Which is better for self defense? Judo or Brazilian jiu-jitsu? I saw this question on Quora and I had to add my two cents.
The short answer is….
It depends.
There are some potential advantages and disadvantages to both and in this post I will explore them both as best as I can.
But first off know that you can’t learn any one overnight, in a couple of weeks or even a few months. I mean you can learn techniques, but how deeply will you learn them? Will they be instinctual under pressure?
Probably not.
You need time and a lot of repetition.
Judo for self-defense?
Judo can be good for self defense as it evolved from Japanese jiu-jitsu. But nowadays judo is more focused on throws. So it really depends on the dojo.
In its past it was the full grappling program with newaza (ground grappling), tachi waza (standing) and leg attacks.
But the rules to judo changed because it was boring to watch ground grappling on TV. It was more fun to watch people getting thrown. Then 4 or 5 years ago they banned leg attacks so you can’t touch the legs.
So for judo it’s going to depend on the dojo. Many are going to spend most of the time doing stand up techniques.
But for self-defense you want to learn both stand up and ground grappling.
So if you choose to go the judo route and you want to learn it for self defense choose a school that spends a lot of time with newaza.
The potential problem with judo is that you won’t learn enough ground grappling.
I have trained judo at two schools: one in Japan (mainly in one) and the other CCSF, USA.
In Japan at Sekiryukan, Fukuoka (with like a 300 year history) we did a lot of newaza actually.
In CCSF…
The intermediate-advanced classes were 100% stand up. Sensei used to teach some basic newaza in those classes, but now he says if you want to learn ground grappling to go to the beginners judo/jiu-jitsu or intermediate jiu-jitsu classes.
Do throws work without a gi?
I’ve seen a few people say no, but they don’t know.
The throws work even without a gi. In fact I will tell you a story below related to that. But if you are curious here is a cool video that shows judo throws being done in MMA.
BJJ for self defense?
BJJ evolved from judo, but not the modern day judo you see on TV. BJJ is primarily a ground grappling martial art. The goal in BJJ is to basically submit your opponent.
It’s good for self defense, but it has a weakness and that is that it is mostly focused on the ground. If you don’t learn how to take your opponent down then you’ll never be able to apply what you learned in ground grappling.
The potential problem with BJJ is that you won’t learn how to take someone down.
I’d say most BJJ schools will spend 90-99% of the time on the ground. For example, the first school that I learned at probably spent 95% or more of the time doing ground techniques.
The rules won’t apply on the street
Judo has a lot more rules and formality than does BJJ. BJJ is basically about submitting your partner. Judo contests are mostly about throwing your partner and getting him to land flat on his back, ippon!
But judo sparring matches start standing up which is more like a real fight. BJJ sparring usually starts on your knees. Contests start standing up, but in class you usually start on your knees or sitting which is not like a real fight.
A submission can win the contest too, but only black belts can do arm locks in competition. Lower belts can only do chokes.
Keep in mind either way the rules applied to either one don’t apply on the streets. The same goes for MMA. While in MMA you can kick and punch you can’t kick and punch everywhere or attack the groin or eyes which could be done on the street.
Also on the street someone could try to bite you too right when you are about to arm bar them. So keep that in mind.
I had an altercation once where this freaky street guy probably on drugs without shoes or a shirt came by and tried to steal my money. I was able to use what I had learned from both judo and BJJ to stop the fight and control him until the cops came by.
Here’s a video about that or you can read and watch it here.
So which is best? BJJ or judo for self-defense?
It depends on the school.
If you train both for a year 3 times a week, I’d lean towards judo, but if the dojo does 100% stand up and no newaza sparring then probably not.
BJJ’s weakness is no stand up and if you train in one school for a year then chances are you won’t really learn any stand up (not deeply anyways), but it does depend on the school.
Learn both if you can or choose a judo dojo that has a good newaza program or a jiu-jitsu program with good takedowns or throws. Commit to a year for starters. That’s what I would do. It’s easy to quit after a month or two and like I said you won’t really learn or remember much in a month.
What about Japanese jiu-jitsu?
I did a little bit of this in Japan.
That might be good, but as far as I know the sparring element is missing which can be common in some other martial arts.
The first martial art I did was wing chun. It was kinda cool, but I thought it was overly mechanic and everything was staged – there was no sparring.
Sparring is important. And judo and BJJ both have live sparring.
There are a lot of martial arts that could be effective. It just depends.