EJU cancel European Championships over BJA/UFC partnership

Depends on the club. We've stopped teaching things that are illegal in competition because we view Judo as a sport first. Other clubs take a more traditionalist view, which is great, because they are easier to beat in competition

 

And was never promoted after age 30 as a result.

Right or wrong, dissaproval of pro fighting and pro wrestling is a pretty consistent theme in the history of postwar Judo. The EJU pulling the whole competition over it is obviously an insane, self-deafeating move but I can't say it's philosophically inconsistent or super surprising that they dissaprove of UFC sponsorship.

 

And the Kodokan really did not approve, but obviously, couldn't stop him.

 

Its rampant hypocrisy

If Reebok or Nike offered to co-sponsor they woukd be all over it, yet they are massive all-for-profit comapnies that sponsor proathletes

This is just more butthurt from an organisation of dinosaurs and morons

 

Like you say it depends on why you're doing it. It was part of his MMA training for him and the sparring class was an open area class with a few BJJ'rs in it so it was more flexible with rules

 

So, having cancelled the championships in Glasgow because the UFC sponsorship didn't meet with the EJU's 'values', they have chosen to host the Euros in Azerbaijan: a country held under the thumb of a repressive dictatorial regime. A country whose record of press freedom was recently ranked 160th out of 180 countries.

To use a Glaswegian term: What a bunch of bawbags.

 

Surely the best way to increase interest in Judo is to promote it in conjunction with the UFC. European fighters have always been at a disadvantage on the ground in MMA as we do not have the history of school wrestling that US fighters have.

If you started having UK/European fighters being more successful in the UFC, with Judo as one of their arsenal, it's going to attract more people to Judo. "Cutting your nose off to spite your face", is the saying that applies, I think.

 

You'd think, but I perused the unofficial BJA facebook group yesterday and the membership at large seems deeply opposed to any involvement with the MMA community. Because like the associations they despise, they are all dinosaurs.

 

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/lond...d-in-baku-10067255.html?origin=internalSearch

Political conspiracy theories. ....

If true its nice the EJU would rather support a despotic regime then the UFC, kano is probably berimboloing in his grave right now.

 

http://www.immaf.org/french-mp-judoka-david-douillet-judo-vs-mma/

To prove not everyone in french judo has the same views.

 

The amateurism argument doesn't hold water.

1. It's not the Kodokan that pulled the Glasgow event.
2. I just read an article that the IJF paid out over $2 mill in prize money last year.
3. Even in the Olympics, amateurism has been dead for decades - even though the myth is still perpetuated...

I would postulate that "the spirit of the Kodokan" is only of interest to the IJF insofar as it's a useful argument to ban anything that detracts from the SPORT aspect of Judo and therefore their bottom line, i.e., making money. And losing their best judoka to MMA because all they have to look forward to from the IJF once their "careers" are finished is a pat on the back definitely affects their bottom line.

 

I know a few judoka that train full time, and teach full time. However most of those are government funded. The difference between steady job and big paydays must be tempting.

$2 million in prize money is nothing when you stop to consider how many judo black belt competitors there are. For every one person that gets paid thousands go on unpaid.

The IJF is stoopid. Judo is awesome.

 

There's no money in Judo. Ronda Rousey said that becoming an Olympic medallist actually ended up costing her money.

Only the stars in the Judo-mad countries are going to come close to making a good living out of Judo and unless you are willing to become a coach when you retire, you can look forward to being dumped into the job market in your early 30's with a decade long hole in your work record. Judo is an awesome hobby, but it is a truly awful profession.

 

I'm not saying that any of the top judoka are getting rich. Even $2 mill spread between all the Grand Prix and Regional Championships, then divided by, what, 13 or something for all the weight classes is definitely a pittance. BUT, at the end of the day they are being compensated even if it's just enough to keep them in the gym training full-time and not having to get a job to support themselves. So, at the world class level there's no such thing anymore as an amateur. It's just economically not feasible in this day and age.

And the other side is that if you're one of those elite few and you see a Rousey getting PAID $$$ for getting in the cage for 14 seconds? (I think I heard somewhere that all of her professional fights put together only add up to 9 minutes or something)

Ronda says in interviews that the only thing she could find in Judo after the Olympics was to go to Japan and be on the Komatsu Corporation team, living in a dorm like an indentured servant (don't know if that's a true representation)? No wonder she chose to be a bartender for a couple of years until she found her way into professional fighting.

On the other hand, it's a huge commitment to add striking and wrestling and grappling to your game and there's still a huge segment who that won't appeal to. There are world class jiu jitsu players who have no interest in MMA. Like Eddie Bravo says, never appealed to me - I don't like getting hit in the face!

 

Bad english uggh - should read, "to whom that won't appeal." and I minored in English, yikes

 

http://www.intjudo.eu/Honorary_Members7

look at who's the new IJF president, yes that's right its Russian president for life Vlad Putin.......

Because he's such a good wholesome charactor.

 

The bad decisions, the move of the comp. all becomes frighteningly clear now

 

Well he's not actually the president, just an honorary president of the IJF, so doesn't actually have any power!

 

Wow. Do you think they hang out in the lobby of FIFA and take notes?

 

I'm sure vlad putin isnt a power hungry guy anyway....

but..... when they sell out the bja for links to the UFC which is a bad company, but honor a war mongering virtual dictator, then something smells very rotten in the state of Denmark (by which I mean the IJF not actually Denmark)