Judo - Page 2

**Ristaron** · 05-02-2008, 01:38 AM

As some of you know I am an avid fan of judo. Prior to this year I had done judo for four years and achieved a green belt. I feel that the sport is sadly misunderstood by many people, so, I will give you a brief history of the sport and attempt to dispel some myths.

A brief history:

Judo was founded by Kano Jigoro in 1888. Jigoro was a small man, weighing under 100 lbs. He studied two schools jujitsu prior to founding Kokodan, where his own fighting school (judo) was taught. Jigoro's school, which combined the better aspects of both schools of jujitsu he had studied, was quickly recognized as a new martial art.

Judo literally means the "gentle way". It earns this name through its decided focus on throwing, choking, and pinning rather than striking, and forcing submission rather than beating it out of the opponent. Judo does not teach use of weapons, rather it teaches how to disarm an opponent. It is, foremost, a grappling sport.

Judo is separated into two major forms. The first is randori, which is freestyle fighting. This form is designed to teach through experience and allow a judoka to practice their techniques. The second form is kata, which are traditional sets wherein one judoka (uke) advances and makes a predetermined attack (in this case sometimes with weapons) and the second judoka (tori) makes an appropriate disarm or counterthrow.

There are several techniques within judo, including Nage-waza (throwing), Osaekomi-waza (pins), Shime-waza (chokes/strangles), and Kansetsu-waza (joint locks). Within these techniques are different forms of techniques. For example: in Nage-waza you have Te-waza (hand/shoulder throws), Koshi-waza (hip throws), Ashi-waza (foot throws), and Sutemi-waza (sacrifice throws). An example of a shoulder throw would be Ippon Seionage, an example of a hip throw would be O Goshi, an example of a foot throw would be De Ashi Harai, and an example of a sacrifice throw would be Tomoe Nage. A list of judo throws can be found here.

Debunking myths:

#1: There is no "judo-chop"!
I cannot describe how enraged I get whenever I hear this expression. I also get furious whenever I watch Austin Powers perform a karate chop and announce "judo-chop"! The only time that striking is legal in judo is during kata, and as described above kata is not fighting.

#2: Belts are not the same as in other martial arts.
Yes, the same basic progression is followed in terms of colours (actually, other martial arts stole the idea of coloured belts from judo!), but earning another belt is a much slower process than in other martial arts. In judo, if you have a black belt you are expected to be able to open your own dojo. This is highly different than karate, where you can have your black belt by your mid-teenage years (or earlier). The names of the belts are also different. Below is the progression of belts (and the colour).

Ikkyu (White)
Nikyu (Yellow)
Sankyu (Orange)
Yonkyu (Green)
Gokyu (Blue)
Rokyu (Brown)

Beyond these are the dans.

Shodan (1st degree)
Nidan (2nd degree)
Sandan (3rd degree)
Yodan (4th degree)
Godan (5th degree)
Rokudan (6th degree)
Shichidan (7th degree)
Hachidan (8th degree)
Kudan (9th degree)
Judan (10th degree)

The dans traditionally wear black belts with red stripes, with the exception of the 9th and 10th dans, who wear red belts. (This was why the orange belt that I had, which looked rather red, earned many jokes when I was a sankyu.) Theoretically, the grading system can progress beyond judan, but since there have only been 10 people to ever receive their 10th dan belt, there hasn't been any need to expand the system. (See the bios of the 10 judans here.)

#3. Grappling is superior to striking.
Before UFC reverted to the same uniform style among all its fighters, there were several distinct categories of fighters. Boxers (including kickboxers), strikers, and grapplers primarily. During that time, if you had bet on a grappler for any given match, you had placed your money wisely. Obviously grapplers didn't win every fight, but the vast majority were won by people who knew how to force their opponents into submission rather than beat it out of them. While a karate practitioner can deliver a fearsome kick (some people can deliver 2 tons worth of force), knowledge of forcing your opponent into submission is some of the best you can have in a fight.

