Which throwdown art is more practical for bjj, wrestling or judo?

jcgonzmo

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I want to learn one, an I only have 1 - 2 days per week to train.
 
Mods.... sticky on this question... please
 
My teacher, Marcelo Garcia, says wrestling is the most efficient takedown art for BJJ if you have limited time to work your standup game...he recommends double legs, single legs, and ankle picks.
 
Short answer: You could make an argument for judo in traditional BJJ competition, although I'd still side with wrestling. If you have any interest in competing without a gi, wrestling by a landslide.

Reasons: It's very difficult to translate judo techniques to no-gi takedowns without some wrestling training, making judo much less useful than wrestling without a gi. With a gi I still side with wrestling because you aren't allowed to shoot on the legs in judo. Even if you never want to shoot in on someone, it's still important to be able to defend it.
 
The no brainer is JUDO all the way, for a couple of reasons. Its a throwing art (beating BJJ since that is specialized in groundwork) and easier to find a place to train in the U.S. at any age (beating the option of wrestling, since youre not going to find a place to wrestle at outside of high school). Oh, and its very cheap too (something like $30 a month, depending on the dojo).
 
So many factors play into this.

What are your long term goals?
Are the schools for Judo and Wrestling you are considering even in terms of what you want from a school?

I have rolled with a lot of high level wrestlers and high level judo guys. Both have their strengths.

For sure if you want to do no gi jiu jitsu it's going to be hard to not choose wrestling.

If you are a white belt in jiu jitsu and are going to do gi tournaments and want to look real cool at the local tournament. Train 3 judo throws really hard for like 3 months and go toss some dudes.

When you make a decision let us know. Make sure you always keep an open mind
 
I have train judo for 4 months. I completely understand what people mean when they say is hard to master. Also a lot of throws are very risky when you give your back. I throw everyone with Osoto-Gari. I dont know is maybe wrestling is easier to master. Also I have fought no gi. If the guy is not sweaty I can maybe land a throw. If the guy is sweaty then I cannot even grab him haha.
 
I prefer wrestling. I feel that someone who has wrestled for 6 months will easily take down and control anyone who has never wrestled and is less that 20 lbs of muscle bigger than them, gi or no gi. Judo has a steeper learning curve, so it may take 2-3 years before that same person training judo is competent enough to easily and reliably take down and control someone 20lbs bigger than them, especially without the gi.

Also I honestly feel wrestling has some really useful ground work stuff that we simply don't see taught anywhere else. Especially their stuff on standing up after being taken down and their front headlock work. If you're really lucky and get to train freestlye wrestling you also learn a lot about how to ride someone who doesn't want to be there.
 
Let me ask you guys another doozie. If Judo allowed pants grabbing, and shooting for the legs, and letting your knee touch the mat, then will you basically just see leg tackles, and less hip throws and trips in judo?
 
Let me ask you guys another doozie. If Judo allowed pants grabbing, and shooting for the legs, and letting your knee touch the mat, then will you basically just see leg tackles, and less hip throws and trips in judo?

I used to train at a place that allowed all of that and all of the throws got a lot of use. No one just did one thing.

Dont forget there are throws to counter leg tackles, single legs, and double legs, etc.
 
Let me ask you guys another doozie. If Judo allowed pants grabbing, and shooting for the legs, and letting your knee touch the mat, then will you basically just see leg tackles, and less hip throws and trips in judo?



The music is annoying though.
 
for gi BJJ: Judo
for MMA: wrestling (freestyle)
for no gi BJJ / sub grappling: wrestling (freestyle)
 
The place that has the best coaching and partners.

If you are learning for bjj remember wrestling and judo are NOT just take downs (although Judo, Freestyle, and Greco have a huge emphasis here). Judo has ground work as well teach you to move to submissions faster in the transition. Wrestling will have advantages in nogi.
 
A mixture of Freestyle and Greco Roman (especially in USA where freestyle is too folkstyle oriented).
 
A mixture of Freestyle and Greco Roman (especially in USA where freestyle is too folkstyle oriented).
No... that totally depends where you are in the continent wide, country with more wrestling rooms and wrestlers than any other country, with multiple states the size of your country. Tell me again how every coach teaches freestyle a certain way from Italy...

For the TS the limited time you have makes me suggest wrestling for best return on investment. But if the Judo instructor is a better coach. Go with that
 
In Italy you can see a lot of Freestyle-Greco cross training.
 
Let me ask you guys another doozie. If Judo allowed pants grabbing, and shooting for the legs, and letting your knee touch the mat, then will you basically just see leg tackles, and less hip throws and trips in judo?

No. It's actually pretty hard to put someone flat on their back from a double if they're trying hard to avoid it, even more so from a single or ankle pick, and that's the goal of Judo. Not the takedown, but the throw. Flat on the back, force and control.

When pants grabbing was legal, you mostly saw is as a counter, secondary attack to help finish a primary attack, and as last ditch effort (desperation double legs).
 
Oh, and the answer to TS (and I say this as a Judo BB) is wrestling. Learn to Google if you want to know why.
 
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