Martial Arts and Self Defense Articles, The Self Defense Company

There I was watching UFC 1, waiting in anticipation for Royce Gracie to take his place in the Octagon, wondering what secret method of martial art I was going to witness. Perched on the edge of my seat, I watched Royce’s every move as he entered the cage.

The match began, he jockeyed for position, making sure to stay out of punching and kicking range. I examined his stance, his hand position and in an instant he shot in on a double leg, wound up getting his opponent in dojime and submitting him with juji gatame! Wait a second; I know that stuff, it’s JUDO!!!! And every Judoka around the world thought the same thing, “Brazilian WHAT?!? I learned that stuff on my first day.” At this point I was completely confused. Was Brazilian Jujutsu actually Judo? What the heck is going on in Brazil?

At the time, the whole world discovered what millions already knew. Martial Arts in America was vastly overrated, watered down and a complete joke. McDojo’s based on unsubstantiated methods (even in a sporting event like the UFC) were finally exposed for what they were- glorified cardio kickboxing. I take my hat off to the Gracie’s for seizing the opportunity and taking advantage of it. They literally changed martial arts in America, but Brazilian Jujutsu? What happened to Judo?

At he risk of really pissing some people off- It’s still Judo. After World War II, Japan desperately need be seen by the world in a different light. And Sport Judo was the answer. In an effort to promote the spirit of Japan and the positive aspects of her culture, Judo was chosen as the main export. And the focus was taken off of the combat aspects of the art and placed on the character building and it’s social impact. In the United States it was even more the case as GI’s came home to promote this new martial art, only barely understanding the sport version they were taught. And despite the thousands of books published over the last century most people, including most Judoka don’t even know that Brazilian Jujutsu comes from Judo. And that most of the techniques that they attribute to BJJ are Judo techniques. Remember, way before the Gracies did their thing in the United States, over in Japan, the PRIDE organization had been doing it since the 50’s and 60’s. Greats Like Masahiko Kimura, Gene Lebel, Yoshisada Yonezuka- all fought challenge matches and mixed-martial arts bouts decades earlier.

When you combine the emphasis on sport with the down right laziness of Judo instructors, the martial art known as Judo, didn’t stand a chance. It’s still rare to see a Judo instructor actually TEACH a structured class. It’s typical class is warm up with a few fit ins and randori (live practice). But it takes some work to teach techniques and create a class structure like the Europeans and Russians do (a strategy adapted by the Japanese). It’s a shame that even today, many American Judo Black Belts barely know the name of their favorite technique let alone the hundreds of others that exist in their art.

By emphasizing competition and sport, Judo has become youth and competition oriented. If you focus on only one aspect on your art, you get only one type of practitioner. The result has created a void in American Martial Arts the Gracies gladly filled.

At one time Judo had it all, but with the emphasis on sport Judo and the lack of a lot of instructors to actually TEACH the art instead of the sport, has caused Judo to become the “red-headed step child” of the martial arts world, when it should be the proud parent.

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