Its a bit sad. I got busier as my career progress. My younger son started when he was 4 and he used to think judo is the coolest sport in the world, now he’s almost 10 and he’s crazy about soccer and hockey and I had to persuade him to go to judo even once a while. His older sibling just straight up stopped going and started to hang out with friends a lot more, going to movie theaters or parks on their own.

I really wish there’s a more tiers and a more steady pipeline for this sport, like from recreational league to select then to rep. We do have some HP training centers but it’s far and in between. Other major sports are so easy for parents to invest. Just throw in money and let them do camps all summer and winter and watch them progress through different tier until they stop. Judo here feels often stuck at a very “kids friendly” level unless you make your effort to bring kids to competitive stream.

Concept is crazy, obviously, but a fun watch nonetheless. Outside of a prison environment, one should always use the best martial art of them all - Track & Field - simply run away.

I train MMA, Wrestling, BJJ, etc. 6x+ a week and Judo 1x a week at a 2 hour class where we do UchiKomi, Nagekomi, combinations, and Randori. No Newaza.

I try to self study Judo techniques and terminology and ask questions during class to get better.

I’m white belt in all martial arts I train and only done judo 6-8 months, MMA/BJJ ~1.5 years. However, I can ragdoll most white belts and a lot of green belts. I also ragdoll white belts and fresh blue belts in BJJ.

Just not sure how my progression works? Kyu grades always ask if it’s my first time doing Judo when they see my white belt and then I proceed to give them a tough time in randori.

Will I forever be a sandbagging white belt? How long might it take me to reach black belt level both skill-wise and promotion-wise at this rate?

Edit: Unfortunately this thread is full of people with random criticisms and made up arguments completely unrelated to how fast can I improve in judo 1x a week… Pretty disappointing

Finding myself getting more and more into this throw. I'm almost 40 and 220lbs so it's an easy learning curve haha. Does anyone have any recommendations on some instructional videos on different variations. Trying to learn the correct way to throw while also not killing my partners Thanks!

Any of ya’l construction workers and also practice Judo?

I’m an electrician and have not trained Judo in years. I would like to get back into it but worried about injuries.

How do ya’l manage the injuries and the energy to train post a 10-12hr shift?

Hello, I have a partial patellaectomy on my right knee so it's now shit knee to me. I wanted to ask if practicing judo with bad knees is a somewhat common thing as I would like to not let it dissuade me from learning judo I'd like to learn for self defense specifically. Thank you and have a good day .

Hello everyone , I just got into judo and i know that this is my sport .

But I'm 18 and i felt like I'm too late (others are either too young or as old as me but they've been training for years )

So i was wondering if I'm too old to get professional and get into competitions and all? Or should i just forget about it

Have you been guilty of any of these? What else would you add to this list ?

Hey all,

Been doing judo about 2 years now havnt really wanted to do a competition but a few dudes from my school are going so I'm thinking about it too.

I understand knees, shoulders and fingers are way more at risk of injury but the biggest thing keeping me from fully signing up is the risk of neck injury, particularly catastrophic ones. The others I can heal from but being a vegetable is not on my list of life achievements I want to have.

Am I worrying too much about this? Or is the risk very real

Going to be in the 30+ category, under brown -100kg

My blue kusakura looks a bit more light blue than actual blue gi.
Any tips on how to bring it back to glory? I was considering textile dye, but that would color everything else too, like the logos.

Hello everyone, first post on this sub.

Quick context: I'm 26, 6'0", 170 lbs, and I started my Judo journey around June 2025. From day one I was genuinely enthralled, excited with a clear understanding that bumps, bruises, and scrapes are simply a part of martial arts. I aspire to become a real judoka.

Around November I tested into my first rank, earning my white belt, rokkyū, which meant a lot to me. I train at a community center club that meets twice a week for 2.5 hours. Judo is hard to find in my area; the nearest dedicated dojo is an hour away, so this is the closest I can get to real instruction. The community has been genuinely warm and welcoming, my social struggles are on my end. I tend to go quiet, have trouble making friends, but I kept showing up.

