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Judo Official Judo Thread

I think the top competition players train at a handful of Japan universities but Kodokan is legit. I told the instructor at the front desk I was a long time Judo, wrestling and BJJ guy but was Judo ikkyu though a little out of practice. He said I should do the regular adult men's class in the main dojo (7th floor) at 6 pm six nights/week EXCEPT Wednesdays, when it was on the 5th floor because high level guys were on the 7th that day. He suggested I go to the 5th floor at 6 pm.

So I change into the loaner gi and red sash they gave me and a loaner white belt. At the Kodokan, black belt puts on you. Ikkyu and below wear white belt. So I start up the stairs and see an older BB (even older than my 50 yo ass) tapping a white cane and holding an assistant's arm, and he hobbles into the room on the 5th floor. Oh hell no. So I keep going to the 7th floor but the door is locked. I had to go back to the 5th floor, run around to the side stairwell and follow some young BBs through the side door to get onto the 7th floor.

On the main mat there were about 200 dudes in BBs and apparently they're all Japan national level competitors or guys who train with them. There were exactly 3 guys NOT wearing BBs: me and two blond teenagers in green belts from their home school who were doing a course at the Kodokan and were partnered with each other. A coral belt bows us in and everyone starts doing fit ins to warm up. I look around for a partner and everyone walks away from me like the red sea and there's only one other guy with a red sash in the room (who is also getting ignored) so we partner up.

Dude was also passing through for a 1-time drop in, was a yodan from Colombia and said he was on their national team for a few years. We end up going with each other when randori starts because no one else would partner with us lol. He's a big dude and gets overzealous with a tai otoshi and twists my ankle, which is why my foot is canted at a weird angle in my post above.

View attachment 1064488

If you want to know how the fat ugly girl feels at the dance, show up on Wednesday on the 7th floor of the Kodokan at 6 pm wearing a red sash, not fluent in japanese and asking guys you don't know to randori with you. Bonus points if you're wearing a white belt. It was hilarious. Colombian homeboy asked like 10 dudes and got politely shot down 10 times.


View attachment 1064492

They don't know you, so they don't want to hurt you and don't want to get hurt. After going again, Colombian dude finally got another dude to go with him so I stepped off the mat to watch. He got thrown 3 times and told me afterwards he was trying to muscle things but other dude shut him down completely.

I went to try my luck on the other side of the mat and a college dude my size agreed to go with me. He politely threw me a few times and then I got him with a forced osoto. He looked annoyed and hesitated getting up so in my best engrish I said gomenasai and asked if he had any "itai" anywhere. He shook his head without saying anything and I got the impression I had broken etiquette or something for muscling a throw with 'Murican wrestle-jitsu. We started again and he hits a reverse seoi that had me on his back staring at the ceiling and he could have slammed me but stopped before I hit the mat. I think he was trying to make a point. As soon as that round ended, a coral belt came over and told me to consider going down to the 5th floor. I considered it and decided not to, but a British expat told me when a coral belt tells you to "consider" something, he's telling you to do it.

So I got told to GTFO lol. Colombian dude wasn't doing much better so he agreed to go down to the 5th floor with me and since my ankle was killing me, we did newaza and worked on x guard and SLX sweeps while old blind guy did fit ins with another guy.
Damn, big bro…. That sounds like a place I would hate. My personal experience with people who pull a „judo is not about strenght“ is that they will themselves start using strength in randori when it fits them. It‘s also the kind who will start lecturing you mid-randori. Typically the „TMA arm of judo“, people who are immersed in Asian lore.

I have a personal gripe against these people because I suspect that they have held me back in my judo development. The sleeve and lapel, perfect classical judo doesn‘t work with me. Never has never will. I am a shit judoka but when my judo works it‘s when I use a more Mongolian/Georgian approach. And TBH nothing wrong with that. Judo is wrestling with a jacket, not a competition version of aikido.

Fuck it I ll continue my rant (you don t need to read all that shit though): my physical attributes don t work with classical style. I have short legs, short arms, but a lot of mass in the chest and back areas. I am strong when manipulating when that is against my body but weak from a distance. On top of that I have a lack of mobility in the chest and shoulders area. So all in all, sleeve and lapel doesn‘t work on me, period. But I send dudes flying with a belt grip and an underhook, just as an example.
 
