Starting Judo Next Week!

[Lupin1]

So I finally decided to do what I've been wanting to do for awhile and try out the local Judo club. It's put on by the town recreation department, so it's pretty cheap at $40 a month for twice a week, although with the one year USJA membership ($50) and cost of a new gi (I have no idea what that'll be), it's a high initial investment, so I'm hoping I like it enough to stay for awhile.

I'm not planning on putting too much focus on it as I'm nearing brown belt in Isshinryu and so now's not the time to cut back my effort with black belt candidacy coming up, but we don't do much ground work in class and I'm really interested in developing that aspect. I figure it's different enough that it shouldn't confuse me technique-wise the way TKD did. I could also use strengthening in my breakfalls. I used to be terrified of falling until my friend who's studied aikido for years worked with me on that for awhile and I'm much better than I was-- but I need to do it a lot more. I'm also hoping it'll help me not be so afraid to get right in there in wazza and sparring. Right now I have trouble getting right up close and personal with my partner and tend to stay back too far and am less aggressive about going in for those points (to be fair, I've mostly been sparring with 10-year-olds). Finally, I'm hoping learning the new techniques will help me learn to learn. I'm extremely strong in kata but with applications sometimes I have trouble picking out the finer points of where to put your feet and where to grab and all that. I'm hoping that learning more varied movements which I can practice on an actual person will help me learn to pick out details from a demonstration and apply them with a partner better. All things Judo is very strong in that I'm hoping will help make me more well-rounded as well as give me transferable skills for karate.

So yeah-- I know right now my focus seems to be how Judo can help me with my karate more than just training it for it's own sake, and maybe that's the wrong mindset, but I still think I'll get a lot out of it and get a good workout, too. I'm excited.

[Harkon72]

Judo is a good work out, I always try to remember it's a sport.

[bushido_man96]

What I loved about doing Aikido was that it was my chance to be a student again. It was actually refreshing going to a class where I wasn't a senior student or instructor, and was always the one being depended upon to help others out. I love being able to do that in TKD, don't get me wrong. But its also nice to be able to go into a different format and be the newbie again.

My time in Aikido, Hapkido, and Defensive Tactics training has really helped me to see different things in my TKD classes, especially in forms and ways to adapt one-step training.

I think Judo will treat you well. Have fun with it!

[Kuma]

I actually just started Judo myself last month and am in basically the exact same place you are at. It's been a blast so far.

Judo is a good work out, I always try to remember it's a sport.

Any art with a competitive aspect to it, if you focus solely on the competitions, becomes only a sport. Like many arts that have a big competitive base, it offers a lot more than being just a sport.

[Lupin1]

Anyone have any suggestions on what I should wear to my first class? I don't know if I want to wear my karate gi because it's new and I don't want to risk it getting ripped, although from what I've read I'll most likely just be doing breakfalls my first day, anyway. Any advice?

[ShoriKid]

Anyone have any suggestions on what I should wear to my first class? I don't know if I want to wear my karate gi because it's new and I don't want to risk it getting ripped, although from what I've read I'll most likely just be doing breakfalls my first day, anyway. Any advice?

A white belt and the heaviest gi top you own until you get a judo gi? A white judo gi can be had for $45-50 US+ depending on the size and brand. I'm looking at a Fuji single weave for $51 retail before shipping right now. Ebay isn't too bad a source either.

[Lupin1]

A white belt and the heaviest gi top you own until you get a judo gi? A white judo gi can be had for $45-50 US+ depending on the size and brand. I'm looking at a Fuji single weave for $51 retail before shipping right now. Ebay isn't too bad a source either.

It won't get ripped? The heaviest I have is an 8.5oz and I just got it a few weeks ago, so I don't want it to get ruined just yet. I kinda wish I had had the foresight to order a gi a week ago so it'd be here for my first class, but the website did say you could buy one from the instructor, I'm just not sure if he'd have them there for the first class or even if he lets people buy them at the first class (my karate instructor doesn't sell gis until you've been there for a month to make sure parents aren't spending money on a gi only to have their kid quit after a week or adults aren't buying them and then realizing the class isn't for them).

[JusticeZero]

The classes i've seen let you buy a gi off the street for the precise reasons you are worrying about. What's the worst that can happen? You'll have bought a new heavyweight gi that you can use elsewhere? Go with your karate gi and tell the instructor that it's a bit lightweight for grappling and you don't want it ripped. Either you will work things that don't strain the gi, or you will be offered a heavier gi.

[Harkon72]

Almost all grips in Judo are done by the gi, invest, please. You can get one on ebay.com now for $30. It's not just to get a grip, it's to soak up your sweat too.

[Lupin1]

I just wore my gi pants and an old sweater, and I'm kind of glad because we did do a few things that would definitely have stressed the jacket.

We did SO much tonight. I'm having trouble keeping it all in my head. We did warmups and break falls, which I was expecting, but then we also did some grips and footwork and a few grip breaks and turning someone over from different positions. It was a lot. And they were expecting us (there was a 12 or 13-year-old kid there who it was his first day, too) to remember it all and get it right right away. It was crazy. But it was fun and I think I'm going to learn a lot.

Almost everything we did tonight was ground stuff, which I liked because that's what I really want to learn and I was worried it'd be mostly stand up. I got some interesting mat burn for my first night, too. The tops of my toes are all covered in mat burn and I have this weird tight white patch on the tip of one of my fingers where it dragged while doing bear crawls (which I'm not very good at).