I want to start practicing judo and/or some other form of grappling, but I have a medical condition which makes it hazardous for me to get struck in the abdomen, which posed a serious problem for my advancement in the striking art I was practicing some years ago.
My question is whether there are any limitations to grappling and judo in particular regarding this issue? because in the past I was mounted and had knees on my belly for passing in what small grappling experience I have, and those things are ok as they're just pressure, it's anything resembling strikes that I'm worried about.
while I know judo has no strikes in it, I want to make sure there's nothing resembling it as well.
any advice from judokas and other grapplers is most welcome.
thank you

I would assume that you will get hit at some point and treat the hazard accordingly.

No striking. You're going to be slammed onto your back and side often and hard. As far as direct impacts to the belly, you might occasionally land on somebodies knee. That happens to me more often no gi/wrestling than it does in normal judo, but it is something to consider. It can happen.

thanks for the response,
I'm not too worried about it, if I do find a solid decent gym, i will definitely go for a couple of classes before committing and have a long, serious talk to the coach about my condition, so I get his professional opinion on the matter, that's what I've always done in the past. Just figured it can't hurt to ask other experienced grapplers.

Keep in mind that martial arts teachers aren't doctors, nor are doctors martial artists. Ask both.

thanks for the response,
I'm not too worried about it, if I do find a solid decent gym, i will definitely go for a couple of classes before committing and have a long, serious talk to the coach about my condition, so I get his professional opinion on the matter, that's what I've always done in the past. Just figured it can't hurt to ask other experienced grapplers.

I think take-downs is what you need to investigate.
Depending of the art/context a fair amount of take-downs are designed maximise the impact by using the body of the thrower.
The more impact you receive from being taken down, the more the attacker has time to go the next step. You can avoid the winding effect with conditioning and protecting yourself as you are being thrown but it is that much time you will not spend on getting organised on landing.
Most of the time it will be a good practice to do so, especially in a 1 v 1 in a symmetrical environment, as you progress in the competition, the skill level difference will tend to be smaller and smaller. Obviously, you will have rationalisation of winning techniques, but as well you will have a rationalisation of indirect factors so that you can maximise any advantage.
So I think that someone is bound to land with part of his body, with his body weight behind it, on your abdomen.
It is more likely to happen in competition than in training as people will usually take care of you.
That being said most accident do happen even if both side are carful and on the ball.

phil

Wow Willaume, I never thought of takedowns, especially a strong double. the thing is wrestling (as a sport not the WWE stuff) in Israel, is never mentioned and as far as i know, very few places if at all practice it... so i never thougt about that option, but i am definitely taking that under consideration, and will talk to the judo coach i plan to train under and mention it to him.
but i do appreciate the advice, as i had never thought of that aspect of grappling.
how many takedowns, specifically say a strong double-leg does one experience in judo?
as for competition, i'm not planning on it, not to say, if i suddenly discover i'm incredible at it i won't. but starting judo at 25, and with the learning curve i gathered judo has, not to mention work and other **** going on in my life, i really am looking mostly for a fun, healthy, MA oriented thing to do 2-3 times a week.

I hate to discourage you from training, but during judo practice you might be struck in the abdomen hard enough that the strike would be similar in effect to a punch or kick. It's not uncommon.

You need to see a sports medicine specialist. You need to discuss the specifics of your condition/ailment with the judo instructor.

If you can't take a roundhouse kick, I worry that judo will be bad news too.

I hate to discourage you from training, but during judo practice you might be struck in the abdomen hard enough that the strike would be similar in effect to a punch or kick. It's not uncommon.

can you please elaborate?

I've done a little bit of judo, a while back, and while I'm sure it's not a soft art ( I cracked a rib, in my 3rd class), there was nothing similar to what I always had to look out for when I did jidokwan.

Maybe just stick to BJJ or (I can't believe I'm recommending this) Aikido. The biggest risk you run in Judo is somebody throwing you with a sacrifice throw, which means they'll be landing on you while driving you into the mat. Quite possibly putting a lot of sudden pressure on your abdomen.

Maybe just stick to BJJ or (I can't believe I'm recommending this) Aikido. The biggest risk you run in Judo is somebody throwing you with a sacrifice throw, which means they'll be landing on you while driving you into the mat. Quite possibly putting a lot of sudden pressure on your abdomen.

thanks for the advice
but I tried Aikido, I couldn't stand it, the guy was like "see here, i twist your wrist some more, and then you fall", and while it did hurt to have my wrist twisted, I wasn't convinced at all, but then he started talking about chi, so I realized I need to shop elsewhere.

as for judo, I think I will try it, and I've gotten quite decent at deciding when something is dangerous. I'm not totally incapacitated, it's just more dangerous for me than for most people.

when I last consulted a dr. about this, he said, I can do anything, except continuous pounding to the abdomen, we were learning "absorption" I would call it, it doesn't translate well, when you learn to get hit in the gut. and i just figured better safe than sorry, so avoid getting seriously hit altogether. all that said, I figure after I've had some classes and a talk to the coach, I'll be able to make up my mind.

---------- Post added at 08:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:24 PM ----------

Is the aforementioned "Absorption" even taught elsewhere?
it's where we used to stand, hands behind our backs and our partner would slowly increase the pace and power of his punches to whatever part we were strengthening.

the one other place I've encountered, said he didn't believe in that, and I could never make up my mind on whether it's a necessary part of learning MA.

(I'm sorry if this question belongs elsewhere - newbietown?, I'm still learning the ropes here)

Uh.. wouldn't any makikomi throws be a pretty high risk?
I think BJJ would be alot safer.

just want to re-state the fact that you need to speak to *both* sports doctors *and* the judo coach.

also you want to be very clear with the doctor about what you will be doing (so maybe talk to the judo coach first.)

let me give you an example of a conversation i had with an eye doctor:

me: "so, if i was to get LASIK, would it be safe? i am a martial artist."
him: "sure, no problem there."
me: "wait a minute, i have heard that LASIK can be dangerous to people who do contact sports, let me re-phrase that: i *box* and *wrestle*, will that be ok after LASIK?"
him: "oh, no way! you can't safely box or wrestle after LASIK!"
me: facepalm

"oh, no way! you can't safely box or wrestle after LASIK!"
PRK/LASEK for the win?

PRK/LASEK for the win?

yes, those would work. and we could have a whole thread about laser eye surgery - in fact we have had one.

however that isn't relevant to this thread.

my point was that saying to the doctor, "i want to train in judo" might not get the same response as "i want to wrestle with much larger people who will attempt to hurl me to the floor at high rates of speed, and often may try to land on me with as much force as possible."