Advice starting Judo

**judochop82** · Posted On: 8/29/2012 10:05pm

Hello Everyone

All my life I have had desire to do judo, for many reasons I couldn't start at a young age. Since then, I am 30, have worked a desk job for some years, not recently though. I'm relatively out of shape, tall, 6'2, only 170 pounds and NOT flexible. The last 2 years I have been much more active and do work out, I don't consider myself strong, but just tough lol

Anyways, doing judo seems like it would benefit me in all the areas im weak, but im very afraid of being injured, it seems like a norm in judo. Being tall and thin im going to go down hard! So...

1. Is this a bad idea?
2. is there anything I can practice in the coming month to maybe improve my shape to reduce risk of an injury.
3??

On the positive side I think ive found a very relaxed dojo to train in, i was very happy after talking to the instructor and it seems like a place where people have their egos in check.

**Ming Loyalist** · Posted On: 8/29/2012 10:33pm

i wouldn't worry about it much, just go and take class. there are judoka of all body types and everyone seems to be able to develop a game. judoka aren't known to be the most flexible people, but i do think that working on your flexibility will help with avoiding injury.

injuries happen, it's a contact sport, but if you get proper treatment and do your PT exercises, they shouldn't be too much of a drag.

don't expect to become good at it right away, judo is a life long endeavor, but it will be rewarding right away.

**judochop82** · Posted On: 8/29/2012 10:44pm

Hey thanks for a reply, im not worried about getting beat up, just serious injury. Also I have no expectation to compete or even be considered good i just want something I can continue to work at later on into life. I don't have a big ego and im not a competitive person, which can actually help me learn at times. Ive just had a few friends tell me how im going to get rocked constantly but I think it was due to the club they were training at, hopefully.

**Ming Loyalist** · Posted On: 8/29/2012 11:04pm

well, you're better off starting at 30 that i was, at 37 or 38 (don't remember exactly, maybe i've been thrown on my head too many times.) you will recover faster than i do, from both workouts and injuries.

as for serious injuries, i'm not going to lie to you, they can happen. personally i have separated my shoulder (AC separation) and have torn my quadriceps in the past 3 years, in addition to a bunch of minor stuff like broken toes. it wasn't enough to get me to quit.

separated shoulder and torn MCL/ACL are the most common *serious* injuries in judo, and they're not all that common at the recreational level.

**family karate** · Posted On: 8/30/2012 6:15am

hello everyone. i have trained for about 18 month's to two years in judo, and still train a few times a year. talk to you instructor about the break falls. it his/her job to help you there, and they will. after all my time in jjj im still just slightly nervous when being thrown, and im not bad at ukemi (break falls), but your partner should help you. i really only had one injury from judo, as i landed on my neck from seo toshi- i think its called ( some call it drop down seo nage ), 3 days before a tournament, that i just spent 6 months preparing for, and had to pull out. if you like the club and the instructor seems nice, then go for it, otherwise you will regret it as you get older.. hope this helps. thanks family karate centre

**NeilG** · Posted On: 8/30/2012 8:43am

I'm over 50 and still practising and competing. Just go out there and have fun. A lot of the injury stuff is up to you - if you want to go hard in randori the risk goes up Early on it will just be the usual athletic stuff - sore/stiff, nothing serious.

**judochop82** · Posted On: 8/30/2012 2:58pm

when doing randori, I understand its alive training but are you to resist 100% or is it more of a try out your throws and sometimes attack sometimes defend. I mean is it suppose to be somewhat light hearted? As Neil mentioned going hard in randori, how would one go soft?

thanks for all the support!

**DarkPhoenix** · Posted On: 8/30/2012 3:14pm

Originally Posted by judochop82

when doing randori, I understand its alive training but are you to resist 100% or is it more of a try out your throws and sometimes attack sometimes defend. I mean is it suppose to be somewhat light hearted? As Neil mentioned going hard in randori, how would one go soft?

thanks for all the support!

It really depends on how you want to play. Some do randori like they are in a shiai, going all out for the win. Others communicate with their partner to see how hard they want to go, much like other sparriing. When I am playing against an inexperienced player, I normally just move with them so they can see how to move and feel the opponents movements. If they are more experienced, but still on the lower end, ie: yellow belt, I will mostly just counter what it is they are doing and if I go in for a throw I go pretty light on the finish. I will always pull my throws during randori, unless of course my partner is trying to bury me, then I beat them with the planet.

**NeilG** · Posted On: 8/30/2012 4:44pm

If you are playing a good senior, as DP says, they will generally play a bit above where you want to be. So if you want to just go light or do throw for throw or whatever, they should be able to accomodate you. Where beginners get into trouble is when they think randori is some kind of competition and try to beat everybody up. If you go in with that attitude, you may find yourself corrected vigorously. Randori is about learning.

The flip side of that is if you play more junior people and they want to go hard when you don't want to. Every dojo I've heard of has a rule which is, if you don't feel comfortable partnering with someone, you don't have to. So you can just say "no thanks" to those sorts of partners.

Where you have a choice in partners, always pick the most senior guy you can. That's the one you will learn from. So many beginners really want to "win" at randori. But frankly you don't learn much muscling around with another white belt. Try to clock time in with sensei if you can.

**judochop82** · Posted On: 8/30/2012 9:50pm

Good advice on choose more experienced players to do randori with, makes sense. I remember myself at 20 and would probably have a one track mind. Anyways this is the club, from the looks of it seems like nice people, easy going

my club is called ronin judo toronto, if you want to google it