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Damn, big bro…. That sounds like a place I would hate. My personal experience with people who pull a „judo is not about strenght“ is that they will themselves start using strength in randori when it fits them. It‘s also the kind who will start lecturing you mid-randori. Typically the „TMA arm of judo“, people who are immersed in Asian lore.

I have a personal gripe against these people because I suspect that they have held me back in my judo development. The sleeve and lapel, perfect classical judo doesn‘t work with me. Never has never will. I am a shit judoka but when my judo works it‘s when I use a more Mongolian/Georgian approach. And TBH nothing wrong with that. Judo is wrestling with a jacket, not a competition version of aikido.

Fuck it I ll continue my rant (you don t need to read all that shit though): my physical attributes don t work with classical style. I have short legs, short arms, but a lot of mass in the chest and back areas. I am strong when manipulating when that is against my body but weak from a distance. On top of that I have a lack of mobility in the chest and shoulders area. So all in all, sleeve and lapel doesn‘t work on me, period. But I send dudes flying with a belt grip and an underhook, just as an example.

I get you bro but from what I saw, Kodokan is NOT a bullshido gym. It's the gym that bullshido gyms wish they could be. Everyone on the top floor barring a few older guys like me were terrific athletes capable of wrecking shit. The regular adult class instructor had cauliflower ear that would have made Randy Couture proud.

And I agree that everyone uses strength. But that strength is best applied at the right time and place. Same way that training BJJ has made my ground game a lot smoother - I still use strength but try to be more strategic with it.

Going takedowns with or without gi grips, the idea is to create that kuzushi so uke is off balanced in the direction you want to throw him. THEN you can explode with strength if you want. It's possible to muscle a throw with dogshit timing in precisely the wrong direction, but that's never going to work on a bigger, stronger more athletic guy. In Judo I think it's around nidan/sandan that guys can reliably off balance and cleanly throw bigger guys using grips, footwork and timing. Just like in grappling, a juiced up strong AF guy with sweet technique is way more dangerous than an unskilled roidhead who might still get the job done sometimes.
 
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I think the top competition players train at a handful of Japan universities but Kodokan is legit. I told the instructor at the front desk I was a long time Judo, wrestling and BJJ guy but was Judo ikkyu though a little out of practice. He said I should do the regular adult men's class in the main dojo (7th floor) at 6 pm six nights/week EXCEPT Wednesdays, when it was on the 5th floor because high level guys were on the 7th that day. He suggested I go to the 5th floor at 6 pm.

So I change into the loaner gi and red sash they gave me and a loaner white belt. At the Kodokan, black belt puts on you. Ikkyu and below wear white belt. So I start up the stairs and see an older BB (even older than my 50 yo ass) tapping a white cane and holding an assistant's arm, and he hobbles into the room on the 5th floor. Oh hell no. So I keep going to the 7th floor but the door is locked. I had to go back to the 5th floor, run around to the side stairwell and follow some young BBs through the side door to get onto the 7th floor.

On the main mat there were about 200 dudes in BBs and apparently they're all Japan national level competitors or guys who train with them. There were exactly 3 guys NOT wearing BBs: me and two blond teenagers in green belts from their home school who were doing a course at the Kodokan and were partnered with each other. A coral belt bows us in and everyone starts doing fit ins to warm up. I look around for a partner and everyone walks away from me like the red sea and there's only one other guy with a red sash in the room (who is also getting ignored) so we partner up.

Dude was also passing through for a 1-time drop in, was a yodan from Colombia and said he was on their national team for a few years. We end up going with each other when randori starts because no one else would partner with us lol. He's a big dude and gets overzealous with a tai otoshi and twists my ankle, which is why my foot is canted at a weird angle in my post above.

View attachment 1064488

If you ever want to feel like the fat ugly girl at the dance, show up on Wednesday on the 7th floor of the Kodokan at 6 pm wearing a red sash, not fluent in japanese and asking guys you don't know to randori with you. Bonus points if you're wearing a white belt. It was hilarious. Colombian homeboy asked like 10 dudes and got politely shot down 10 times.


