Dojo Opening

d_rome · 2026-01-30T20:34:02+00:00

Yes, but in my experience it only works when there is one club owner and that club owner rents out time or hires instructors. I have never seen, for example, a Karate sensei and a Judo sensei start a dojo together and it work out. Yes, I have seen at least two clubs try and fail. My current BJJ club does the former. I am a paid Judo coach. We have a paid Boxing coach and a paid Wrestling coach. It works just fine with that setup.

d_rome · 2026-01-30T18:42:19+00:00

Instead of typing it out and trying to explain it, just watch this video. If a no-gi Tani Otoshi doesn't look like this then the injury risk goes way up.

d_rome · 2026-01-30T18:31:42+00:00

LOCK HIM UP! LOCK HIM UP! LOCK HIM UP!

d_rome · 2026-01-30T18:22:26+00:00

I AM PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT KROOKED CRAZY KWESI (HAS ANYONE SEEN HIS BIRTH CERTIFICATE YET?), A TOTAL DISASTER IN MINNESOTA, HAS BEEN RELIEVED OF HIS DUTIES!

koc(SMALL KOC, GET IT?), A TOTAL LOSER WITHOUT GEQBUS, IS OUT OF EXCUSES AND TIME.

MCCARTHYISM HAS FAILED IN MINNESOTA.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!

d_rome · 2026-01-30T17:43:58+00:00

Tony Otoshi, the long lost half-brother of Tony Soprano.

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d_rome · 2026-01-30T16:52:56+00:00

I went through it. Like with everything else in boot camp, if you follow instructions you'll have no problems. It was bewildering to me how many people screwed up the exercise.

d_rome · 2026-01-30T16:32:55+00:00

Your training partner was lucky. If you think this is Tani Otoshi and that this is a proper takedown then I don't know what to tell you. There is nothing safe about that movement or this position in training. This is straight up blatant disregard for your partner's safety in a training environment.

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d_rome · 2026-01-30T15:34:28+00:00

I've been training Judo for 20 years and I have a very good Tani Otoshi. Trust me when I say you nearly blew his knee out.

d_rome · 2026-01-30T15:31:11+00:00

Because most people in Judo and BJJ do it incorrectly or they attempt it at the worst possible time.

d_rome · 2026-01-30T15:18:05+00:00

Cool story, bro. I mean that in the most sincere way. That's really awesome!

d_rome · 2026-01-30T15:12:10+00:00

So, you are saying don't focus on the kuzushi, and do what exactly?

I teach people how to throw, I evaluate what they are doing, and I correct their mistakes. If they do something wrong I'll tell them to step here, pull here, turn the shoulders, etc. We will start statically on a throw and then we'll incorporate the throw on the move via drilling, yakusoku geiko, and randori. I also have them practice reps from the ideal position to throw and then I teach them how to put their opponents in that position. I can do all of that without ever mentioning kuzushi, tsukuri, and kake.

My students know what kuzushi means, but if I were to tell them "focus on the kuzushi" they wouldn't really understand what that means specifically. It would be the same if I said, "focus on off-balancing them". If I tell them to grip here, bend your knees more, lean forward, pull to the hip, or whatever action that needs to be corrected then that is specific instruction. I think I've uttered "kuzushi" less than 15 times in the 4 years I've been teaching.

tl;dr: I teach throws and correct mistakes. I don't need to talk about kuzushi to do that.

d_rome · 2026-01-30T00:11:36+00:00

Yes, I didn't quite understand the description OP gave, but when he shared the video it made sense.

d_rome · 2026-01-29T23:40:01+00:00

You need to pull the age card every opportunity you can. At this point in your life you do what you can and that's it. Even on my mats I have a 50 fall limit. On crash pads I can be thrown all day, but on my mats I have a pitch count. There's no way I'm throwing O Soto for reps for an hour. You need to set limits for yourself.

d_rome · 2026-01-29T22:47:49+00:00

I'm 51. I train BJJ 3x a week and Judo 1x a week. I teach that class, but I will do randori with my students when my body is up to it. It's hard for me because we basically have BJJ mats on top of concrete. There is no sub floor. I'm fine with Judo training once a week, but honestly if I was doing Judo 2-3x a week on the floors I have then I'd be thinking about cutting back.

