Thanks for this, it clarifies many questions I had in my head. I’m hitting 51 this year and have done Judo for 2 and1/2 years (just to be an incentive for my youngest son to give it a try and stick with it). Our Sensei is a national champion and is very keen on everyone competing. Two broken bones in training had made questioned a lot the merits of Judo, particularly competition when you are hitting half a century.
Hey, I can totally relate to this. I'm 48, so I seriously doubt my body could handle the pressure of competing, irrelevant of the sport. I do BJJ and Japanese ju jitsu but I think the competing intensity is probably the same. FYI I just watch Shintaro's videos because he's a boss :)
hey guys, that was a good conversation, what i missed though was that there are (at least in europe) different kinds of competitions. So if you're over 30 and training for a couple of years you could go out there and participate against other coloured belts (up to blue) in your weight and age category. my experience is that there are not that many players out there to compete against and the atmosphere is more like "yeah, we're judo family". this might of course depend on how popular judo is in your country/area. what i also missed is that basicaly randori would tell you a lot. getting exposed to as many as possible players would be another step which could tell - compete or not. another thing is the dark side - well, since i've heard that at amateur cyclic contests doping seams to gain significance because of over ambitous guys then my fear is that you may be matched up against someone like that, even thought your commitment to diet, training and etc is up to your full capacities. than another observation is that many of guys loose the game in the head, because they never particpated in a competition. so the job of the trainer is to prepare them to that. i'm sorry to hear that you leave your guys from the doyo to go out there alone, but i think that this is actually very important, because at a competition you actually know where your players are at what they would need to develop as a better judoka and etc.
I think competition should be for two types of people. Those that are really competitive and enjoy it, regardless of their skill, and those that are dominating their dojo and want to test their skills against completely unknown entities (or known, at some point). However, the idea that you NEED to compete to be better, I don't really agree with. If you get taught good Judo or Jits, and you stick to the principles, you make the most of your training time to really hone your skills, and you have goals that you meet in the dojo, then you're going to be a good player regardless if you compete or not. There's also a difference between being good, in general, at Judo or BJJ, and being good at competing. A lot of great teachers aren't competitors, a lot of great competitors aren't good teachers, or well rounded. Competing is a separate skill in itself, with separate strategies. You might also dominate your fight, but then get tapped by an ankle lock... well, in real life the "loser" would have done better in a real altercation, and maybe has better technique over all. Competitions have different rule sets, different strategies etc. Not to mention, competitions kind of skew the belt system. You get the white belt that suspiciously feels like a mid level blue. You get the blue that suspiciously feels like the purple. I wonder why... I don't like McDojos giving out belts for time or attendance, but I also despise holding people back for competition sake and skewing the general skill level. From a BJJ perspectives, there are white belts that have pretty advanced open guards and inversions... this is generally not the standard of a white belt lol, but now other white belts that learned their basic escapes from the 4 major positions, learned maybe 2 submissions per position that they can do, have some understanding of how to move between them, can survive someone their skill level ... they're going to be like "wtf, I'm supposed to be as good as THAT guy?", when in reality "that guy" should be competing another belt level up. Also, like Shig said, if you can't make it through 4 rounds in the dojo, there's not much you can learn from competition. You're going to get smoked, just like you do in the dojo. There's still a lot to learn at the dojo... great your exposed to new throws, but you can't even execute or defend the ones at home base. Why are you competing "to learn more"? That logic has never made sense to me, but many coaches push that mentality on everyone.
There are so, so very many parents in all sorts of sports who do what that father you were talking about does/did. They either didn't compete in sports when they were younger,, they did but weren't at all successful or they were highly successful and that time has now passed. For whatever reason, they seem to be living the competitor's life, vicariously, through their kid. So they become like a Sunday afternoon armchair quarterback, seeing themselves as the coach on the sidelines. They push their kids to the limit and sometimes beyond. In my experience, they most often don't know what they're talking about. It's unfair to the kid and very annoying for the coach.
You try to make the most of your training if you really want to compete, but realize that many competitors train twice as much, sometimes even multiple classes a day. Now, quality over quantity becomes important, you gotta be very serious about training on those two days a week.
