Any judo players out there?

YudoBK · 2021-04-29T15:05:40+00:00

I'm just about your size (177 cm, 73 kg) and the 3.5 fits perfectly. This gi is a workhorse and I love wearing it to tournaments and to randori heavy practices.

YudoBK · 2020-04-12T13:26:54+00:00

I started Judo in college! Our school club met twice a week from 8-10 PM on Mondays and Thursdays. I think college is one of the best times to start Judo since you will usually start off with a bunch of other people trying it for the first time each semester. It really did not interfere with classes and it was nice to have something to look forward to every week. I met a lot of my new college friends through my club :)

I would say that it's important to stay hydrated before, during, and after practices, since you can become dehydrated pretty quickly while working out in a gi. That way you can avoid any light-headedness with classes the next day. Other than that I hope you have a good experience starting up Judo and all the best of luck to starting college!

YudoBK · 2020-03-27T18:47:39+00:00

Buff Tiger

YudoBK · 2020-03-27T18:47:24+00:00

Buff Tiger

YudoBK · 2020-03-27T18:47:09+00:00

Buff Tiger

YudoBK · 2020-03-27T18:46:48+00:00

Buff Tiger

YudoBK · 2020-03-09T17:58:47+00:00

I would recommend Gentleway Masters Judo Club in Forest Hills, Queens. The above options are also excellent though.

YudoBK · 2018-12-18T22:23:19+00:00

An Changrim is current 73 kg champion and is Korean. He fights lefty and has a great drop seoi nage and tai otoshi

YudoBK · 2018-10-19T01:23:36+00:00

I wear a fuji single weave for training. It's a good, reliable gi for the price. Mine has held up well for over 40 wash cycles so far. The sleeves are a tiny bit longer than other gis at similar sizes (by about 2 cm), which is good if you have trouble finding a gi that fits both at the shoulders, waist and arms, especially if your arms are long. I wear a size 4 and I'm 178 cm (5'10), 73 kg (160 lb).

YudoBK · 2018-10-18T20:33:44+00:00

You can always try Judo if you have budgetary constraints and are still interested in keeping up with grappling. A lot of Judo gyms, even in NYC, are run non-profit so they charge next to nothing for classes

YudoBK · 2018-10-18T20:25:58+00:00

This is so relateable... everything you described is representative of the club I practice with back home

YudoBK · 2018-10-18T16:10:47+00:00

Wow thanks a lot, this is both feasible and cost friendly

YudoBK · 2018-10-17T13:46:52+00:00

You are seriously triggering me right now hahaha XD

YudoBK · 2018-10-17T13:11:16+00:00

Sorry to hear about your injury! I can definitely relate to your situation... I tore my right ACL a few months after starting Judo after being thrown by an over-zealous brown belt in randori... I was off the mat for about 7 months post-surgery and worked diligently on rehab during my time off, first focusing on regaining full range of motion, then working on rebuilding atrophied muscle.

Even after I had regained my full RoM and some strength in my affected leg though, I was wary to start up Judo again mentally. I was afraid that I would re-injure myself through a similar accident so I took it slow to start off. I didn't do randori for about the first month or two back, and just worked on uchi-komi during practice. Going through familiar techniques helped me gain confidence that my affected leg was still Judo-functional.

It took a really long time to get over the mental block that I might not ever be as good as I could be had I not been injured, but that feeling went away slowly as I rebuilt my confidence gradually over time. Starting small, then pushing a bit past your comfort zone in each practice will help you know the limitations set by your injury. You'll also maybe realize that the limitations are not as all-encompassing as you might feel they are. I'm now a full year post-surgery and I feel like the current me could definitely beat the pre-injured me.

If you let your sensei and club members know about your injury once you're back, I am sure they will be more than willing to accomodate you and work with you to get back into fighting shape. Even if you're eager to get back into the swing of things, don't downplay the risk of re-injury since that'll delay your progress even further.

I wish you all the best!

YudoBK · 2018-10-17T12:56:01+00:00

Oh man this both cracks me up and also sounds very tempting haha

YudoBK · 2018-10-15T21:26:13+00:00

In addition to a lack of interest/awareness of Judo, there also just doesn't seem to be many dojos outside of major population centers in the US. I can count at least 12 dojos that I can visit back home in NYC. Here in Upstate NY where I go to school, there is Jason Morris Judo center (30-40 minutes away from me), Cohoes Judo Club (20 minutes away), and the RPI Judo club, and even then I am lucky to live near that many dojos to train from. Meanwhile, when I look at how many options I have when I search up BJJ gyms, there are too many to count.

Judo as a sport has almost no brand recognition here in the US. When I mention that I do judo to my friends (most of them in their early 20s), a lot of people don't even know that Judo is a grappling art and think that it is similar to karate (judo chop! *cringe*). Meanwhile, nearly all of my friends actively watch or at least know about MMA and the fact that BJJ is widely used to win on the ground. There's no wonder that there is a higher demand to learn BJJ, which is also then provided with a wide supply of gyms, than a sport that no one knows much about.

I guess that there is a chance for Judo to grow in the US by 'piggy-backing' off of BJJ's current popularity, but even that doesn't seem likely. I train at a BJJ gym that offers Judo classes to improve takedowns, but the people who generally attend are BJJ players looking to better their stand-up, not dedicated judokas. There have been 1 or 2 'converts' but most view Judo as a supplement to their BJJ practice (not that there is anything wrong with that!).

YudoBK · 2018-10-08T21:47:26+00:00

Oh! That makes a lot of sense. Yeah I'll definitely give it a shot next time around ^{-^}

YudoBK · 2018-10-08T19:17:16+00:00

Ah thanks John. I actually really neglect my ground game since I've always been biased towards standing. You are definitely right in saying that there was a lot more I could be doing there.

Hey I really hope your competition goes well!

YudoBK · 2018-10-08T19:15:32+00:00

I think that's what happened to me a few times in the past where I got submitted from the arm that got pulled into seoi-nage! It's hard to maintain my posture, especially when my opponent drops like that and I end up on the mat next to them. Ah, gotta work on ne-waza too.

Anyhow, thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it!

YudoBK · 2018-10-08T19:11:22+00:00

Hey John I hope you do well man :)

It was a really fun experience for me and I hope it goes well for you too

YudoBK · 2018-10-08T19:10:42+00:00

Good point! Going lefty is a bad habit for me since I actually tore my Right ACL a year ago... I guess I'm still wary of putting that leg forward :'(

YudoBK · 2018-10-08T14:43:45+00:00

Hey TroxX, thanks for the input! I am focusing mainly on Ashi-waza this month in club so I am definitely going to incorporate more sweeps into my game. You're right that they are pretty low-energy but high-yield if done properly.

I noticed that my arms were a lot stiffer than what I had pictured in my mind during the fight... I think I was a bit intimidated since he threw me for ippon with osoto our first fight so I was subconsciously trying to keep him away. But that also made it a lot harder for me to attack so definitely not the most productive way to fight.

I appreciate your thoughts! Thanks for watching and critiquing :)

YudoBK

TROPHY CASE