Potential Judo newbie/Taking up Judo for self defence?

Hi everyone, I've been out of MA 'full time' for 3 years now and would like to get back into it. I've been looking at WC, BJJ and Judo classes recently, but I've always had an interest in joint locks and throws, which has led me here.

I'm slightly hesitant to try a ground/grappling style due to my lack of experience with both competitions and ground/clinch work, (my background is primarily stand-up kung fu) I'm not a fan of chokes either it has to be said, giving or receiving. lol

But another main grappling newbie 'concern' of mine is that I want to take up Judo (and any style I do for that matter) primarily for self defence, so I wanted to know if I'd be right in doing this?

All of the Judo clubs I've seen so far seem to be very competition-focused, so I wondered if emphasis is also placed on practical self defence in Judo classes?
Do all the techniques (both the moves and training methods) learnt for sports competitions/randori's translate well into self defence situations?

Thanks in advance for any help in answering my questions.

 

Self defence depends more on toughness and attitude than individual techniques. Judo training gives you both.

With your knowledge of striking arts..You should be capable of striking to set up your judo technique.

Principles are more important than techniques and judo has excelent unbalancing principles. I would go for it.

My original art was judo and I have NEVER regretted my time training.

Regards koyo

 

Thanks for the advice.

My fitness and determination aren't always the highest in class if I'm honest, so any style that pushes me can only be good.

You made that interesting point in another thread about unbalancing an opponent first before even attempting a throw. I would assume strikes of any kind aren't allowed in Judo competition (and therefore aren't taught at all in Judo classes?), and so throws/trips would be more applicable when standing/in clinch, but in a self defence situation, striking first to unbalance an assailant to make it easier to set them up for a throw/takedown sure sounds sensible to me.
Can Judo's unbalancing principals be used in a self defence situation as well though? To simply trip an opponent for example without the need for a set-up strike first.

 

Lol Well if they say so, that settles it.

"pub fighting in pyjamas", I gotta use that quote...lol

I have to say now that I don't mean to be disrespectful to the style when I ask about self defence of course, I simply have absolutely zero lesson experience in any style that's operated below 5 feet off the ground. (well, Chen Tai Chi aside.. )

I think the more competitive side to Judo will do some good certainly (my former Sifu used to say I "lacked spirit" sometimes, which I can't argue with), I've never been in an MA competition style atmosphere before, which will also be something a bit new to me.

As for striking styles, my old kung fu Sifu has moved away from Manchester now it seems, and I drew the line at full contact sparring in MT and boxing, had to rule them out as options early on.
Wing Chun is probably my fave currently, but I'm always open to options.

 

Have you considered Jujitsu ?

It might suit your purposes

Regards

Alan

 

TKDmitch has answered you I would add from experience of my "wilder" days O Soto gari from judo is a devastating technique (with or without the head but OK Smurf?)and again the general toughness (down 8 up9) of a judoka is hard to beat.

I am not a great fan of self defence classes because a weak spirit or body is impossible to defend. So the emphasis should be on physical conditioning through competition ar a resisting partner.

Self defence is NOT a collection of numerous techniques. It is awareness and a few pragmatic explosive techniqus and the bottle to apply them. I have NEVER met a good judoka who is lacking these.

 

Thanks for the insight. how long have you been doing Judo for?
So Judo is almost like Chi Sau or Push Hands to a degree then (controversy alert! ), in the sense that you're 'feeling' where your opponent is attacking, then counter-attacking or using their own momentum against them?

As for self defence, I did a class in Krav Maga last year that I thought was good, I liked the 'pressure testing' atmosphere they introduced to application drilling and they drilled lively certainly, but there was something about it that didn't feel totally right for me, think I'm too used to the MA ways of training.

I'll definitely give Judo a try, I just wanted to confirm my thoughts on it being a very practical self defence style first.

