Why do you think Judo has not been too successful for MMA?
Bruce Tzu asked:
Karo is the best of the Judo MMA fighters. But Karo was trained by Gokor who provides much more than just traditional Judo training.
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Karo is the best of the Judo MMA fighters. But Karo was trained by Gokor who provides much more than just traditional Judo training.
Yoshida won a gold medal but has been almost 500. He also lost to inexperience Rulan Garnder.
Nastula another highly decorated Judo gu is 1-3 although his loses are to Barnett, A. Emilanko, and Noguiera.
I personally think Judo is to focuse on the Gi. If you take away the Gi everything changes dramatically. The double leg and single leg which is denigrated by Judo people becomes much more important. The ground work becomes much more realistic and you can’t simply belly up to stop it.
Why do you think Judo athletes are not doing better in MMA?
Samuel
October 28th, 2009 at 4:33 am
Emily
not really sure. but if i were to make an educated guess i would have to say that the reason veteran Judoka are not as successful as other fighters is because they have not branched out enough. if there is one thing the whole MMA game has taught everyone is that you have to be a multifaceted fighter in order to be successful. let’s not discount the fact that Mr. Emilianko is a very well respected Judoka who has competed in many Judo tournaments.
October 28th, 2009 at 4:45 am
Zoe
Well, i suppose we could get technical since gracie jui-jitsu derived from judo, but there hasn’t been very many judo guys because i believe you hit it on the mark with the gi. The gi is very, very important for throws and chokes, but mind you it doesn’t help that the focus is completely on grappling with very little for striking. I think that judo practictioners could do well if they cross trained into MMA instead of just relying on their judo backgrounds.
October 30th, 2009 at 5:27 am
Carson
I believe there are several factors that make it feel as though Judo fighters don’t transition well into MMA. I agree that the gi is a huge part of it, advanced judo techniques rely heavily on the increased leverage and slower pace that gi’s offer to a fight. Gi’s slow down ground fighting and make technique more important than pure athleticism.
Judo is a fine base to start an MMA career but the great judo practicioners you are listing are so heavily trained/invested in judo that they likely lack the stand up of a muay thai fighter of the no-gi ground game of a BJJ guy. Judo is a well-rounded gi art that provides good everything but not the best of anything (except maybe throws, case and point Karo). It would not surprise me at all to learn that some of the best got their starts in judo and then transitioned away later. If you want to be the best at everything you have to use the arts that give you that advantage. in a fight between a Judo guy and a guy who has equal training in BJJ/muay thai/wrestling/boxing, the judo guy will usually lose because while he was training judo ground game, the other guy was training bjj (adv. other guy), while judo guys was training judo strikes, other guy was training muay thai (adv. other guy). At some point you have to lose your pure judo identity to become a great fighter.
November 1st, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Jasmine
No one style is that succesful in modern MMA, but I think a guy like Karo proves that Judo mixed with other fighting styles is effective and thats why they calll it MMA.
November 3rd, 2009 at 7:21 am
Eric
This answer would probably be wrong as I have not done Judo only seen it is action. I believe that you are talking about UFC and Strike Force competitions when you mention MMA. So I will use those two as the base to show my point. UFC the only way to win is by submission or KO so as you know BJJ has a great reason to prominent in the sport but as for Judo the most that I have seen is to throw your opponent and I have seen little of the subduing the opponent on the ground, while BBJ is especially geared to that. So that might be one reason why Judo is not widely used in MMA.
We humans are very vain creatures and Judo while I know that it can be a very effective style does not have the reputation that BBJ, Muay Thai or Boxing has and so as you know you must spend years at the martial art style to be competent at it and people who don’t do Martial Arts but want to be a MMA fighter think Judo isn’t very well respected like BJJ is so I wont learn Judo I’ll learn BBJ that might be another reason why Judo is not well practised in MMA.
November 4th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Andrew
they need to start training without the gi if they want to be successful in no gi mixed martial arts contests, simple as that. they are used to throwing using grips on a gi and not used to sweaty bodies where you dont have a gi to grab onto and throw or to leverage submissions off of
November 6th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Sydney
Here’s your answer. Sheer numbers.
If you have 50 MMAers doing Judo and 200 MMAers doing BJJ, if you say that every ten guys win, then you have 5 good Judoka and 20 good BJJers.
It’s simply that percentage wise more MMA guys train in BJJ than they do in Judo. I’ve seen a few good Judoka in the UFC but I think it simply comes down to numbers.
And for those who don’t think Judo trains no-gi, traditional Judo did and does, as well as training for strikes. That’s why BJJers still train no-gi, because Maeda went to Japan before the founding of the Kodokan.
November 8th, 2009 at 9:26 am
Jonathan
There are several reasons, I will list them below:
1. Judo has a HUGE emphasis on throws; you can win a match outright by throwing someone straight to their back. Those throws are still available to a mixed martial artists, setting them up is difficult because of strikes. Basically, the only way you will be able to set up those throws is by clinching. Moving into the clinch is dangerous if you’re not a solid kick boxer. Also, what is easier to do in MMA; shoot a solid double leg take down or work into the clinch, throw and take punches, and try to set up a throw with a slippery opponent.
2. Judo doesn’t stress the ground game as much as jiu jitsu. In a judo match, if you pull guard, you’re in neutral territory. As long as you can hold someone in your guard in judo, you don’t have to worry about being on the offensive; you cal stall. Many judo academies won’t let you work arm bars from the guard until you have a blue belt.
In BJJ, submissions from the guard are a major focus of all training. You start repping triangle chokes and arm-bars from day one. BJJ is just a far more offensive style on the ground, while judo tends to be very offensive.
3. The gi is a serious issue. In judo, you make a living off of grabbing that gi, especially in throws. It’s hard to make that transition in MMA when you don’t have a gi to grab onto. Also, most basic judo submissions are gi collar chokes. All of you submissions in judo involve working that gi in one way or another.
So, essentially, a tough judo competitor has spent most of his training time working with a uniform they can’t use in MMA, working lots of throws that don’t transfer over to MMA, and because of the gi and the style, are at a disadvantage on the ground.
ALSO- THEY’RE NOT TRAINING WITH SOMEONE PUNCHING THEM IN THER FACE.
November 9th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
Robert
you’re forgetting about yushin okami, and theres not alot of guys who do judo. theres probs like thousands of jiu jitsu mma fighters and you only hear about a couple of hundred of em.
November 11th, 2009 at 3:28 am
Ethan
I agree with you that it’s the Gi.
BJJ has branched out and now they offer Gi and No Gi BJJ.
I have not seen the same in Judo. The judo schools seem to be staying traditional. Perhaps it’s Olympic background has schools wary of offering alternative rules.
James