my 1st bjj class. Should I inform them that I did judo before? I'm fairly average among my other judoka cohorts, nothing special (maybe because we train with each other too much, that's why its hard to throw each other ).

 

[Foxflechette57]

In judo you learn to turtlle literally all the time, meaning you spend your first months giving your back.
On the other hand, you will be hard to sweep with good balance, scrambles, grips and standing will be easy (still need to adapt your throw and learn to sprawl, single and double legs but its kind of natural)
I still miss judo, specially as my first boy just started (he is 4), for kids I definitely recommand judo before BJJ, easier to transition from judo to bjj than the opposite. and the clubs start to include a lot more newaza than wen I was training.

 

[Foxflechette57]

I've been training judo for 4 years now and am thinking of entering my 1st bjj class. Should I inform them that I did judo before? I'm fairly average among my other judoka cohorts, nothing special (maybe because we train with each other too much, that's why its hard to throw each other ).

4 years is not that much, were you a blue belt? still they will probaly ask if you have trained any grappling sport before.

 

[lechien]

I've been training judo for 4 years now and am thinking of entering my 1st bjj class. Should I inform them that I did judo before? I'm fairly average among my other judoka cohorts, nothing special (maybe because we train with each other too much, that's why its hard to throw each other ).

Nah, just wear a white belt and see the horrified look on the blue belts when they cannot get their way with you.

 

[BJJ_Rage]

It depends on the judo school

 

[jr jr]

It should help on the top, hurt from the bottom, and you will be a god standing.

 

[QingTian]

I've been training judo for 4 years now and am thinking of entering my 1st bjj class. Should I inform them that I did judo before? I'm fairly average among my other judoka cohorts, nothing special (maybe because we train with each other too much, that's why its hard to throw each other ).

I don't bother informing anyone unless they ask. Maybe tell your new instructor so he knows where to start teaching you.

 

[Universal Kombat]

I've heard in a BJJ/judo heavy podcast that a person who knows judo, if he transitions to bjj, he's experience in judo doesn't matter, he will still be a white belt bjj level.
Thoughts?

Granted I had dabbled in BJJ and MMA in backyards with buddies in the past, but after having actually attended a Judo school for about a year. I got good at it pretty quickly, had some competitons.

I went to a BJJ school and grappled in nogi fashion against a brown belt, he was a bit bigger than I. I controlled him and held him in positions and pins where he couldn't do much, and frustrated he opened himself for a sub attempt I almost had.

Sure I guess one could call it stalling but my sport like wrestling, is heavily pin based so I did what I knew.

I felt good that day because the brown belt was impressed and it was my first formal BJJ grappling. They knew I had a brown belt in Judo which is why they paired me up with him in the first place and we were both around 230.

Then I proceeded to go against a skinny manlet blackbelt instructor but this guy caught me in submissions left and right and made me feel like a legit white belt.

So to summarize, yes it helped, no it did not make me a BJJ expert.

 

[Gandhi]

I've been training judo for 4 years now and am thinking of entering my 1st bjj class. Should I inform them that I did judo before? I'm fairly average among my other judoka cohorts, nothing special (maybe because we train with each other too much, that's why its hard to throw each other ).

No way dude, you need to rock the sneaky white belt. It's fun trust me. :0

 

[RJ Green]

don't murder any white belts or smaller people, but take it to the competitive blues and above. if anybody asks if you've trained before, just say you 'watch a lot of UFC'

 

[nefti]

If you train smart, you will progress much faster than your teamateam

 

[Rdude92]

don't murder any white belts or smaller people, but take it to the competitive blues and above. if anybody asks if you've trained before, just say you 'watch a lot of UFC'

hahaha