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Judo or Freestyle Wrestling?

27K views 25 replies 18 participants last post by  jollymans 
#1 ·
Hey I was just wondering what do you guys think I should learn (I'm going to do both but I'm thinking I should focus more on judo). Which one is better/more effective?

A little about me, I've been boxing for about 12 years so my hands are pretty good, I'm in awesome shape (good cardio, explosive, etc) and I just started doing jujitsu but I'm catching on quick.
 
#2 ·
Take the best of both - practice single and double legs, ,reversals and overall ground control in wrestling, but don't waste any energy on turning the guy over or "pins" cause they're not worth alot in MMA...big negative on Judo is how much they rely on the gi, so try to train some no-gi judo...I'm not an expert but just my 2 cents in training in both, good luck and have fun.
 
#4 ·
i gotta go with free style wrestling. im by no means a great bjj artist. but what I do know is that i've been training bjj for less than a year and because of my wrestling background I am already a blue belt in bjj.

i wasn't going to flaunt this around the forum, but to show im not just bullshitting i won first place in a no-gi intermediate grappling tournament in the past month largely because of my wrestling ability.
 
#5 ·
They both have certain advantages, however I would suggest Judo.

I cannot explain in words how frustrated I get watching fighters in the cage who are grappling on their feet, but never go for body throws, hip tosses, or leg sweeps. Things I ddo and think about doing on instinct. IMO Judo includes a great many techniques that are the perfect counter to not only most grappling clinches, but also the Thai clinch(not to say other forms of grappling dont include these, I'm just not educated in those). There are also many ground position techniques which are just as useful as BJJ, however I have found there are significantly more, at least from my training, movements designed to finish off one's back, not just sweep, which is advantageous against wrestlers.

There are many aspects of wrestling that are also very important. The single and double, top control, guard passes. These are all major groups of techniques that are essential to MMA groundfighting.

As said above there are possitives to both and you should train all the major aspects in both if possible. Starting with only one, go with Judo IMO. It's groundwork focuses on fighting off the back as much as on top, and it adds a lot of versatility to your takedown ability.
 
#6 ·
Yea wrestling is more like don't ever get on your back/get off your back as soon as possible mentality. I personally don't like fighting off my back, im just not dangerous to anyone who has any bjj experience from the bottom :( . but more than that I never feel threatened when im solidly on top, i mean a couple black belts could sub me from bottom if I got overzealous but being on top is a great place to be.

And their trips are rather awesome. The guy I grappled for 1st place was big into judo and right off the bat tripped me and put me on my ass. I mean I reversed it got the double leg and took him down almost instantly but im very rarely put on my ass.
 
#8 ·
IMHO any of the two would work, its just a matter of how good you work on the techniques and personal taste. If you ask a guy who practices judo you'll get his answer as judo and a free style wrestling guy would recommend wrestling so its up to you if you can do both then its fine.
 
#10 ·
like the others already staded, both have their strong points. In the end I think it comes down to why you wanna learn it.

Want to be a more complete fighter?, maybe even entering MMA - I suggest wrestling.
if you want to improve your self defense I'd rather say Judo.

But since you will do both I guess you answered your question already didn't you? :)
 
#11 ·
Both. Try not to restrict yourself to just one. Both are excellent.
Personally I never trained too much in Judo. I did train with Neil Adams a couple of times but thats about it.
I started off in ***** which is similar. imo its a bit of a mix between Judo and Wrestling.
Every system, style and martial art has its place and you can take something from almost any of them.

Even Kendo! :O

I would love to run into the cage with a massive stick one day. :)
 
#19 ·
To explain my point here in more detail the perfect example is when you look at ***** and MMA and what is actually working in each sport, my point about the Gi is proven by the following facts, in MMA wrestling is the force that is running the show, Judo experts coming into the sport are not having the same success as wrestlers.

Then look at *****, for the benefit of those who don't know, and I by all means don't claim to be an expert in the sport of ***** but I have experienced it a little first hand from a Latvian friend of mine who has showed me a few basics, basically ***** is MMA with a Gi, and in ***** Judo is the dominant force, most successful ***** competitors are like Fedor also Judo black belts, so to compete in ***** a Judo background over a wrestling background is more of an advantage.
 
#16 ·
There is some good advice in here, so I'm not going to discount all of it. I tend to be fairly neutral about which one of these is better for MMA.

As far as I'm concerned, it all depends on how you like to fight.

If you would rather be working in the clinch, I strongly recommend learning judo. Freestyle wrestling can be very helpful with respect to the clinch game, but I cannot help but feel that the focus is largely on the ability to control the legs. This is also a problem that I've had with a lot of the training for folkstyle wrestling that I've done. I prefer the clinch, personally, so I find that a background in Greco-Roman wrestling and judo is really the best approach to developing that game.

I do know a lot of guys who like to focus on grabbing that single or double, and those guys often do a lot of supplementary training with freestyle wrestling. It definitely helps, especially when it comes to working around the sprawl.

From what I've heard of your game, from your post, I strongly recommend judo. If you have a boxing background, and you're going to be looking to stand most of the time, developing your shots probably isn't going to be that helpful. A lot of boxers really struggle with the clinch, also, because the clinch in MMA is so much more active than the clinch in boxing in terms of striking and in terms of the amount of angling for position.

That said, both are really important, so learning as much of you can from different styles is a good option.

I'm getting to a point in my own training where I'm starting to realize that when someone asks me "should I choose legitimate martial art style A or legitimate martial art style B?" the answer is always "Yes."
 
#17 ·
If your stand up is really good and you want to keep the fight on your feet as much as possible, pick Judo.

Yes Im a Judo guy but in my experience you learn a lot of dodging while practicing, making sure you dont get taken down, and you can preform quick, but devastating takedowns from the clinch, like hip or shoulder throws, which can drop enenmies from almost the height of your own body. Wrestling however, is great if your fight non-clinchers and want to get them down. I feel Judo provides more offence and defence in the clinch, and on your back. While wrestling provides those takedowns which dont require your enemy to come close.

It really depends on what you want to achieve. If your good at stand up and feel you can take anyone on on your feet, pick Judo.

If you want to take initiative in your takedowns more rather than using takedowns to counter the clinch, pick Wrestling.
 
#18 ·
I have to dissagree a little here.
I came from a wrestling and ***** background.
I wrestle from the clinch and always have. I rarely shoot for the takedown. I use the clinch to drag, push, pull my opponents into a possition where I can attack the leg.
I also use hip throws and trips a lot too and love using the firemans carry. All of them come from the clinch for me.
The main reason I dont shoot is because I am tall for my weight class so I have further to go down.
Personally I love both Judo and Wrestling. IMO no one style can beat another. It all depends on how good you are at your respective style and in which situations you use the right technique.
 
#21 ·
I've heard that wrestlers tend to be the best overall fighters in MMA...

I've also heard that many law enforcement officers would choose a judo practicioner as a partner during self defense situations.

I think it depends on your goal too. All I can say is that I will not recommend you to take BOTH! It's better to spend 10 years mastering EITHER, than to spend 5 years in each being only "semi" decent at both. A high-level wrestler would defeat a semi-high-level judoka, and a high-level judoka would defeat a semi-high-level wrestler.

The only exception is if you are not doing any form of striking, but you already are. Stick with one striking art and one grappling art.



That's just my two cents though! lol. I'm no expert.
 
#24 ·
You'll need both, and don't go to some shoddy judo dojo. Look around for the best school, make sure they know its mma training and you need at least two years to develop musical memory.

Most the fighters in town go to a mma gym and come to sakura for bjj, judo and Kickboxing.
 
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