View attachment 1064492

They don't know you, don't want to hurt you and don't want to get hurt. After going again, Colombian dude finally got another dude to go with him so I stepped off the mat to watch. He got thrown 3 times and told me afterwards he was trying to muscle things but other dude shut him down completely.

I went to try my luck on the other side of the mat and a college dude my size agreed to go with me. He politely threw me a few times and then I got him with a forced osoto. He looked annoyed and hesitated getting up so in my best engrish I said gomenasai and asked if he had any "itai" anywhere. He shook his head without saying anything and I got the impression I had broken etiquette or something for muscling a throw with 'Murican wrestle-jitsu. We started again and he hits a reverse seoi that had me on his back staring at the ceiling and he could have slammed me but stopped before I hit the mat. I think he was trying to make a point. As soon as that round ended, a coral belt came over and told me to consider going down to the 5th floor. I considered it and decided not to, but a British expat told me when a coral belt there asks you to "consider" something, he's telling you to do it.

So I got told to GTFO lol. My other red sash homie wasn't doing much better so he agreed to go down to the 5th floor with me and since my ankle was killing me, we did newaza and worked on x guard and SLX sweeps while old blind guy did fit ins with another guy.

Sounds similar to my old Coach's story when his ship pulled in and he decided to drop in at the Kodokan. He was a Ni- or Sandan at the time and after taking a beating in randori he was explained he was on the wrong floor/wrong door...said it was a wonderful time though.
 
Sounds similar to my old Coach's story when his ship pulled in and he decided to drop in at the Kodokan. He was a Ni- or Sandan at the time and after taking a beating in randori he was explained he was on the wrong floor/wrong door...said it was a wonderful time though.

Definitely a cool experience and I'd recommend it to anyone who trains Judo. Although I'd like to go back and do the regular classes someday, the competition open mat was something special. As the British expat (who said he did the regular classes there) told me, outside of Japan you'd be hard pressed to see so many high level Judo competitors on the same mat in a regular practice. Wrestling equivalent would probably be like going to Penn State and there's a wrestling practice going on with their D1 guys + elite wrestlers from their RTC doing an open mat. And random scrubs who wrestled in HS but are 20 years out of practice can sign a waiver, rent a singlet and shoes, sneak in the side door and go live with those guys lol.
 
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Damn, big bro…. That sounds like a place I would hate. My personal experience with people who pull a „judo is not about strenght“ is that they will themselves start using strength in randori when it fits them. It‘s also the kind who will start lecturing you mid-randori. Typically the „TMA arm of judo“, people who are immersed in Asian lore.

I have a personal gripe against these people because I suspect that they have held me back in my judo development. The sleeve and lapel, perfect classical judo doesn‘t work with me. Never has never will. I am a shit judoka but when my judo works it‘s when I use a more Mongolian/Georgian approach. And TBH nothing wrong with that. Judo is wrestling with a jacket, not a competition version of aikido.

Fuck it I ll continue my rant (you don t need to read all that shit though): my physical attributes don t work with classical style. I have short legs, short arms, but a lot of mass in the chest and back areas. I am strong when manipulating when that is against my body but weak from a distance. On top of that I have a lack of mobility in the chest and shoulders area. So all in all, sleeve and lapel doesn‘t work on me, period. But I send dudes flying with a belt grip and an underhook, just as an example.
You ought to learn both, really. If I could have any grip, it would be the belt and end sleeve. A lot of good guys will never let you get this grip, then you're stuck. Uchi Mata from an over-the-shoulder belt grip is my favourite technique, but i've never even secured that grip on my coach (and I'm a sandan!). By all means have a "game over" grip, but don't neglect standard collar and sleeve even if it isn't your prefence.
 
