If You Want To Learn Judo This Could Be The Most Important, Time Saving, Never Talked about Message You Will Ever Read

Dear Prospective Student,

The founder of Judo as you may know or may not know is Jigoro Kano, and this great man, is turning in his grave about the current way Judo is taught in America. The purpose of this letter is to inform you and keep you from falling victim to the same epidemic that has literally destroyed Judo.

The Story of How I Left Judo and Came Back to Judo

Hi my name is Roberto Torralbas, I am a martial arts instructors specializing in multiple grappling arts ( Jiu Jitsu, Judo, Sambo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, No-Gi Grappling) and a constant mission of learning more and more every day about the best techniques each style has to offer and eliminating the stuff that’s does not work.

I started my training in Judo at the age of 8 years old in kids judo program under a strict training regimen for kids. This was not in the USA, but Cuba, and it was taught by the Cuban athletes that represented the country in the Olympics Games. I never forget the day that my instructor (a 175 pounder) threw a 300 pound man for ippon in a in-house practice tournament. I was very impressed and scared by how explosive these athletes were, I couldn’t believe, Judo was intimidating, fascinating, and out of this world and I fell in love instantly.

Then I moved to the United States at the age of 10, and we could not afford Judo, and when I saw all the distractions this country offers, I really had no interest in training Judo as a child (I deeply regret this). Judo at age of ten in Cuba was really hard in the USA I wanted to play Nintendo instead.

Long story short at the age of 17 my yearning for Judo returned. I started watching videos in You Tube and I said… it is time I go back to my roots. I was in college then and I took Judo for P.E credit and joined the Cornell University Judo Club. I was kicking every one’s butt except for this black belt that was legit. So what did I think? I stupidly concluded that I most be the judo prodigy the world had been waiting for. Sounds funny now , but then at the age of 17 / 18, I was very blinded by my ego.

Judo In America Has Been Water Down To The Maximum

Anyways practice was boring, always the same foot sweeps and throws that never worked. I would always try to train with my friend the black belt because he would kick my butt easily, and I felt he was a huge challenge. He had one technique that really caught my attention. A simple arm bar from on top of your opponent. Atr the time this was revolutionary. Can you really do that? Is that legal? I remember asking. I insisted that he taught me it, and he refused because he didn’t want me doing techniques to other students that the main teacher had not taught, and was never going to teach by the way. One day, he said if you really want to learn ground techniques you should train with the group of guys that was always in a corner of the gym, a bunch of white belts and one blue belt. I said: “With them, they are white belts you are a BLACK BELT!”

Anyways one day I followed their advice and these white belts and blue belt beat my butt without breaking a sweat. I was like: “What is going on, what is this, this is not what we learn in judo class”. They called it Jiu-Jitsu, a special type of Jiu-Jitsu called Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or Gracie Jiu Jitsu, and quite honestly I did not care where it was from but I wanted to learn it. After 2 years of training BJJ my friend the black belt had his hands filled with me.

I even gave judo many shots while I trained BJJ, but my jiu jitsu skills dominated in all dojos, and I was far from being the best in the BJJ scene. I could not even be taken down and with the little Judo and Wrestling at the time I had picked up , I could take Black Belts down of all ages, even some olympians. I concluded JUDO SUCKS! but I was very wrong.

The Harsh Truth About JUDO

Its Hard And Most Don’t Know How To Teach It

After years of experiencing mediocre judo all over America , I finally met two people who showed me the efficiency of Judo. One of of them was Lloyd Irvin, and the other was Nick Delpolpolo (who placed 8 at the Olympics in 2012). What impressed me about them was not know how much they knew, but how they explained the concept. They told me all the problems arising from the current way Judo is taught in America, and the problems with the current rules and so forth.

At this point in the story I had been doing BJJ, Wrestling, Judo, Sambo for about 12 or 13 years and it all started to make sense. The physics, the angles, the way to teach the grappling arts, it all made perfect sense now.

I can only start to wonder what Jigoro Kano’s Judo was like. What his style of teaching was like, his mission. So I started doing some research and after reading a couple of biographies I was extremely shook up, by how far everything had deviated from what the great teacher of jiu jitsu and founder of judo had envisioned for the art.

Judo As Jigoro Kano Intended It To Be

Truths/Facts:

1. Jigoro Kano: Jiu Jitsu Devoted Jiu Jitsu Student, and Founder of Judo
2. Jigoro Kano was a devoted student of many art forms of Jiu Jitsu, after been bullied immensely as a child.
3. Jigoro Kano was a student of all forms of grappling. He studied some sumo, and wrestling to learn new techniques to be able to defeat class mates in his dojo who were bigger than him.
4. According one biography Jigoro Kano use kata Guruma / or fireman’s carry (wrestling name) takedown to finally takedown the best student in his master’s dojo.
5. This same technique is shown above and is completely outlawed in the Judo Olympics and the International Judo Federation.
   Judo is Jiu -Jitsu but it is supposed to apply to ones life and how you carry yourself. All the techniques of Jiu-Jitsu that works are technique of Judo. Jigoro Kano wanted to call his style of Jiu-Jitsu Judo because under him you can only learn if you were a decent individual. He hated jiu jitsu students who fought for prize money, and used jiu jitsu for bullying purposes. He wanted to invent a martial arts that used jiu jitsu techniques and jiu jitsu concepts of being gentle and flexible outside of the mats. In other words Jiu Jitsu + Good Character Philosophy = Jigoro Kano’s vision for Judo
6. Obviously most Judo schools in America don’t follow the code of conduct which is the main difference from Jiu Jitsu and Judo according to the founder, so what’s the point of calling it Judo? Tell me that at least you are trying.
   Jigoro Kano and his students Maeda who taught the Gracies in Brazil taught Jiu Jitsu techniques that now are illegal in the olympics ( with the excuse of safety without any conclusive data on the dangers, and trying to make the art more exciting and a spectator sports that sells tickets for their Old Money Business). Jigoro Kano never intended for Judo to be a spectator sport, but a martial art that could be used for self defense.
7. Jigoro Kano performing an arm entanglement that illegal by the IJF that results in arm bar or shoulder lock submissions.

What’s The Point Of Judo Anyways? For The Harsh Reality Read Below

According To Jigoro Kano I Believe Is To Learn How To Takedown Any Opponent And Controlled Them Using Maximum Efficiency Regardless Of What They Are Wearing, But The Harsh Reality Says Different…

The Harsh reality: You can get a good wrestler with a good gi and a good brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner and they will take down a lot of judokas in a no rules contest. The harsh reality is that the current rules have destroyed Kano’s jiu Jitsu and has completely made it into spectator sport that is as useful for martial arts as basketball is.

What is the point of doing Judo for ten years if you can wrestle against a wrestler, or grapple with a jiu jitsu student for more than 3 minutes.

Why I Still Love Judo And Teach Judo

Olympic vs Non-Olympic Judo

Do You Teach Olympic Judo? Great Question

What is BJJ and Gracie Jiu Jitsu and How is it Different from Judo