1995 to 2000. I practiced with John Ogden Long Beach. Respect, Sensei Ogden always made us compete and today, i am glad, I trained under him.. Downey California ❤
People and judo seem really different on the other side of the ocean. Here the instructors encourage people to go to the tournaments and the less experienced judokas themselves think maybe not, but consider it valuable experience they want to get, and don't expect to win. I'm so sad for that kid too. It's one thing if your parents are athletic and show example what it takes to be an athlete, but completely another if you've never had any example of what it requires. And to think your schedule is full of sports and other stuff and you casually attend judo, then you're told to be competitive in competitions. And someone who has no idea what being an athlete or competing is making the calls and demands. Such a shame.
@@JohnLocke1776 Judo is hard. It's physical. It requires strength, both physical and mental. Sometimes it hurts. It can get intense, and competition ratchets up the intensity. A lot of people find it hard to deal with all that. Don't get me wrong, it can also be quite fulfilling, but it's not for everybody. I wish it was, because then it'd be much easier for me to attract students, but I lose a lot of them to McDojos. Good luck.
@@JohnLocke1776Riverside Judo Dojo has a big class. Shimeru is a split BJJ/Judo school I believe. Art of Takedowns in Escondido is pretty great. Then some others down in SD.
@@dricedt art of takedowns looks really cool. They even have no gi days as well. Riverside and other areas of SD are a little too far for me. thanks again
Normally no. They're in a novice division. White, yellow, green. But I wouldn't recommend competitive Judo as a white belt. You need to learn the very basics first.
Thanks for this, it clarifies many questions I had in my head. I’m hitting 51 this year and have done Judo for 2 and1/2 years (just to be an incentive for my youngest son to give it a try and stick with it). Our Sensei is a national champion and is very keen on everyone competing. Two broken bones in training had made questioned a lot the merits of Judo, particularly competition when you are hitting half a century.
Hey, I can totally relate to this. I'm 48, so I seriously doubt my body could handle the pressure of competing, irrelevant of the sport. I do BJJ and Japanese ju jitsu but I think the competing intensity is probably the same. FYI I just watch Shintaro's videos because he's a boss :)
Maybe there's some veterans competition or even kata, but yeah, it's a matter of how safe you can feel.
hey guys,
that was a good conversation, what i missed though was that there are (at least in europe) different kinds of competitions. So if you're over 30 and training for a couple of years you could go out there and participate against other coloured belts (up to blue) in your weight and age category. my experience is that there are not that many players out there to compete against and the atmosphere is more like "yeah, we're judo family". this might of course depend on how popular judo is in your country/area.
what i also missed is that basicaly randori would tell you a lot. getting exposed to as many as possible players would be another step which could tell - compete or not.
another thing is the dark side - well, since i've heard that at amateur cyclic contests doping seams to gain significance because of over ambitous guys then my fear is that you may be matched up against someone like that, even thought your commitment to diet, training and etc is up to your full capacities.
than another observation is that many of guys loose the game in the head, because they never particpated in a competition. so the job of the trainer is to prepare them to that. i'm sorry to hear that you leave your guys from the doyo to go out there alone, but i think that this is actually very important, because at a competition you actually know where your players are at what they would need to develop as a better judoka and etc.
I think competition should be for two types of people. Those that are really competitive and enjoy it, regardless of their skill, and those that are dominating their dojo and want to test their skills against completely unknown entities (or known, at some point). However, the idea that you NEED to compete to be better, I don't really agree with. If you get taught good Judo or Jits, and you stick to the principles, you make the most of your training time to really hone your skills, and you have goals that you meet in the dojo, then you're going to be a good player regardless if you compete or not. There's also a difference between being good, in general, at Judo or BJJ, and being good at competing. A lot of great teachers aren't competitors, a lot of great competitors aren't good teachers, or well rounded. Competing is a separate skill in itself, with separate strategies. You might also dominate your fight, but then get tapped by an ankle lock... well, in real life the "loser" would have done better in a real altercation, and maybe has better technique over all. Competitions have different rule sets, different strategies etc. Not to mention, competitions kind of skew the belt system. You get the white belt that suspiciously feels like a mid level blue. You get the blue that suspiciously feels like the purple. I wonder why... I don't like McDojos giving out belts for time or attendance, but I also despise holding people back for competition sake and skewing the general skill level. From a BJJ perspectives, there are white belts that have pretty advanced open guards and inversions... this is generally not the standard of a white belt lol, but now other white belts that learned their basic escapes from the 4 major positions, learned maybe 2 submissions per position that they can do, have some understanding of how to move between them, can survive someone their skill level ... they're going to be like "wtf, I'm supposed to be as good as THAT guy?", when in reality "that guy" should be competing another belt level up.