#4. You needn't be strong to do judo.
As I mentioned above, Kano Jigoro wasn't even 100 lbs. The mantra of every judoka is "Maximum force, minimum effort". In fact, a judoka often hopes for a strong opponent whose strength can be used against them. Much of judo is breaking your opponent's stance, but even more is manipulating momentum. A larger person has more momentum. Of course, there is a point where a larger opponent has a distinct advantage. I am at a severe disadvantage when fighting my friend Mark, who has 100 lbs on me (in a competition we would be in separate weight categories). That is, until we do ground-fighting. On the ground, in a competition of Osaekomi-waza, he and I are pretty evenly matched.

I may think of more later... but for now this should do.

Also, here's an awesome judo video:

Animal-Mother · 05-05-2008, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ristaron

They hold ceremonial purpose, which is why I was wondering where the hell purple belts came in...

Well the story with that is originaly ALL belts were white but over time they would be stained with dirt,blood and whatever else.Since the japanese didnt believe in washing the belt (as not to "wash out the experiance") it would continually change colors through-out their lives.Im not sure how the modern color code rely's on the old ways but like I said...I dont use them anyways.

**Ristaron** · 05-05-2008, 05:24 PM

What are you talking about?? Kano Jigoro first came up with coloured belts when he was teaching white people Judo. Before there was a different method of indicating grade, but Europeans were fucking stupid so Kano Jigoro devised the colour system. All the other martial arts ripped him off.

Do some research, thanks.

Animal-Mother · 05-05-2008, 05:56 PM

I know Kano Jigoro made belt colors,you misunderstand what I said.He made the original colors BECAUSE of what I said. At least thats the story.He didnt just randomly start making colored belts for rank.It was something easy for white people to remember and had SOME history.

Judo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scroll down to "Rank and grading" and you will see what I was talking about with the "belts all being white" thing.

**Ginevra** · 05-05-2008, 06:21 PM

I saw the belts all being white thing, but the part of them changing colors overtime and whatnot I didn't see anything about.

**Ristaron** · 05-05-2008, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Animal-Mother

I know Kano Jigoro made belt colors,you misunderstand what I said.He made the original colors BECAUSE of what I said. At least thats the story.He didnt just randomly start making colored belts for rank.It was something easy for white people to remember and had SOME history.

Judo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scroll down to "Rank and grading" and you will see what I was talking about with the "belts all being white" thing.

Uh... yeah, nothing about it there. Kano Jigoro instituted different-coloured belts for the purpose of white people understanding grading; any inspiration for that I'm going to have to ask you for sources >_>

Also, I skipped over the Brazilian grading before (I've been to that page before), which explains why I hadn't noticed that in Brazilian dojos they use the purple belt.

[M]anorexia Nervosa · 05-06-2008, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ristaron

...I've never heard of purple or second-degree brown belts >_> what the fuck kind of dojo are you running?

I did, you just weren't paying attention.

You've never heard of purple belts? What the fuck type of judo dojo do you go to? And she's had that thing for like three years, I forget if there's even such thing as a second degree, or if she just calls it that to make herself feel better. But I know for a fact that there's such a thing as a purple belt. My dad is an internationally certified referee and just went to South America and Europe to referee for two tournaments. Didn't get me a souvenir but what ever...bitch.

I know there are purple belts. Because everyone I've ever met in the U.S. has had to go through that level. It comes after blue for us, but maybe it's different for you. In South California the levels go:
White
Yellow
Orange
Green
Blue
Purple
Brown
Black
I hit purple at thirteen then said fuck this shit and never went back. My dad was pissed but I hated judo. It's fun to watch, but competing was a bitch for me, and I get ridiculously nervous whenever I went on the mats.

Edit: What the fuck? I went to a Brazilian dojo? Weird. My dad learned Judo in L.A. so he might have learnt Brazilian style, but he teaches a lot of groundwork and sacrifice throws. My dad's the sensei, so even though I don't go, I still get taught shit when I don't want to learn...

What type of crack are you on Animal-Mother? Blood on white belts? The only time I've ever seen someone bleed in Judo is when a five year old punched his brother in the face and gave him a fat lip. Even when it first began, there shouldn't be blood, just broken bones in worst case scenarios. If you don't wash your belt, it's basically a sign of disrespect. And when we disrespected anyone in the dojo, our head sensei broke out the bamboo sword and whacked you upside the head.

Animal-Mother · 05-06-2008, 09:31 AM

Changing colors was the story,Im not sure how it was instated.

