Martial Arts and Sport Fighting

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Want to start Judo?

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pikaporeon
pikaporeon Posts: 6 Member
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I'm 6'5 and 285 lbs (started at 325), and my cardio system is still kind of crappy. Judo interests me immensely, and was wondering ifa nyone had any advice on where my fitness should be to even start going to a class? I'm training for a 5K right now that will hopefully lay down a baseline

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  • bushidowoman
    bushidowoman Posts: 1,599 Member
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    Assuming that you have no health reasons to bar it...now would be a good time to start. :smile:
  • taekwonkenpo
    taekwonkenpo Posts: 1,004
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    Te most important thing to know about Judo is that it is only partially about throwing your oppenant. What most people seem to forget is that half the time you are throwing and the other half you are the one being thrown.

    So be very particuler about learning to land safely. Judo, when learning in the beginning, can cause you pain from all the times you are thrown. Just remember that this is only in the beginning.
  • default
    default Posts: 124 Member
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    Anytime is a good time to start, it will help getting into shape.
  • rstoliker
    rstoliker Posts: 65
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    I agree with Taekwonkenpo. Falling is/was the most IMPORTANT thing to learn at first when I started Judo. At lower ranks...you are still rather unsure how to take the fall properly. It will just take time to do it safely.

    I was 30 when I started...about 245lbs at the time. Now, I'm a blue belt in our system, 33yrs old at 189lbs. It gets easier. At first...it was boring...just falling...hip escapes...improper technique...but now, I'm with the brown and black belts.

    the MAJOR thing to understand...is that judo is NOT self defense. Its a SPORT with self defense applications.
  • default
    default Posts: 124 Member
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    Judo is effective for self defense

    sport is the quality control arm of martial arts, saying that it is only good for sport is an old argument. MMA fighters aren't as prepared for self defense because they don't train for "teh streetz"...that's ridiculous. It's the same as saying lebron isn't the best basketball player or michael phelps isn't the best swimmer because they only train for sport.

    start it already, any reasonable school will begin you with break falls.
  • rstoliker
    rstoliker Posts: 65
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    Judo is effective for self defense

    sport is the quality control arm of martial arts, saying that it is only good for sport is an old argument. MMA fighters aren't as prepared for self defense because they don't train for "teh streetz"...that's ridiculous. It's the same as saying lebron isn't the best basketball player or michael phelps isn't the best swimmer because they only train for sport.

    start it already, any reasonable school will begin you with break falls.

    I specified that it is a SPORT with self defense applications. Finding a truly traditional Judo Dojo that is not sport oriented is very hard to do. The emphasis, imho, is no longer geared to self defense, but to olympic/tournament.
  • taekwonkenpo
    taekwonkenpo Posts: 1,004
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    First and formost. Any, and all martial arts styles help with self defense in one way or another. However when a style is geared toword the sport of it it does take away from the self defense aspect. Take TKD for example. When training for point sparring a good kicks form is to lower your arms and cover your point target on your chest. This is only helpful in self defense if you are fighting another quality kicker that knows to take advantage of that opening. The reality of self defense is that keeping your hands up to block head strikes would be better self defense. I have won gold medels in TKD tournaments with my hands down to my side the whole time. That is a very bad self defense strategy. And i was trained by a 10th degree Grandmaster personally.

    Judo is very similer. I do wish i would have started Judo before i did TKD though. It would have been better training for my career. Just remember that Judo is not pure self defense. It is very helpful though.

    If you want self defense i reccomend kickboxing and Judo. Some Jiu Jitzu or boxing as well. My two cents.
  • default
    default Posts: 124 Member
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    the most effective self defense martial arts all have a sport element

    muay thai
    bjj
    boxing
    wrestling
    kickboxing
    and yes..judo

    performing a shoulder throw on someone would be pretty good in self defense as would following it up with an arm triangle...all of which you can learn in judo

    I'm done with the argument, yes crosstraining is effective, I have done it myself in mt + bjj, i've also trained judo for years and trained at mma gyms, not everyone has the time commitment to do so.
  • ninjalaura5
    ninjalaura5 Posts: 18
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    in a real fight you would want to avoid going to the ground,,, if you went down into an arm lock.. the attackers friends could attack you, its not all that safe, disable them... and RUN!
  • default
    default Posts: 124 Member
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    there is nothing wrong with going to the ground in a real fight, this is horrible advice.

    this is an excellent site for adivce on martial arts:

    http://www.bullshido.net/

    read more, the guys that know the most are the ones that actually fight.

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