Judo regulations

[ravenzoom]

Here in Quebec, Canada, every Judo dojo is regulated and has to follow what the Judo provincial (state for US) federation states as its rule. Although very good to eliminate Mcdojos, reaching blackbelt seems a hard and VERY long task. According to the blackbelts I've spoken to it needs roughly 4 years to reach brown belt. Once this is achieved, you need to earn 120 points to have the right to test for your black belt. If you only attend your regular weekly classes (twice a week I believe) you earn 30 points every year. So someone who only attends his regular classes will have to wait another 4 years before testing for blackbelt (8 years total). You can attend seminars to earn a few more points, but competition seems the only way to speed up the accumulation of points to reach 120 points so that it won't take 8 years to reach blackbelt. This is a bit discouraging since it really seems long, but on the other hand once you reach black belt you've really earned it. I'd like to know what you guys think of this and if your system works the same way, thanks

[hobz]

Makes sense to me, should really have to earn the Black Belt. BJJ is alot like that as well, really competition based.

[SevenStar]

it's only discouraging if you are seeking a black belt. IMO, if a black belt is your sole motivation, then you really don't need to be training. FWIW, I got my brown after about 3 years - you get points for competing as well. I have beaten several people who outrank me - in my last tournament, I beat two black belts - which earns me more points, as ou get extra for beating people who outrank you.

 

regulation is a good thing, IMO. it doesn't stop mcdojos at all - you can have your rank based off of points...that doesn't mean that you're good... However, what it does is keep everything consistent. I can go to ANY judo club in the country, and everything is the same. styles that are not organized can get cinfusing. Take chinese shuai chiao, for example. depending on whom you trained with, you may have a different name than someone else for the exact same technique. With judo's structure, this will never happen.

[honour is life]

ravenzoom, can i just ask, why did u start MA?

[ravenzoom]

Yes certainly. I love sports, I always played hockey all my life so I wanted something else I could enjoy while learning self defence at the same time. I like doing randori in Judo, but I'M more in it for its self defence than for competition. and I also enjoy more grappling arts than stiking arts.

[honour is life]

thank god you didnt say "because i wanted a black belt" or something like that. cheers!

[ravenzoom]

In last night's class my Sensei practiced in front of us for his 4th Dan for this sunday. I saw aspects of Judo I did not know exist in the kata. Punches to the face and stomach, kick to the knee (that one surprised me!) knife and gun defences, etc. The moves actually looked a lot like Aikido. Anyhow it was quite interesting to watch.