So before I consider leaving judo for good, I want some thoughts from this community

That looks badass.

 

Looks like a good bet.

 

Now all I would ever add would be a sprinkling of weaponry. Theres decent shooting ranges and fencing clubs nearby so thats always an idea for later

 

I know the bare minimum of kali. To be honest follow the principles of weapons and it's easy.

Big stick: be too far away, or be too close.

Knife: don't get stabbed or cut as much as possible

If big knife, apply both principles.

 

didn't see this thread first time;
I was going to say, join the BJJ side, we have cake, but it looks like you already did

In my experience it's easier to stay injury free in BJJ, but there is still risks - risk is usually associated with ego factor.


I guess like others said, leg locks are higher risk if the recipient doesn't know the rules, and escape defense, and add a sprinkle of ego to that it's recipe for injury.
We had Dean Lister visit last week, so likely I need to work on my leg lock defense now. Only a few times I've had someone move to a leg log, or I've put someone in a leg log, but only people I spar with a lot who I know has drilled the lock and rules.

I found the quickest defense for most submissions I'm not familiar with, or partners I'm not familiar with applying them, is to apply this technique - gently tap twice on the side of the leg (I think it's a pressure point as they let go instantly).

The bulk of my injuries were during 8 years at judo, and that was as a teenager, so I was a lot less brittle than I am now - Even though, your description on the original thread implies it was on the higher end of injury rate.

 

I still have my kali sticks from the class that was near me and moved a good 30 extra minutes from me and to one night a week I work on. I still have the dvd's and remember the drills so I can always do that though its only really angles of attack how to interfere with them. I guess thats useful to keep

 

I think the often overlooked aspect which increases the risk of injury is the use of the gi. It is a force multiplier and really increases the amplitude and the impact you make.

Add to this the whole no lower body direct attack thing and you have a high impact sport great for spectators and bad for your bodies health.

 

Get some padded sticks a friend and some gloves and a facemask.

Padded stick sparring is fun, relatively safe and a great way to learn what works and doesn't with a weapon

 

Explosive moment on a joint that is tight isn't fun.

Leglocks aren't new I remember watching royler winning at least one adcc with leg locks back in the late 90s

In fact the whole aggressive takedown to leg lock game we see now and danahar sees as the second coming with his guys was used a lot by royler.

Everything seems to come in cycles and I wonder if the reason people moved away from leglocks in the early stages

Namely injuries, making for a poor guard and a bad guard passing game, will come around again.

 

I was listening to rosi sexton's podcast with Kev Webb last night, and that's almost exactly what they were saying, the leg lock game if taught early gives you a big advantage early on, but all things being equal, positional skills remain the most important thing to invest time in.

CSC Podcast - Combat Sports Clinic

 

JJ Machado was saying the same thing they always did leglocks but found if they did it too early or before blue belt people didn't develop a good guard came because their legs were always caught and they also neglected passing and advancing.

Of course the flip side is if you neglect something when people start using it again you don't know how to defend, but even saying that for me heel hooks as so tight allowing them without proper supervision is asking for trouble.

 

Ive gotten a lot out of just learning the details on the leglocks and the ashi garami etc positions. we are in a leglock block at my club now but nobody rolls with them outside of positional sparring and the blue and higher belts (even then things slow down as people are keen not to break each other).
ive found the positions useful for securing and escaping the straight ankle lock and the lateral collapse which are legal at white belt.

 

i think bjj is a great alternative. the main issue is imo is that hip flexion dominant position may cause disc injuries and knee injuries are possible. i'd probably supplement some yoga or replace a goju ryu day. hip openers and extensions will be helpful. wrestling would be a safer alternative imo, depending on how it's practiced. i think the injuries are caused by the competitive nature of your former club, there are rec clubs that aren't as intense.

if you need ideas for the future, judo is a great base art for less injury prone arts like aikido, aikijujutsu like daito ryu and hapkido. the transition imo would be almost seamless especially with hapkido or tomiki aikido.

 

Already got a disc problem in my lower back from injuries when younger. Theres no aikido near me but Hapkido is a possibility