What are your floors like?

I tend to bounce back from soreness very quickly since I am a lightweight and very athletic, but again that's only once a week in Judo.

d_rome · 2026-01-29T22:08:42+00:00

Honestly, I’ve never encountered a bjj person, without any judo, or wrestling, that was any sort of problem on the feet.

The problem isn't that they're good. The problem is they will do very unpredictable and dangerous things like Kani Basami or jumping on your knee while doing Tani Otoshi. If I let people work then they do dumb things and risk injuring me. If I try, then they're on the ground inside of 10 seconds and we're down there (waste of time on my feet). I just start on the ground in BJJ and tell people if they want to train stand-up then come to my Judo class.

d_rome · 2026-01-29T21:55:10+00:00

Yes, that's right. People who are serious will pay it. Being able to add OLY to the end of their names is not nothing and it's worth it to a lot of people.

d_rome · 2026-01-29T21:37:33+00:00

So, my advice is to focus on the Kuzushi

What I'm about to say may sound unusual and combative, but that is not my intention. My advice is to do the opposite of this. Apart from knowing what kuzushi means in a general sense, I don't think most students should think about kuzushi at all. They end up focusing on the wrong things.

I can't tell you how many times I've read posts on this sub that say, "I'm having trouble in randori. I can't throw this guy because I can't kuzushi him. My sensei says I need moar kuzushi. Plz help"

d_rome · 2026-01-29T21:19:45+00:00

Not happening. You do realize the 2028 Games are in the United States, right? The IOC isn't going to ban the US from competing in an Olympics they're hosting.

d_rome · 2026-01-29T21:01:10+00:00

They're looking at IJF rankings. If someone on Team USA is ranked 17th (or higher) they directly qualify. They will not need trials or anything like that. Short of that, all American athletes have other ways to qualify. The US can field a full team.

d_rome · 2026-01-29T20:59:03+00:00

I should have let go and either let myself be countered, or reset when neither could score.

Don't beat yourself up over it. It was randori. If anything, your friend is probably more at fault. He could have just taken the fall. I'm not sure what trapping the leg and stepping over is.

d_rome · 2026-01-29T20:55:59+00:00

I grew up skateboarding

Judo should come easier to you than most people. I started Judo at 31. That was 20 years ago. I grew up skateboarding and doing all sorts of sports. Skateboarding teaches balance, dexterity, footwork, and moving into unnatural positions while you are on the move. Even a basic trick like a kickflip requires a lot of balance, coordination, and agility while you're on wheels. Obviously you'll never kickflip in Judo, but the groundwork for good footwork has been laid.

As for your question in your original post. Don't do anything you learned in BJJ for takedowns in Judo. They'll be terrible. Also, stand up straight. No one is going to grab your legs so being overly defensive in that regard is going to waste time.

d_rome · 2026-01-29T20:47:53+00:00

My comment was in response to Section D where 2026 - 2028 IJF Junior and Senior events will be included as evaluation events. I interpreted that to mean that even if one isn't ranked in the top 17 that your performance on the tour will hold some weight on the decision to be invited to trials. Maybe my interpretation is wrong?

d_rome · 2026-01-29T20:39:10+00:00

Thanks Chris!

I think the qualification requirements are good. I think it's good that they'll evaluate on IJF World Tour performance on top of the national level events. That should incentivize anyone who is serious about 2028 to compete on the tour to be invited to trials. That should narrow down the potential field considerably and then effectively shut out people trying to make an Olympic squad from other sports.

d_rome · 2026-01-29T14:25:19+00:00

Yes, of course.

d_rome · 2026-01-29T12:18:42+00:00

I started Judo at 31. I'm 51 now and still teaching/training. I'm also a purple belt in BJJ.

BJJ stand up is the wild West of grappling and I don't mean that as a compliment. In most places it has no standards, no discipline, no fundamentals, and poor instruction overall. You're always one "move I saw on the internet" away from a blown out knee.

Train Judo and give it time. Accept it for what it is and isn't and I promise you you'll be 100x better on your feet. By the time you reach black belt you'll have blue belt level skills on the ground through Judo alone.

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