Taking Up Judo

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

hi, i’m interested in taking up judo, probably sometime in the next few years time hopefully (i am singaporean and am serving national service right now which = no personal time for any of us armymen :frowning: its a 24/7 hr thing )

id love to take up judo, ive read up abit, watched many videos and enjoyed some good martial arts manga ( :smiley: ) which have helped sparked my interests. However my concern is that i could get really injured in this ( i have this fear of falling+heights so it kinda makes things worse) im afraid i could something (ok im abit extreme but yea) especially my neck(after watching some judo vids, im quite convinced that can actually happen seeing the way guys fall and all) so can anyone address this concern of mine, cause id really love to take up judo. thanks! :smiley:

2

When you start Judo, you will be learning how to fall properly. Learning how to break fall correctly will be the best way to not get injured during training. Other than that, it’s pretty much training on the correct mats and warming up properly.

Lastly, go ahead and start working on your grip strength and endurance now. You’re gonna need it.

3

[quote]LTKO wrote:
hi, i’m interested in taking up judo, probably sometime in the next few years time hopefully (i am singaporean and am serving national service right now which = no personal time for any of us armymen :frowning: its a 24/7 hr thing )

id love to take up judo, ive read up abit, watched many videos and enjoyed some good martial arts manga ( :smiley: ) which have helped sparked my interests. However my concern is that i could get really injured in this ( i have this fear of falling+heights so it kinda makes things worse) im afraid i could something (ok im abit extreme but yea) especially my neck(after watching some judo vids, im quite convinced that can actually happen seeing the way guys fall and all) so can anyone address this concern of mine, cause id really love to take up judo. thanks! :D[/quote]

I does happen, accidents that is. Judo is notorious for messed up knees and necks. But in general, you can’t take a combat sports (a real combat sports) and be extremely concerned with accidents. After all, it’s combat and not ballet.

And even with ballet you could get injured. You get injured playing sports, too. If you are too concerned with injury, then don’t do it. The worst thing you can do with getting in Judo is going at it and be too afraid. Then you’ll get injured (and you’ll be a terrible practice partner for the other trainees.)

To minimize injury, simply pay attention, follow the instructions and develop strength and flexibility. Most importantly, know when to stop and take a break. Most of the injuries in sports (including combat sports) are cumulative.

In the end, it is a personal decision that you have to make - whether you can deal with the risk of injury. There is no shame if you do not want to deal with it by the way. But just be aware that you cannot learn how to fight and slam the living shit out of people with the intention of incapacitate them or even kill them - which is the goal of Judo anyways - if you are too afraid of getting hurt.

There are other combat sports that might provide you a safer venue while still teach you something. BJJ is an effective combat sports and as physically rigorous as Judo. But the focus is on chokes and locks, not on high impact throws. You can still get injured, but the risk is somewhat mitigated.

You can also do boxing (in a real boxing gym not a cardio boxing one) with the intention of not sparring. You’ll never learn how to box without learning how to deal getting hit, but at least a good boxing instructor can teach you how to punch with power (and the physical training is phenomenal.)

Hope it helps.

4

[quote]Larfox wrote:
When you start Judo, you will be learning how to fall properly. Learning how to break fall correctly will be the best way to not get injured during training. Other than that, it’s pretty much training on the correct mats and warming up properly.

Lastly, go ahead and start working on your grip strength and endurance now. You’re gonna need it.[/quote]

Word. Learning how to fall should be one of the main priorities for training Judo safely.

5

I’m actually getting back into Judo after a number of years off, but like the others mentioned, learning to fall is one of the first things they’ll teach you in Judo. It doesnt guarantee you won’t get injured, but if you learn it and apply it during sparring, it will give you the best chance of avoiding serious injuries.
Also, many Judo clubs have “crash pads” that they use when practicing high impact throws.

6

Fear of falling? SOC Jacob’s Ladder must have sucked.

You’re going to risk injury in any sport. I’ve gotten mildly injured playing soccer, basketball, rugby (Knocked myself out), badminton (elbow to the face), and fucking ping pong (another elbow to the face).

They’ll teach you how to breakfall, and if the school is any good they won’t move on to high impact throws without drilling the hell out of the breakfall (if you did Advanced Combat Training in NS you should already know how to do this). Even then, you’re going to get hurt every once in a while.

If you’re just looking to grapple, there’s BJJ. I go to a school on Selegie Road myself. Everything is low impact, and if you apply submissions right you’ll only occasionally get knicks and bruises.

7

YES rundy. i cried the first time i got down. was hyperventilating then i just cried. was scared shitless, cause the fucking instructor threatened to push me cause i was stuck at the top. then i fell through. thankfully i managed to hold on to the logs.

and thanks guys. the info helps. im not afraid of a little sprained ankle, a busted knee and all that. i play basketball and have gotten injured many times already. right now i have a torn tricep and busted knees. haha.
im kinda afraid of me getting thrown and breaking my neck = dying/paralysed in some freak accident. (some guy here died recently in a taekwando accident. kick to the neck i think)

and ive had a few months of experience in boxing before, sparred twice. was a good sobering experience for me. so its not really the minor injuries im afraid of.

and yea i get what you guys mean that if im afraid to get hurt and still take part, i may end up screwing myself up or even worse, screw someone else up. but id rather much practice judo than bjj. ): it interests me alot more than bjj. so i guess in this time i have before i get to learn it, id better think more about it. :confused:

so none of you are scared of breaking your neck at all? ):

8

ok and i guess if im taking it up. ill make sure i learn how to breakfall so perfectly till its second nature. :smiley: