What Judo Means To Me

Judo is not just physical education or an Olympic sport where two jacket wrestlers throw each other.  There is a lot more to it than that.

Americans tend to be reductionist scientists and see one thing and one thing only.  But someone who practices empirical science knows that what happens now is based on a complex variety of factors that culminated in the past.  The past determines the present, and what you do now determines the future.

Judo is a martial art.  It is based on Jujutsu, and was formulated in the late 1800s in Japan as a way of making Jujutsu less about fighting and killing and more about education, moral principles, sport, and martial readiness.  It is not just throws and there are a lot of other forms of physical educaiton out there.

Sport Judo is about throw, pin, choke, and armlock.  It is like freestyle wrestling, but involves a jacket, the guard, the half guard, chokes, and armlocks.  So in theory it is more dangerous than wrestling, but in reality it is much safer.

MMA is essentially two punks brawling in a cage.  70% of MMA champions are freestyle wrestlers.  They almost make martial artists look bad, how strong and fast they are.  Aikido is weapons grappling, and involves the clinch in a different way.  It involves trapping and blending and pinning uki without harming him.  If you win without harming, you are a master.

Judo is great for the young.  Ideally, you should start between 8 and 10.  You could start as late as your teens or college years.  But if you want to be World Champion, start at 8 or 9 or 10. 

Boxing is more hardcore, and has nothing to do with physical education.  It is essentially a fight with gloves on, and only people from the lower echelons of society who have no other option to make money get involved in pugilism.  Judo is something high minded and civilized, and is very popular with the Police and the Military.

I am not a fan of BJJ and MMA.  They seem like guys who took judo techniques and took it too seriously.  It's just Judo.  It doesn't matter if you win or lose, it matters that you get on the mat and you try.  It is better to try and lose than be an empty talker.

So in my life, I used Judo to make me mentally tough, to be confident, to believe in myself, and not to look down on anyone.  You could be champion one tournament and last place finisher the next.  That is what it can be used as phsyical education.  It makes you mentally tough.

Jigoro Kano was a great innovator in the martial arts.  Guys who are too dangerous to spar are delusional.  Just get on the mat and see who's better.  Randori is the vital aspect of Judo practice.  It is all non lethal techniques done in full force sparring.  There is no theory or technique or discussion.  You either win or you lose and you don't complain.

So if I had it all to do again, I wouldn't have done anything different.  Boxing is for guys who have nothing to give.  Grappling and MMA is for guys who think they are tough but can't stand up.  Wrestling and Judo is one thing, scholastic sport, and that is where the real men are.  Most truck drivers and cops were wrestlers in high school and college.  Then they got day jobs.  Now that Corona Virus has ruined America, we see that these low end, physical jobs are the most important jobs, and 80% of jobs are useless, sitting infront of a computer trading time for money.  In my part of New York, truck drivers, police officers, gas station employees, and grocery store workers are still hard at work while you enjoy downtime. 

Perhaps my philosophy is not just empty philosophy.  Hindus do Hatha Yoga because it makes their body tough.  Joy lives in strength.  When you are physically strong, you are joyous and generous.  Judo makes you tough, and this empowers you to do something in the world. 

I don't want a boring dayjob but I will work one if I have to.  I just want to play my guitar and cook my own food.  But if I want better women, I need more money.  So I see work as a fight I must fight.  That is the ideal of the Hindu warrior.  The man who fights because he must, not because he wants to.

So just keep showing up to work and doing the right thing.  They only way to get success and fame is by doing a little bit every day, day in and day out, and never quitting on yourself.  I use judo to make me better at everything else.