26
votes
Is 16 too late of an age to start hapkido or judo?
I'm 15 and would like to start martial arts when I turn 16. I want a year to get myself in to really good shape before I start.
This is a terrible plan.
Find a gym and start training judo now. Find ...
- 21.2k
18
votes
Is the highest judo belt really red?
It is, and it takes a LONG time to reach.
If you ever reach your 9th Dan, you are awarded a red belt to wear. The white-red belt is awarded at 6th Dan.
At this stage, you need to wait for 8 to 10 ...
15
votes
Accepted
Have you seen a fight between *top* Judo and Aikido practitioners?
Nearly all forms of aikido are predicated on avoiding any possibility of pressure-testing their skills against resisting opponents in free-sparring or competitive environments. Nearly all ...
- 21.2k
15
votes
Accepted
Could Non Newtonian fluids make better judo mats?
There are non-Newtonian fluids that get harder when stressed (like cornflour and water), and there are others that get softer when stressed (like tomato ketchup, that acts solid until you apply stress ...
- 166
14
votes
Accepted
Do Aikido wrist locks work against stronger opponents?
Primary and secondary grappling skills
Wristlocks and most other standing joint locks are almost always secondary grappling skills: one must already be able to dominate using basic gross-movement ...
- 21.2k
14
votes
Have you seen a fight between *top* Judo and Aikido practitioners?
From my own experience, a match between judo/aikido starts at a distance doing Aikido and as soon as the distance closes, switching to judo. I have no link to videos as I never bothered filming any. ...
14
votes
Is there such a thing as a toxic sensei? How to deal with one like that?
Toxic people
Yes, there are toxic people in the martial arts world. Martial artists are human, and although martial training can improve character, martial artists are just as capable at being ...
- 13.7k
12
votes
What are the long term health consequences of practising judo?
Anecdotally, Judo can be absolutely brutal on your body:
After years of dedication to judo it gave me a black belt (first dan) and unparalleled skills at taking anyone down.
It also gave me:
...
- 481
12
votes
Accepted
Teaching ukemi to children
Oh man...
I help teach (and teach if the head instructor is gone) a small group of kids every week and this has always been major question for me. Not specifically this, but just how to get the kids ...
- 914
12
votes
Accepted
Does judo work against someone not wearing a judogi?
Great question and likely one which needs to be asked again and again. One short answer might be:
Judoka may execute throws in tactical (street) situations against assailants with clothing.
A longer ...
- 136
12
votes
Do Aikido wrist locks work against stronger opponents?
You are probably missing kuzushi (balance breaking) and/or atemi (strikes). Both serve the same purpose: to distract your opponent so that they worry about something else rather than their wrist. ...
12
votes
How do blood chokes actually work?
According to forensic science it is pressure applied to the carotids and not the veins that causes loss of consciousness, although pressure on the veins leaves specific signs of strangulation when ...
- 8,553
12
votes
Accepted
De-ashi-harai or De-ashi-barai?
In Japanese, some6 initial consonants become voiced when they occur internal to some5 compound words, e.g:
(unvoiced)
(voiced)
kimono
judo-gi
koshi-guruma
o-goshi
katame-waza
kesa-gatame
shime-...
- 7,292
12
votes
Accepted
Should I give up my back on purpose so that I can do this throw?
You do not purposefully give your back. You do not "give" anything. Applied correctly, your back is safe. There are some misconceptions here.
You do not simply "give your back". Throwing is something ...
- 6,172
11
votes
Accepted
Why do we do ukemi aka break falls?
You might never get into a fight, but you will fall down several times in your life.
Aside from that, if you're working in an art or practice that's going to have a lot of throwing, you need to learn ...
- 8,553
11
votes
To prevent injuries, how do you discourage people from using excessive force?
I've trained in many martial arts schools. There have always been one or two individuals that didn't know their own strength or who simply had some kind of mental issue that caused them to scare ...
- 17.4k
11
votes
Accepted
Karate and Judo?
Wrestling and kyokushin karate go together fine. Most martial arts that cover different disciplines (e.g. striking/wrestling, or punching/kicking) work fine together because they complement each other....
- 21.2k
11
votes
How can I practice any martial art if I have difficulty with motor and coordination skills?
Martial arts are a journey on your own path, at your own time and speed.
I have (or have had) a number of students with wide ranging issues with co-ordination, flexibility and movement. As an ...
- 2,699
11
votes
What is the good path to become a Judo teacher?
Generally the way to become a good instructor is experience.
Instruct at your club whenever you have the opportunity - get better at dealing with students and explaining things in a way that they ...
- 2,699
10
votes
Accepted
Do pins in judo have to be standard pins?
That's barely a modification of kesagatame. There's no gi, so he uses a slightly different grip. It totally counts.
Just about all techniques, including pins, are modified in actual application. This ...
- 21.2k
10
votes
Accepted
Arm bar crushes the groin
I assume you are working on the arm bar known in judo as juji gatame. The principle in this technique is the use of a class 2 lever to hyperextend the opponent's elbow joint. Resistance is in the ...
- 13.7k
10
votes
Accepted
Judo - Why does the ref sometimes pause the match when it goes to the ground?
If there's a lack of progress during ground work in a judo match, the referee will stand the competitors up. This is intended to encourage action, rapid attack, and prevent stalemate positions.
- 21.2k
10
votes
Accepted
What's the name of this sweep and where did it originate?
You're describing the knee push variation of "Scissor Sweep." It's very common in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
There are two main ways to do it from full guard. Both involve getting control of one arm in ...
- 1,756
10
votes
Why grip with only three fingers?
There are two primary muscle groups at work. The ones which control the 2 larger fingers, the 1st and 2nd phalanges (thumb and index) are controlled with the larger thenar muscles, called the flexor ...
- 3,886
10
votes
Accepted
In Tournament or Competition Judo can you use improvised techniques or throws that are not "officially" named?
Judo competition is not graded on the name of the technique you do. It's graded on whether you throw the opponent on their back, pin them, strangle them, put them in an armlock, or break the rules.
So ...
- 21.2k
10
votes
Accepted
What is this person talking about on the relationship between judo and BJJ?
The person is perfectly correct, except with the last sentence.
I guess this is a semantical problem. You can say "X branched off from/of Y", which says X is a descendant of Y, or "X ...
- 6,172
9
votes
Why do we do ukemi aka break falls?
Break falling is a way to safely escape a technique that could impart serious harm to the receiver.
It is self defence at its most basic form. For obvious reasons, without it, one cannot practice ...
9
votes
Accepted
What Level Of Expertise Did Theodore Roosevelt Have In Judo?
Roosevelt's Judo experience
Roosevelt trained judo under two instructors (John O'Brien, and Yoshiaki Yamashita) for a period of around a few months each in 1902 and 1904. He maintained an interest in ...
- 7,292
9
votes
Mouthguards and judo
I clacked my teeth together during a takedown and ended up with a tiny chip of one of my front teeth. Now I never get on the mats without a mouthguard.
If you have trouble breathing with a normal ...
- 91
9
votes
Does practising judo increase the likelihood of sustaining a brain injury?
Yes, playing judo introduces the risk of brain injury.
Judo is a contact sport. Competitive judo is a very contact sport. If you play rough and don't take ukemi properly, you risk concussion. The ...
- 21.2k
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