 

As in Japanese Jujitsu? (told you I was a noob at grappling arts )
I have actually looked at 'JJJ' in recent months, found it interesting too, though my searching brought me to the Jitsu Foundation IIRC, a search of whom on here and Bullshido discouraged me, Bullshido especially aren't fans.
As for 'traditional' JJJ, I don't think I was able to find any in Manchester. I'm having enough trouble finding consistent Judo clubs here at the moment. lol

 

If you find a good club they incorporate your skill set around striking and kicking and blend it wth the throwing/ grappling side to deliver a comprehensive all round defensive art ...

I am of course biased having played at Jujitsu for a few years !!

I can only recommend you go and try out judo and jujitsu and see which if either takes your fancy.

good luck

Smurf

 

Bullshido especially are not fans of Jujutsu.

There is a reason they are called bullshido.

best to listen to people with actual experience.
Like Smurf.

 

Judo's founder studied Jujitsu initially didn't he?
Yeah I'll give it a looksy too thanks, would you say it was similiar to Judo in your experience? I imagine they share similiarities at least if they do indeed share the same 'lineage'.

 

Judo rocks! Just to add most judo clubs are competitive, this is a GOOD thing. You will learn more about how to defend yourself during Randori (sparring) than you will standing about talking about how to throw some one etc.

 

Lol yes absolutely, Bullshido are certainly not top of my Christmas cards list.

The Jitsu Foundation site looked good to me, but due to my limited experience of grappling, I'm looking to all the more experienced people for advice.

 

I've been searching for Judo clubs round my area (South Manchester) and so far I've found:

University of Manchester Judo Club
(http://www.clubs.manchester.ac.uk/judo/index.php)
They're based at the Armitiage Centre, which is probably the closest of the venues to me that I've found so far. They're on a Monday and Wednesday it looks like, though I wouldn't be able to make their Wednesday classes, as I already currently do Yoga on Wednesdays. Looks like they won't be open until students return on 19th April now though, I know how to pick my dates. lol

Ippon Judo Club (Cheadle)
http://www.clubs.manchester.ac.uk/judo/clubs.php
This looks to be another branch of the Manchester Judo Club, which I could travel to (I don't have a car currently so relying on public transport). Their next class is tomorrow, so this may be the one I'd try to get to for my first lesson if I can.

There's also an Urmston club near the Trafford Centre that I could potentially get to, though they're an advanced class aparently.

I've also found this site which seems to encompass the clubs onto the one site:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ptopping/

Anyone think any of these classes would be worth a shot?

 

Lol! You do make a valid arguement there, yes Mitch.

A good mate of mine teaches the yoga class (he's more flexible than a Mastercard ) and I'm a loyal chum, if I do say so meself. Does wonders for me flexibility though, wish I was doing it in my Capoeira days.

 

If there's a school around, you might consider Sambo. Less-restricted Judo with a format for nogi, jacketed and striking competition. Seeing that chokes are also illegal in Sport Sambo, it may be a fit for you.

Japanese jujutsu is good stuff, you just have to find a good school. Judo itself was founded because, long story short, the jujutsu guys didn't train against resistance, and therefore couldn't fight. There are exceptions and it's a little more complicated than that, but that's the gist of it. Find a school that regularly practices randori, and it should do you well.

 

The jujutsu guys could not fight?

Actually after the fall of the samurai jujutsu fell into the hands of the yakuza and "other brigands" and therefor had a bad rep in Japan due to the LETHAL techniques.

Jigoro Kano after studying jujutsu discarded the lethal techniques and mitigated others so that they could be practiced in competition safely.

When I studied judo the self defence training was in jujutsu.

In the often discussed competition between Kodokan judo and jujutsu the jujutsuka were fighting to rules and limited targets and techniques. Kodokan "won" however one of the kodokan students Saigo was a student of Daito ryu and used yama arshi a Daito ryu jujutsu technique to win his bouts.

As a judoka I would use judo for training BUT jujutsu for self defence.From experience the jujutsuka that I know sure as hell can fight.