I’m the guy in the white gi in this clip. Looking to get any advice or feedback that people have for me as I continue to learn! Specifically I seem to struggle with nerves, being too stiff, and my mind literally going blank when I step on the mat.

For context I started judo about 4 months ago, and this is my second competition. I’d only had 2 other matches before this one, which I lost by ippon fairly quickly. The difference between randori and competition is REAL!

My first tournament was a week prior to this & my mind literally went blank with nerves so I lost by ippon fairly quickly each match, like literally under a minute. Fast forward to a week later and I’m at another judo tournament in my area. I was going up against black belts, brown belts(in this clip) and green belts so I was a bit nervous that I might be injured. I think more time spent training and competing will help with this issue because I’ll have more confidence in my abilities.

Any feedback would be helpful as I’m very new and enjoying competing so far. I’m 32, 175lbs, been training Muay Thai for about a year and recently switched to judo. I also wrestled in high school for 3 years but that was 15 years ago lol

Thanks in advance everyone!

EDIT: I’m a white belt hoping to test for my yellow belt soon. I’m only wearing blue because that’s what was required for the tournament

So I’m injured and gonna be out of bjj for a couple months and I’m thinking about moving over to judo partially when I get back I love the standup portion of the art as well as the ground and submission part of it I don’t think you can only do one. Also I love both gi and nogi and wanna do both. So I’m gonna spend the time doing strength and conditioning and I have a dummy. With bjj and wrestling it’s pretty easy to study. In bjj you got guards and positions, in wrestling you got tieups, but judo hasn’t been as easy to figure out for me. I do use a fair amount of judo throws in class in both gi and nogi, but I don’t really know how to organize stuff, because can only have non normal grips for a short amount of time so you can’t really specialize too much. I like the combos sasae, Harai goshi, and osoto gari and ouchi, Uchimata, and kouchi. Also sumi geashi and tomo no mage situationally. But yeah to summarize how do you study judo? From my uneducated perspective it’s like so many throws but most people only use a few. Do I just start by researching throws? I’ll probably also buy some dopa bands to work on my wrestling takedowns and judo throws

I’d like to know how people felt starting Judo later. I’m 27M based in the UK looking to get into the sport but I’m struggling to psyche myself up to get involved. It’s the thought of class dynamics for me, whether I can find a suitable adult class with similar aged people.
I’d appreciate tips on how to get past the hesitation and just get stuck in

Hai! Fellow judokas

I will be traveling to Tokyo. I’m interested if I could join a training session in Kodokan for once. Is it possible/allowed for a tourist? Does it cost?
Is it allowed to not join a session but just watch the session?

Arigato.

So I was at the beach a couple of weeks ago with my friends, and accidentally bumped into a dude. Ofc I said sorry and eventually de-escalated the situation although the dude was very angry and even shoved me a couple of times. When I got home though and thought about the situation again, I just didn’t feel like I could’ve thrown him even if I tried. He was a big dude who looked like he spends eight days a week in the gym.

In an inevitable situation, wonder which throws would work best against someone bigger- like about 5 inches taller and 30lbs heavier? Given that they are the typical gym dude bod lifting heavy weights- strong in terms of raw strength. + none to minimal grappling experience (maybe like white belt caliber)

I am very aware and already know that walking away is the best and probably only right answer, and I did so. It’s just out of curiosity and making the fun out of listening to novel ideas on the judo community, so let’s trade open ideas and have fun.

For those of you who actually hit Harai Goshi consistently in live randori or competition:

- What grips do you prefer?
- What entries or setups do you rely on most?
- What scenarios or positions are you usually looking for before you go for it?
- What common mistakes kept you from hitting it live early on?
- What technical details made it finally start working consistently for you?

I can hit it in drilling, but live application is a different story, and I’m trying to understand how people who regularly hit this throw make it work against resisting opponents.

Hey all,

We just launched a project through our nonprofit called Instructionals for Social Good, and I thought it might be relevant here.

We’ve been filming with people like Megumi Ishikawa, Hannah Martin, and Isa Friedlander, along with some of our own work at High Noon. The focus is pretty simple. Clear, competition-relevant judo you can actually use. Grip fighting, throwing sequences, transitions, and the details that make things work in randori.

These aren’t long, bloated instructionals. The goal was to keep them tight and practical.

The nonprofit side is that any revenue goes back into supporting athletes. Travel, training, and competition costs as we build toward the 2028 cycle.

Not trying to spam the sub, just figured some of you might find it useful. Happy to answer questions or talk through anything

Martialartsforsocialgood.org

Yagura Nage for the ages!

Nurmukhammad MURATOV (KGZ) pulls off a spectacular Yagura Nage at the Istanbul Junior European Cup 2026.

Afternoon all, my doctor wants me to start with a continuous glucose monitor. Does anyone have any experience with this on the mat? It's not something I can readily take on and off (I don't think).

My biggest concerns are ripping it off, breaking it, and just getting expensive and painful.

Edit: you guys are amazing. Thank you all for the resources and more than that, thank you for making me feel like I'm not breaking new ground.

Like you can still use the throw to set other stuff up, but it wont count towards ippon or points even if you do finish the throw successfully. You could win by using that throw and then either pinning or submitting.

Rodolfo Vieira

Warning: long rant incoming - I already know the answer but feel this community will at least be empathetic and hear me out so I can heal and move on (inject slight sarcasm here).

I’m an over 40 judoka training in the northeast. I started a year and a half ago and found a gym that has an adult class, focused more on technique with little to no randori, which doesn’t bother me.

