Judo - a real rough and tumble martial art

Tokyo Zombie - a movie about zombies and Jujutsu

I've been studying Judo now for 9 months and I am really enjoying the workout.  I had previous martial arts experience with kung fu and hapkido, but nothing prepared me for the rough and tumble world of Judo.  I really wish I had gotten into it in my youth, because now I'm an old man and my body breaks more easily.  I was always interested in Judo because it seems that just about every modern marital arts incorporates some aspect of Judo - Russian Sambo, Israeli Krav Maga, modern MMA, etc.  There's gotta be something to it if everyone wants to incorporate it.  I finally decided to start training in Judo after watching Tokyo Zombie, which is really a love letter to Judo/Jujutsu.  I bet you're wondering why I have a that picture up there, and now you know.




The workout in Judo must have time devoted each day to randori, which is basically full contact sparring.  When I studied kung fu and hapikdo, we had full contact sparring 4, maybe 5 times a year.  In Judo, it's every single day, so that makes a huge difference. It's a great way to train and develop your body. That technique you just learned may not work on the 250 lb blackbelt you are up against in randori.  Your opponent doesn't sit still, he's trying to do a technique on you himself!  It feels like a life or death struggle sometimes, and that is somehow life affirming to me.  You test yourself in combat, and you find your true limits.

I should also mention that there are quite a few women in Judo, so it's not a complete sausage fest.  The women I've met in Judo were all very nice and polite.  Very professional and skilled.

Judo does not train kicking and striking at all, which is fine by me because I'm already familiar with punching/kicking.  The grappling and the throws are excellent in Judo, much superior to hapkido, and kung fu only has one or two basic grappling moves. The ground fighting in Judo is also very impressive, and a lot of fun to do as well.  There is only a tiny bit of ground fighitng in hapkido and absolutely none in kung fu.

It's a sport where you get roughed up and you rough up other people. If you enjoy that kind of stuff, then Judo is definitely for you!