What's the legality of sweeping the standing leg as a counter? A guy tried to cross-body ken ken Osoto Gari me in randori yesterday, and I threw him with Sasae against the standing leg. He said it's illegal. I don't see why it would be.
 
sweeping the standing leg isn't just legal, it's encouraged, because judo.

tori has to throw so that uke falls in a scoreable position. throws onto uke's head/face/front don't score.

inside trips from behind are hansokumake in the judo ruleset.

if tori used the leg uke is attacking to reap uke's plant leg while pushing uke backwards, THAT is illegal, but that's not a sasae anyway.
 
if tori used the leg uke is attacking to reap uke's plant leg while pushing uke backwards, THAT is illegal, but that's not a sasae anyway.
I used the leg he was attacking to block/knock out his standing leg at the shin. So, he was hooking my right leg with his right leg, but hadn't broken my balance or loaded my weight onto the leg he was attacking, I used my right foot on his left shin. Sasae or Harai Tsurikomi Ashi is the closest thing I would describe it as.
 
Teddy Riner is probably the GOAT judoka competitor, and this may be his last competition, so consider it equivalent to Karelin going for his last Olympic gold. If you want to see carnage delivered by an elite judoka against hapless opponents, Riner is your guy. Obligatory near-perfect annihilation by osoto, taking out the trash:

rWOElm.gif


Other divisions should be much more competitive tho.

Some reason this thread went to first page for me today. This post didn't age well lol
 
I used the leg he was attacking to block/knock out his standing leg at the shin. So, he was hooking my right leg with his right leg, but hadn't broken my balance or loaded my weight onto the leg he was attacking, I used my right foot on his left shin. Sasae or Harai Tsurikomi Ashi is the closest thing I would describe it as.
yeaaaahhhh that'd be illegal in judo, you're doing an inside trip from behind.
 
I hope and expect leg grabs to be implemented fully

My game will improve drastically if i can grip and grab for legs. I'm a very big guy and although I am explosive for my size, I struggle with entries to throw. Foot sweeps are my go to and Uchi mata has improved a lot in recent months, but I do feel leg grabs gives me a decent advantage over some. 30 inch quads and 20 inch calves, also by far my strongest body part from my lifting days

So hopefully it takes off!!
 
Ah, fair enough. Any idea why that's illegal?
Inside trips from behind don't throw uke into a scoreable position. There's no way he can fall on his back, and he'd have a hard time turning for a side fall because his leg gets caught on your body. hell, uke has to turn INTO the front fall, otherwise you're both landing square on his shoulder/collarbone/face.

So in terms of self-defense, it's *super* effective in that uke falls face down with an arm trapped. Tori can choose which part of uke's body hits the ground first AND lands with either back control, or side control with a turk/leg lace.

you see inside trips from behind in wrestling, but your average wrestler is in much better shape and far less likely to whine* about the rules than a hobbyist Judoka
 
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Hey guys, if someone is in the US and has expertise in judo as a coach, ref, etc shoot me a dm. I work as an expert witness and provide insight for boxing and mma related legal cases and just got an email asking if I’d be available for a case involving judo. Way too far out of my wheelhouse to take the gig but if someone has the expertise, hmu. 250-350 bucks an hour billed for your time reviewing the case, docs, evidence, corresponding with the legal team who’s hired you, and it’s all billable by the 1/10th of an hour. 2k for a day rate if they need you to travel or be somewhere in person.

I’ve worked a few boxing related cases and made some decent cash. Well worth your time
 
Inside trips from behind don't throw uke into a scoreable position. There's no way he can fall on his back, and he'd have a hard time turning for a side fall because his leg gets caught on your body. hell, uke has to turn INTO the front fall, otherwise you're both landing square on his shoulder/collarbone/face.

So in terms of self-defense, it's *super* effective in that uke falls face down with an arm trapped. Tori can choose which part of uke's body hits the ground first AND lands with either back control, or side control with a turk/leg lace.

you see inside trips from behind in wrestling, but your average wrestler is in much better shape and far less likely to while about the rules than a hobbyist Judoka
Right. I should probably know this as a 3rd dan, haha. Yeah, he landed on his side in a "nutcracker" position. Is it shido or hansoku-make?
 
Right. I should probably know this as a 3rd dan, haha. Yeah, he landed on his side in a "nutcracker" position. Is it shido or hansoku-make?
Hansokumake, it's explicitly banned like Daki Age and Kawazue Gake
 
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