Also, like Shig said, if you can't make it through 4 rounds in the dojo, there's not much you can learn from competition. You're going to get smoked, just like you do in the dojo. There's still a lot to learn at the dojo... great your exposed to new throws, but you can't even execute or defend the ones at home base. Why are you competing "to learn more"? That logic has never made sense to me, but many coaches push that mentality on everyone.
You guys are a great duo! Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Good advice and insight into the reality of competition.
2 judo guys shooting the shit, love it
Thanks for the wakeup call
Regards from Lithuania 👋🏻
There are so, so very many parents in all sorts of sports who do what that father you were talking about does/did. They either didn't compete in sports when they were younger,, they did but weren't at all successful or they were highly successful and that time has now passed. For whatever reason, they seem to be living the competitor's life, vicariously, through their kid. So they become like a Sunday afternoon armchair quarterback, seeing themselves as the coach on the sidelines. They push their kids to the limit and sometimes beyond. In my experience, they most often don't know what they're talking about. It's unfair to the kid and very annoying for the coach.
Bois!! I need workout tips!
A lot of clubs only train twice a week. What do you do then?
Ya. There was some silliness in this podcast.
You try to make the most of your training if you really want to compete, but realize that many competitors train twice as much, sometimes even multiple classes a day. Now, quality over quantity becomes important, you gotta be very serious about training on those two days a week.
1995 to 2000. I practiced with John Ogden Long Beach. Respect, Sensei Ogden always made us compete and today, i am glad, I trained under him.. Downey California ❤
I am 42 years old and I have been practicing judo for 2 years, do I have to compete?
The best way to get a kid to hate an activity is to force them to do it.
People and judo seem really different on the other side of the ocean. Here the instructors encourage people to go to the tournaments and the less experienced judokas themselves think maybe not, but consider it valuable experience they want to get, and don't expect to win.
I'm so sad for that kid too. It's one thing if your parents are athletic and show example what it takes to be an athlete, but completely another if you've never had any example of what it requires. And to think your schedule is full of sports and other stuff and you casually attend judo, then you're told to be competitive in competitions. And someone who has no idea what being an athlete or competing is making the calls and demands. Such a shame.
As much as it pains me to say it, judo is not for everybody. Competitive judo is for even fewer people.
Why do you say that? When my schedule stabilizes I want to go to a local Judo academy.
@@JohnLocke1776 Judo is hard. It's physical. It requires strength, both physical and mental. Sometimes it hurts. It can get intense, and competition ratchets up the intensity. A lot of people find it hard to deal with all that. Don't get me wrong, it can also be quite fulfilling, but it's not for everybody. I wish it was, because then it'd be much easier for me to attract students, but I lose a lot of them to McDojos. Good luck.
@@JohnLocke1776Riverside Judo Dojo has a big class. Shimeru is a split BJJ/Judo school I believe. Art of Takedowns in Escondido is pretty great. Then some others down in SD.
@@dricedt wow, thanks, I appreciate that! Lake Elsinore is about 25-30 min from me, I believe Escondido is slightly further. I'll have to check it out
@@dricedt art of takedowns looks really cool. They even have no gi days as well. Riverside and other areas of SD are a little too far for me. thanks again
I do not compete becouse i am not competitive or agressive enough for it
Sounds like Shintaro’s tired of cocky parents and students.
I have a question.does white belts only compete against other whites only?
I don't do judo but I'm pretty sure it's b/c the gap in skill levels isn't as wide as more experienced judoka
Normally no. They're in a novice division. White, yellow, green. But I wouldn't recommend competitive Judo as a white belt. You need to learn the very basics first.