Judo’s Bad Name

Judo’s bad name or is that Judo’s horrible name?

The thing with Judo is that everyone has a preconceived idea about it. That’s because it has been used in movies and TV for over 50 years. And you know writers don’t always research the topic and are hardly subject matter experts.  From the James Bond movies to Austin Powers the “Judo Chop” has become a staple of bad martial arts or part of what people call “McDojo” training.

The reality is that the chop does have a place–funny thing is that I haven’t seen anyone in the mainstream who knows where and when its limited effectiveness should be used. That tends to show poor training, from poor trainers who all learned from someone who didn’t fight with it. Well, not to get bogged down just on the chop, its apparent than 99% of the people who say they know what Judo is consider it a sport. Some know it as the gi wearing Olympic sport introduced by Japan.

What very few people know about is the striking aspect of Judo. Kano was trying to make a complete art founded on the throwing and ground work. The striking was dropped in the Sport Judo version. And after WW II the only wide spread Judo was the sport version.

Things go wrong when you try to take the sport version and apply it for self-defense or combatives.  Examples like the video below have helped to discredit Judo as a viable self-defense or combatives system.  The reality is that Combat-Judo was used for these arenas. Rest assured that what real Combat-Judo offers is 180 degrees opposite of the overly complex gi dependant compliant techniques you will see in the video below. John Saylor and I feel it is not only our duty to educate people about the differences between Sport Judo and Combat-Judo, but to also offer expert guidance in using Combat-Judo to help you become a better fighter. And who couldn’t stand to be a better fighter?