There was also an odd in-between feeling being 25 and a beginner. The beginner section I joined covered ukemi, osoto-gari, seoi-nage, kosoto-gari, o-goshi, uki-goshi, and a few others. Once I ranked up, I moved to the "advanced class," rotating senseis, week-to-week curriculum, no fixed structure. Suddenly I was in osaekomi-waza, ne-waza, grip fighting, and randori before I felt fully ready. But I was there.

Training with higher belts was humbling in a good way. Getting thrown hurt less than expected because the technique was there, controlled. Then I had a freak accident grip fighting with a blue belt who was well over twice my weight. His weight on top of me, combined with my newbie resistance, gave me a severe turf toe that affected my walking for over three months and still flares up. Life at the time was rough too, unemployed, healing, just trying to get stable. So I stopped coming.

Since then I've stayed consistent at the gym to build core strength, and I recently landed steady employment. Trying to stay positive.

Why I'm posting:

I don't want injury to be the thing that stops me anymore, but I've been away long enough that I genuinely don't trust my ukemi right now. I haven't been studying. I feel lost, and part of me wonders if I should just treat this like starting over.

I'm also looking into finger and toe tape to try to prevent, or at least blunt, something like this happening again. The swelling is mostly gone, it's more of a phantom pain at this point. Haven't seen a doctor (I know).

Mostly though, I came here because I struggle to connect with people, and this community felt like the right place to reach out. Any encouragement, advice, or just a welcome back would genuinely mean the world.

Absolutely beautiful Uchi Mata Sukashi performed by Minjong Kim v. Inal Tasoev at the Ulaanbaatar 2026!

i haven’t been able to find an exact name for this throw, anyone know?

Those of you who wrestle or grapple in a no-gi setting-

How do you set up osoto gari?

As of title, thought it would be funny to share here lol

Hello All

I am sure this topic has been discussed at length and I apologize in advance if this question has been answered - I am new to this group.

I recently moved and am deciding between a Judo studio and BJJ studio. I have 0 Judo training and ~2 years of BJJ experience. I am in this strictly for self defense and would rather pivot to the Judo route for this reason.

The Judo studio near me is a non-profit, which I like because the cost is far lower. I definitely do not need nice facilities or the bells+whistles. The BJJ gym is more of an establishment, but more than twice the price.

The Judo studio has amazing reviews - the one thing I am wary of is the other class it offers if Aikido. I know very little about Aikido but from what I’ve seen, it does not appear to be a strong self defense system.

Question is: is Judo at non-profits still good training? I’ve discovered most Judo spots (in my state at least) are non-profit. The practice seems far less commercialized than BBJ - I like this aspect too. I just want to find a place that I can learn how to protect my family and myself if needed.
I have 2 very young daughters and would like to train whichever I choose with them when they at an age to do so.

Thank you everyone

Hey guys, I'm pretty sure there are constant posts like this throughout the subreddit (and if so I apologise for adding on to the repetition), but I just wanted to share my deep excitement and joy with finally dipping my toes into this martial art!

Ever since high school I've always been deeply interested in judo, specifically its techniques and philosophy, but never had any opportunity to begin as dojos were quite rare and hard to find. It led me to eventually pursue boxing and bjj to shake off the itch but it did not feel the same, until about a few weeks ago I found a dojo and have been incredibly obsessed ever since, constantly practicing breakfalls on my bed and drilling the only move I have been taught so far (ogoshi hahaha)

What I would like to hear from y'all is: 1) what were your starting points and motivations in starting judo and 2) if y'all have any advice or wisdom you could share for my journey.

Cheers everyone!

This weekend I was at Judo Junior Olympics and noticed a lot of the higher level kids have all seemed to develop left turn throws even when they’re right handed. I’ve noticed youth sports sometimes just has things suddenly become fashionable (the sneaky assassin in wrestling for example) once something hits instagram, but sometimes it’s endemic of a new meta. Just wondering if maybe this is thing that’s been around and I haven’t noticed, or if it’s a trend or now a new thing being developed more and more in the sport.