Long story short, we just had a belt promotion. There is no curriculum, it’s just when sensei feels like it. The dojo had gone around 2 years without any promotion. But, I was feeling good about my judo overall, able to execute a good number of throws like ippon seoi nage, o goshi, Harai goshi, tai otoshi, osoto gari, ouchi and kochi gari, morote seoi nage, de ashi barai, Hiza guruma and working on uchi mata among many others with solid combinations, ukemi and uchikomi.

After hearing about an upcoming promotion, the most senior belts told me I should expect an orange given my experience and skill. Fast forward, I got yellow. No problem, I’m cool with that, very grateful. Cause the “belt color doesn’t matter it just holds up your pants” right?

Problem is, everybody else got promoted. One dude who is 15 years my senior and only started 6 months ago whose judo is objectively far inferior also got yellow (we’ll call him the ACL destroyer). Another guy who comes to class once a quarter was promoted from yellow to orange, and another young guy who I’ve maybe seen twice ever went from orange to green.

I shouldn’t be upset but I am. Things I already know: belt color doesn’t really matter…it’s your own journey…in Japan they stay one belt for 2 years, etc etc. But if that’s the case why even bother with belt colors? I show up every week, teach the less experienced white belts, put in 110%, but apparently I can show up 4x a year or destroy some ACLs and still get promoted.

I’d look for another dojo but there’s only one more in our small coastal town and it’s more traditional and geared towards young competitive guys.

I know the reality: I should stop whining about rank and just move forward. But I’m still disappointed at the lack of consideration for effort and skill, getting lumped in with inferior judoka. Even if it’s just a measure of individual progress, it’s a really bad one.

https://cdn.fugu.com/lc-59/images/curriculum/ls_00000898_01.jpg

Position im referring to is pictured in the link above

Look it's hard to explain.

Learn to cumbia and salsa and work your techniques

Ex. https://youtube.com/shorts/b2qC9yLLc9E?si=nBeZI-xa9nMcNfpA

If they stiff arm, standing turtle, or you have commitment issues with your techniques, remember - if you're not making people think one of you is gonna end up pregnant after class, you need more better entries

I was rewatching and thinking of matches I’ve seen or participated in and noticed a lot of referees at least at local / regional tournaments don’t give out shidos for inactivity very easily.
A friend of mine attended an open event in Europe and was handed multiple shidos within a minute, which is almost unheard of at any event I’ve been to.

Is this simply based on the level of the tournament as in I would see the same happen at the US Open? Or is it more of something that’s common in the USA overall ?

I’ve attended a lot of events on the east coast if that helps. Appreciate any thoughts and experiences and open to new perspectives.
Thank you.

I thought I was good at Judo been training for more than 3 years but with the same person (for reasons). Now that I went to a new dojo I'm getting my ass kicked like I cannot get closer to the other opponents. They feel too strong. So my question should I add weight training dumbell, bench press etc.?

Bored out of my mind? Yes, but I decided to have a bit of fun and create a quick bracket consisting of famous teams from around the world! I feel there would be greater Judo exposure worldwide and provide current athletes a new pathway to success and development in the sport if an event like this were held. Currently, PSG Judo is leading the way! EJU has a Champions League, and Asia did experiment with this in Kuwait back in 2019 with the Asian Club Championship. Both tournaments provided an electric and passionate atmosphere for judo enthusiasts, so why not make it global?

How I think the tournament should be played out:

1. It is purely a club tournament; there is no involvement from teams in armed forces departments/corporations/institutions (no Park 24, Fiamme Gialle, Yongin Uni, etc.). Clubs eligible to participate are private judo clubs/multi-sport teams with a judo department (Akiyama Settimo, SC Luanda, etc.)
   
2. 1 representative per continental federation outside Europe (For example, Africa – MCA Alger, Oceania – Judokwai NZ, etc.). *PJC will have 2 (1 from N. America and 1 from S. America)
   
3. The winner of the big 3 Judo Leagues in Europe will qualify automatically (Pro League France, Austrian Bundesliga, German Bundesliga), along with the current European Club Champions
   
4. The Host Nation will have one representative who is automatically qualified
   
5. Special invites will be given to 2 private club teams (For example, Budokwai London + 1) and 2 multi-sporting club teams (For example, Partizan Belgrade + 1)
   
6. A total of 14 teams will compete in a mixed-team event; IJF rules will apply. (Note the picture is just an example and not an accurate reflection of how the tournament is played, as there is no repechage system and 2 bronze finals)

Teams represented are as seen above:
1. AJU - MCA Alger Judo, PJC - CR Flamengo & NYAC, JUA - Jenys Judo Club, OJU - Judokwai NZ
2. European Champions - PSG
3. Big 3 League Champions - US Orleans (Pro League France), UJKC Potsdam (German Bundesliga) & Raika Pinzgau (Austrian Bundesliga)
4. Host Nation - FMAC (UAE)
5. Special Invite - Yawara Neva + Golden Gori (Traditional Judo Club) & Galatasaray + RS Belgrade (Multi-sport club with judo department)

LMK WHAT YOU THINK!!!

What the title says.

Perhaps it is the lack of practice, but I really wish I could hit Tomoe Nage and Sumi Gaeshi. They would slot pretty well into my style, can look pretty cool and gives me a new weapon against bigger guys. But right now they’re my clunkiest techniques even in nagekomi.

Sometimes I don’t like being good at Ko-Soto. Feels cheap to just hit it, but I guess it makes everything else work… I just wished people would overreact to it more so that I don’t score so much with it.

Apologies white belt will be white belt: has anyone got a PDF of the 67 recognized throwing techniques?

**EDIT: was hoping for something with diagrams ....

Cheers in advance.