a judo or BJJ school?

**geves** · Posted On: 3/10/2006 9:19pm

ok i know this has been asked ALOT on this forum. i'm a complete noob when it comes to grappling.

but i have both (BJJ & judo) in my area. but i have a dilemma, i don't know which one to choose.

BJJ:
this is the teacher http://www.bjj.org/a/people/hosford-matt.html

- the BJJ school is alot closer (which is important for me)

- the BJJ instructor is a purple belt, i have no idea what that really means. would that rank make him qualified to teach?

JUDO:
this is the teacher http://www.ttjcusa.com/eun.html

- the school is alot further away. the guy has like 10 schools in the area (i don't know if that should send up red flags about the quality of each school or not)

- as you can see from his bio, he's an ex-olympic player & has taught other olympic players. which probably means he will focus more on the sport aspect of judo, as opposed to combat

- it seems his school is more of a baby sitting dojo, then an actual dojo.

__________________________________________________ ____________

so my dilemma is, i don't know wether or not i can trust either school (sport judo OR a purple belt). i have no idea what to look at for grappling schools, to know if they're good or not.

obviously if i'm looking for a more combat focused school, i should go with the BJJ school.

but should i really go to a purple belt teacher, when i can go to a school where the guy has proven his ability to teach? (3 olympic gold medalist students, so he claims). and is probably a higher quality teacher?

some help plz... i'm going to the BJJ school tomorrow, to find out about the fee's and ask questions.

which questions should i ask? aside from if they train gi/no-gi (not sure if that's standard in BJJ)?

thanks in advanced.

**Chris.B** · Posted On: 3/10/2006 9:26pm

It just depends what you're looking for. BJJ does a lot more work on the ground while Judo likes to work on getting people onto the ground. It really comes down to personal preference though. Best thing to do would be get a couple free classes at both schools and try them out. See what type of art you're more into.

**BedHedNed** · Posted On: 3/10/2006 9:41pm

Originally Posted by geves

but should i really go to a purple belt teacher, when i can go to a school where the guy has proven his ability to teach? (3 olympic gold medalist students, so he claims). and is probably a higher quality teacher?

A purple belt is actually fairly high ranking in bjj. If you've made it to purple belt you've proven your ability. So to answer your question, yes, training under a purple belt in bjj is perfectly alright.

**Poop Loops** · Posted On: 3/10/2006 10:53pm

Go to both like Chris said. The Judo guy is a lot higher rank, but that doesn't mean he knows how to teach worth a damn. Try both, see who you like better. You'll probably learn at the same rate at both, so that doesn't matter as long as you like the people you train with.

***jnp*** · Posted On: 3/10/2006 11:12pm

Try both as already stated. Like PL said, the quality of the teacher is as important as your affinity for the MA you choose.

**GIJoe6186** · Posted On: 3/10/2006 11:20pm

Go with the Brazillian school. Not only does he teach BJJ but he also holds MMA classes according to his schedule. They are probally extra but to me it shows hes a school that teaches you to fight. In their pics they spar with and without the gi which is important to me. Also purple belt is fine to teach. My instructors are purple and I learn so much from them. Remember even if theyre "just purple belts" to you youre "just.... no belt". I couldnt get much from the Judo web site but I think his site is under contruction. Check both but I think youll get more at the BJJ school.

**GIJoe6186** · Posted On: 3/10/2006 11:29pm

uhoh I just was reading through the judo site and found its not a Judo school. It teaches Judo, Taekwondo, Hapkido, Kendo & Gumdo(?). Anyway thats all fine untill you read their school comparison chart. Them v Others. According to them noone else teaches any effective self defense. Once again thats ok because everybody beleieves there the best. This part bugs me though:
"In the last 25 years that TTJC Karate has had a $30,000.00 challenge match, no one has collected. Now, TTJC is offering $100,000.00 and we are still waiting for someone to collect."
I just find it odd when a school offers 100 grand to any one who is better and noone collects. Go with the BJJ school take the MMA classes pass go and collect 100 grand.

**Yrkoon9** · Posted On: 3/10/2006 11:35pm

The Judo instructor probably has more experience teaching. IF you can find HIS school and not one run by a flunky.

It is easier to go from a Judo school to a BJJ school than it is from a BJJ school to a Judo school.

Personally I dont care which you go to. I have done both and am very glad I did.

x + y > x or y

**Poop Loops** · Posted On: 3/11/2006 12:55am

x = 3

y = -2 (those damn rules in Judo...)

1 > 3? I think not.

Oh snap! Math wins again!

**Das Moose** · Posted On: 3/11/2006 6:48am

i would say definitely go with both. Judo will improve your standing skills a lot (however be careful not to become reliant on the gi, a lot of the judo guys in my club can't really do anything if you're not wearing a gi) and BJJ will give you the ability to smoke people on the ground. It actually is quite worrying how unskilled most judo guys are on the ground - if I do randori with the top guys in my club, they'll be about even, maybe a little better than me in standup - on the ground I completely dominate them and I get tapped by 9/10 guys in my grappling class. So there you go.