When talking about Martial Arts, almost everyone knows about Judo. A layman considers it Judo when he sees a Martial Arts contest of any sport.
Judo is a fighting discipline derived from Jujutsu – from the Tanjim Shin school- by Kano Jigoro Shihan in 1882 in Japan.
It is based upon taking down and choking the opponents. The English translation of Judo is “Gentle Way or Yielding Way”, which means gently tackling the opponents.
So two questions raised here, how to handle a street fight gently, and Is Judo Good for Self-defense? Judo can be considered as good fighting style to use during street attack and self-defense, anyway always keeping in mind the limitations that judo have in some case that we are going to see soon.
I will take you through its techniques, effectiveness as per brutality and offense, comparison of Judo with the three best martial arts, and finally, I will share the conclusion with you. In the end, I will tell you how we can use it as one of the best fighting tools.
Let us start!!
Techniques used in Judo
Judo is all about the close distance fighting, it is an expertise of manhandling an opponent during the clinches and holding.
Judo describes how to grapple and throw opponents on the ground while using their energy against them.
A Judoka not only capitalizes on opponents’ energy but also maintains his own power to keep grounding the opponent until the fight is over.
It doesn’t rely upon kicking and punching.
Judo player maintains a strong posture or stance to get a firm standing and throws the contestant on the ground.
Judo also teaches how to unarm an opponent, but it needs a very close range to do it.
In short, Judo is a form of wrestling along with some locks like Kansetsu Waza; the joint locks.
A few joint locks are Ashi Gatame, Gyaku Juji Gatame, Kannuki Gatame, Ude Hishigi Hara Gatame, and many more leg, knee, arm, and cross locks. It also includes some ground grappling using specialized control holds and pins.
Brutality and offenses in Judo
As the name of Judo describes “Gentle Way” means handling situations while staying cool and calm.
And not wasting the energy and not hitting the opponents by any sort of strikes.
Judo is not about hurting the opponents or assailants, but it is about naturalizing the attack by forcing them to quit with back-to-back takedowns.
It is good when both the fighters are from Judo, and they are following the rules and regulations.
But in the case of a street fight, only throwing the assailants on the earth and fighting an inside fight is not enough at all.
A street fight requires hitting the opponents with continuous blows and strikes from a safe distance.
And when the fight is on the ground, it is about clinching and ground-and-pound, which is not a part of Judo fighting discipline.
Along with chokes and locks, a street fight also requires some kicks and punches to end the quarrel.
We know well that a few takedowns are not enough against the bullies or other assailants. During a professional and amateur fight, a referee stops the contest when the final point is scored, but it is not the case when defending oneself during a street fight.
So Judo is not so much effective in a street fight where self-defense is required.
Judo was accepted in the Olympic games in 1964, and we know the Olympics are about demonstration and exhibition, so it must be accepted due to its softness and being a less brutal sport.
Let me clear one thing, Judo is good against a single opponent who is not a martial artist.
Choking a single opponent is easy, or forcing an assailant to quit with a joint or neck lock is an easy task for a Judo fighter. But one can’t think about choking an assailant when there is more than one opponent, and they are attacking simultaneously.
Comparison of Judo with other combat sports.
If we see Karate, Kickboxing, and Muay Thai, these all fighting techniques are about maintaining a safe distance and hurting the opponents by using the reach – with kicks and punches –. so this type of tool is required for self-defense, which is not found in Judo at all.
Kickboxing and Muay Thai are the best fighting disciplines for self-defense, and the reason is the offense – the variation of strikes -.
The famous quote, “Offense is the Best Defense” is good to describe these three fighting styles.
In those fighting styles, the defense is enwrapped into the attack. And that’s the reason all three are considered among the best fighting disciplines.
And unavailability of those lethal strikes makes Judo not so effective during a street fight.
Furthermore, a Kickboxer and Muay Thai artist can land kicks from a safe distance, and they can throw a devastating uppercut or a lethal kick to the groin while moving backward.
The Martial Artists from these three sports – Karate, Kickboxing, and Muay Thai – can do great footwork to stay out of danger while staying behind the jabs. They can also do a great ring cutting to keep chasing their opponents while throwing different combinations.
Muay Thai fighters are known to be great ring cutters who get their momentum before landing their first strike. Once they are in the rhythm, they can land a flurry of strikes in a way where a punch is landing, and the fighter is already in a good position to throw a knee to the ribs or landing a jaw cracking elbow after connecting their round hook.
Final words about “Is Judo good for self-defense”.
We have seen some limitations in Judo techniques, and then we checked its effectiveness in the street fight and came to know that Judo is only good in the competitions and is not much effective for self-defense.
And Finally, we checked how Judo is different from the main tools for self-defense, which are Kickboxing, Muay Thai, and Karate.
So the conclusion tells Judo is not good for a street fight, or a confrontation where a lot of people are attacking a person.
Furthermore, being the inside fighting style, it encapsulates more risks where the opponents are allowed to wrestle and grapple instead of stopping them with jabs or a roundhouse kick.
The lack of strikes and punches make Judo a less effective technique. The only good thing in Judo is a good collection of joint locks and chokes, which are good to tackle a single assailant who is not a martial artist himself. But the table turns if that opponent is a Kickboxer, Karateka, or a Muay Thai fighter.
So Judo is not good for self-defense.
Suggestion for Judo fighters or those who are interested to learn it :
If a Judo fighter learns the art of Karate or mixes kickboxing with it, or he adds Muay Thai strikes at the top of Judo, then it might become a lethal weapon for the fighter for self-defense.
A fighter can polish a few power shots from any of these combat sports, and then he can handle a street fight with ease and efficiency.