Defending against Judo. What is the best way to win?
Defending against Judo, a new article from WBA Founder Dave DeGrouchie. Defending against Judo, is part 3 in my 6 part series on defending against Martial Arts.
To rewind a bit, why defend against Martial Arts? Should we not be focusing on defending against the street thug, or mentally unstable maniac?
Yes. This is 2024.
Today’s street thug and mentally unstable maniac, is quite likely a Judo instructor, or an avid BJJ practitioner, or a polished boxer, etc. In part one of this 6 part series, I spoke about how all things on earth, evolve. Evolution does not just apply to good things, but bad things as well. Medicine is more advanced than ever before due to research, trials, etc. Assault has evolved as well, due to the availability, and popularity of MMA, BJJ, Kickboxing, etc, and the modern reality that all of it is available to everyone. Defending against Judo is a facinating subject! Read on.
Defending against Judo
More on Defending against Judo! Whether an individual trains in person at a gym or dojo, or invests hours and money on online programs, attends seminars, etc, knowledge at it’s highest forms are available to all. It is a fact, that many ill intentioned individuals, or nut cases if you will, have experienced martial arts/combat sports training. In order for self defense to be modern, we have to look at the modern threats. Once upon a time, armed samurai were a threat in feudal Japan. Thus, Japanese JuJutsu was aimed at being effective against the armed samurai, when a defender was unarmed.
That was then. Now, attackers are skilled in many ways, especially in the popular systems of today. The popular systems of today, are what most MMA practitioners are doing. Exposure and research on those systems is needed by any serious self defense practitioner. In part 2 of the series, we took a look at recognizing and defending against BJJ.
Today in part 3 of Defending against Judo, we take a look at being able to recognize Judo when being used against us, and how to defend against it. Being better than the attacker at their own system, is not the answer. The answer, is being able to attack not the skill, but the foundation and science of what makes that skill work at all.
Defending against Judo
Defending against Judo: Judo works, by using a person’s movement against them. It does this by breaking balance, and taking a person off their feet. Done well, the techniques of Judo are only partially done by the Judo person. If they are skilled, they will cause you to move in ways, that aid up to 50% of the throw. But no matter how skilled, the Judo person needs the technical elements to be there. Some of those technical elements are:
1- Grip. They need to be holding onto you. They are great at grip, and very strong. Unless you have trained specifically at how to avoid grips, and know what grips there are, you’re not going to break their grip, or stop them from gripping onto your collar, sleeve, wrist, or anywhere else they want. Best way to defeat grip, is to not be in range to be gipped in the first place.
Study gripping. Know how to recognize it. Be out of the way, and do not try to go grip for grip with the Judo person if they grab a hold of you. If they can grab onto you, you are too close. However, if you are at this point, get real. Some call it dirty, I call it real. They grab your lapels, you grab their ears. Or, grab their cheeks in both hands and squeeze with all you got. Fish-hook your thumbs in both corners of their mouth, and pull as hard as you can in separate directions. Tear their mouth in two. These are just examples. Study grip, stay real, and see the opportunities.
2- Breaking Balance: To understand this a bit better, you will need to study aspects relating to center, how the head dictates where the body goes, and what throws/sweeps a Judo practitioner will likely attempt based on where your balance is broken. Leaning backwards or to the sides? Know the sweeps you are now vulnerable to in order to be on the lookout and defend. Leaning forward? Expect higher throws over the Judo practioner’s hips and shoulders. Study Judo’s throws and sweeps so you can see where you can bite, pull hair, poke eyes, stomp knees, etc, when certain throws and sweeps are attempted.
3- Entry: As with anything, range is always the dictator. If you are too far away, Judo-ing you is not so easy for your attacker. He/she is going to need to focus more on getting you in range, than what he/she is leaving open as he/she does so. See the targets. Judo happens in close range.
Getting in this range is what Judo practitioners call “entry”. Once entry is achieved, you’re in shit. Most of the throw is already happening. And, the skilled Judo practitioner has used grip to grab hold of you, break your balance, and is now in control. Bad news. But, if you keep an open mind, see the unguarded targets, you can defend. Grab a handful of your attacker’s hair as he/she is doing a shoulder throw on you. It will take a considerable amount of steam out of the technique.
Defending against Judo continues.
Disclaimer: As with anything, if you don’t study a subject, you can’t know anything about it. My articles don’t arm you with anything. All of them, are meant to turn on a switch, and get you thinking. The only thing I could possibly accomplish, is getting you to realize that it is vital that you have an understanding of what today’s skilled assailant is armed with.
And, that even the most “potent” systems out there, are done by humans who have to follow certain technical steps to successfully execute their attack. They are not super heros. The magic of self defense skill, is knowing the technical aspects of these systems, and attacking that.
Defending against Judo in Conclusion
To defend against Judo, you need to not be reachable for starters.
Should you become reachable and the Judo attacker gets a grip on you, this can be a good thing if you are in control of yourself mentally.
If you are, you will be of calm and open mind enough to know if he/she is occupying their own hands grabbing onto your sleeve, lapel, or collar, they are not guarding their eyes, throat, ears, hair, etc. Act fast, because they will use their grip to dictate what direction you go in, and attempt to break balance, and then enter for technique execution.
Kick knees, the groin, as this will interrupt their footwork needed to gain entry. If they are close enough to throw you, immediately headbutt, pull hair, gouge eyes, etc. Know how Judo works so that you can see the signs, and know how to attack the science that makes it work. Do not fight fire with fire. You will lose very fast.
Train hard, stay safe.
GM Dave.
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I hope you enjoy Founder Dave Degrouchie's article called Defending against Judo. Also checkout the previous article in defending against BJJ. If you have a moment checkout my new Kosho Ryu International website.
Thank you for your time and have a wonderful day! Keep Learning!
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