How long does learning the basics of judo take?

[Mas]

Korea invented Internet arguments too, you know.

[kenikim]

i'm the soke of internet argument-doh!

[nightowl]

Koreans, as much as I love them, can run on the insane side of things...fortunately by running an electric fan at night you can ward them off (garlic and crosses though actually attract rather than repel them as opposed their close cousins, the vampire).

As for the kodokan, Im a judoka of noobie proportions (green belt) but I started there and did an off and on training stint of about 6 months so I'll throw in my two cents. If you are new to judo and want to train in japan...the kodokan is about all that there is. Most japanese start judo at the latest in high school, and finding a club for adult begginers is very difficult. Especially if you live in any city that is not Tokyo, as a judo noob you are going to either be way outclassed or too old to join a club or dojo (the exception being that you might be able to join a high school team if you work at a school). The kodokan has classes for all age groups and levels for a very reasonable price, and that alone makes it a great place to train. On top of that you get to run into people from all over the world, see olympic level judoka come and train, and learn from people with decades of experience (it's the only place where I've seen a legit judo redbelt).

On the other hand, the classes are not the best per se. It can take months before you start randori, classes tend to be very crowded, newaza is lacking, and all waza is extremely textbook with little instruction given on variations and strategies. Now I realize that this is not BAD judo...in fact it is quite reasonable. What it isn't is EXCEPTIONAL judo, and if you are looking for more thorough and in depth training there are much better clubs.

On the aside, after a long break I took up judo at the MMA gym Team Quest, (which along with great fundemental judo taught no gi and strategies for cross training with other martial arts), and currently I am gearing up to start daily training from next week with one of Japan's top high school teams. Both places have different specialities (judo from a general grappling perspective and high level shiai focused judo), but from what I've seen and experience both gyms offer better training then what the kodokan does. Having said that if you live in Tokyo, the kodokan offers cheap, competent judo in an awesome enviroment....and while Japan adopts IJF rules for domestic shai starting later this year, the kodokan in theory still allows waza like kata guruma under kodokan rules which gives it brownie points in my book.

[kenikim]

(garlic and crosses though actually attract rather than repel them as opposed their close cousins, the vampire).

probably, one of the most accurate observations i've seen anywhere. not sure what to make of the vampire thingy, but damn, the cross and garlic thing was funny as hell.

....and while Japan adopts IJF rules for domestic shai starting later this year, the kodokan in theory still allows waza like kata guruma under kodokan rules which gives it brownie points in my book.

for a lot of judo people, there is a bit of a sense of pilgrimage with going to the kodokan. are you going to get your black belt while you are there? i heard it was CRAZY expensive to get a judo black belt in japan, because you have to be a paying member of so many orgs and stuff.