thinking about joining judo. Is judo any good for self defense or is it mostly for tournaments and competition? or do some specialize more in competition and others in self defense? your thoughts appreciated

I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. .

Judo is very good for self-defense.

I don't know how people train across the globe. If it was my gym, it would be MMA/self-defense oriented instead of sport. But like I said, I don't know, I don't know.

-Taison out

Judo is a great art for whatever you want to use it for. It is hard to generalize, like Taison said. As has been discussed on these forums A LOT, having resistance training is usually a good thing were SD is concerned. For me, Judo taught me to relax if and when I was grabbed by someone, not to panic. I could talk all day about how it helped my SD ability.

Added to that, it has kata such as Kodokan Goshin Jutsu, kata designed specifically for SD, I would say Judo is a great art for aiding your SD skills.

Find a good teacher though!

http://www.fightingarts.com/ubbthreads/s...part=1&vc=1

You should check this out. It is a recent thread from the Self Defence forum about people who have used Judo in a real life situation.

Judo is GREAT for SD. All you have to do is add a good boxing training program while also emphasizing more ground work and you'll be in great shape.

Even if all you DID was judo, you'd still be fine. Just get some partners who are capable boxers and practice closing and tying up against them. That works great!


-John

Judo is very useful for self defense, as it will enable you to confidently handle yourself if you are grabbed. It can also enable you to take down and disable most strikers, particularly untrained ones. However, you also need to learn how to strike, as judo will not teach you effective blocking techniques. The major weakness of Judo in self defense is that it cannot be used against multiple attackers. Most Judo techniques end on the ground, which is the worst place to be when theres more than one of em!

Ditto that.

With boxing you get quick hands. In Judo, quick hands are good.

-Taison out

Not to be contrary, but I never found anything wrong with the striking methods taught in our "old style" judo training.

It's just further proof that the arts keep getting "watered down" and suddenly an element that comprises a whole aspect of the training is lost. In the 1960's, punching and atemi methods were part of our training... not something we needed to "study another art" to learn. (And it was taught by our Judo teacher)... just a point of information.