[M]anorexia Nervosa · 05-07-2008, 12:51 AM

Sources. ASAP. Else you FAIL.

**Ristaron** · 05-07-2008, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [M]anorexia Nervosa

You've never heard of purple belts? What the fuck type of judo dojo do you go to? And she's had that thing for like three years, I forget if there's even such thing as a second degree, or if she just calls it that to make herself feel better. But I know for a fact that there's such a thing as a purple belt. My dad is an internationally certified referee and just went to South America and Europe to referee for two tournaments. Didn't get me a souvenir but what ever...bitch.

I know there are purple belts. Because everyone I've ever met in the U.S. has had to go through that level. It comes after blue for us, but maybe it's different for you. In South California the levels go:
White
Yellow
Orange
Green
Blue
Purple
Brown
Black
I hit purple at thirteen then said fuck this shit and never went back. My dad was pissed but I hated judo. It's fun to watch, but competing was a bitch for me, and I get ridiculously nervous whenever I went on the mats.

Edit: What the fuck? I went to a Brazilian dojo? Weird. My dad learned Judo in L.A. so he might have learnt Brazilian style, but he teaches a lot of groundwork and sacrifice throws. My dad's the sensei, so even though I don't go, I still get taught shit when I don't want to learn...

What type of crack are you on Animal-Mother? Blood on white belts? The only time I've ever seen someone bleed in Judo is when a five year old punched his brother in the face and gave him a fat lip. Even when it first began, there shouldn't be blood, just broken bones in worst case scenarios. If you don't wash your belt, it's basically a sign of disrespect. And when we disrespected anyone in the dojo, our head sensei broke out the bamboo sword and whacked you upside the head.

Purple belts were never part of traditional Judo according to my knowledge.

And I've bled at judo before... a couple times. The first time was from some asshole who didn't clip his nails... he nearly clawed out my eye when we were groundfighting. The second time I got hit in the nose... it didn't break but it bled. It was weird.
I've never broken anything in judo (or ever, actually), but I've sprained a wrist, a thumb, and an ankle. The thumb was actually when we were warming up, I went to catch a basketball (we were playing basketball to warm up) and I slammed my thumb at a 90 degree angle into my other wrist because the pass caught me by surprise and I rushed to catch it.

Oh, and I got tendonitus in my right shoulder from judo as well... and my bad knee is partly from judo, too. Once it's better, though, I am going back into it. I love the sport.

P.S. You rock.

[M]anorexia Nervosa · 05-09-2008, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ristaron

Purple belts were never part of traditional Judo according to my knowledge.

And I've bled at judo before... a couple times. The first time was from some asshole who didn't clip his nails... he nearly clawed out my eye when we were groundfighting. The second time I got hit in the nose... it didn't break but it bled. It was weird.
I've never broken anything in judo (or ever, actually), but I've sprained a wrist, a thumb, and an ankle. The thumb was actually when we were warming up, I went to catch a basketball (we were playing basketball to warm up) and I slammed my thumb at a 90 degree angle into my other wrist because the pass caught me by surprise and I rushed to catch it.

Oh, and I got tendonitus in my right shoulder from judo as well... and my bad knee is partly from judo, too. Once it's better, though, I am going back into it. I love the sport.

P.S. You rock.

Yah, if we don't clip our nails, my dad get's pissed. And after a while, judo tournaments would ban kids with spiked hair because they were afraid it could poke someone's eyes out. I thought that was funny, until my mom poured water bottles on my head just so I could compete, and I had to walk around with gel still in my flattened hair. That shit sucks.

I remember a girl who never had to go through purple, so I'm pretty sure you're right. She went to a dojo in northern California, and she always fought my sister. She was ok, but my sister always kind of beat her. I don't think she really liked judo that much, but that's just my opinion.

Yah, I've never bled on the mat before. I've gotten my face slammed into the ground during groundwork because some asshole who was twice my size thought it was funny, but than that, I've never bled. One time I hyper extended my ankle, but that wasn't directly related to judo, that was just an idiot who decided it would be funny to trip me. Ummm...for warm up we usually just did a shitload of cardio. I hated having to do all the push ups and sit ups though. Running was ok, but everything else was really annoying. Plus, the other sensei was always really loud and liked to yell at people.