I'm thinking about starting Judo. Right now I do kickboxing and was thinking that Judo is a good art to learn some groundwork and grappling. I was wondering though if it is a good practical form of self-defense or is it more sport-oriented? How much of the moves are dependent on someone wearing a Gi? In other words, if someone wearing shorts and no shirt attacked me, would I be able to apply most of the Judo moves? Also, do you learn any strikes and kicks and how to defend against them? How good of a workout is it?
Like learning TKD learning Judo depends on where you receive your instruction from. Some schools are more competition oriented and others self defense. Judo can be applied on the streets no doubt. Throws in Judo in my opinion can be highly effective on the streets, gi or no gi. As for strikes and how good a workout it is i'm not quite sure of. I do jujitsu which incorporates a lot of Judo throws and such.
With or Without Gi Judo basically teaches how to throw an opponent who is wearing something thick enough to hold his weight. If you fight a guy with a jean jacket on the street, or a thick sweatshirt, it is so similar to a gi that you barely notice a difference. If you're fighting someone who is shirtless and wearing shorts (and we all know that type of guy is constantly attacking us on the streets ) you can generally grab the guy's body where you would grab his gi. When I spar with my Pa Kua friend he doesn't wear a shirt, and I tend to go for a basic high-collar right grip by grabbing his left shoulder and right elbow, switching as need be so that when I get a good chance I can get a grip on the wrist and epon him.
