Judo "offers better self-defence training at close quarters than any other sport"

[Old Scratch]

Th above quote is taken from http://www.britishjudo.org.uk/thesport/value.php.

Do you agree?

[Rob T]

Possibly, but I never understand why these things have to have one art as an answer. If someone feels the need to train for self defense they should train every range.

[Old Scratch]

Yeah you're quite right and to be fair they also say on the site "Judo is an ideal form of self-defence however it must be remembered that no system can ever be regarded the complete self-defence".

I suppose many people would struggle with the time it takes to learn multiple arts due to work/family commitments, so I imagine there will always be people who'll settle for the martial art that they hope ticks the most boxes.

[Atlasmma]

It depends on the context in which you're having to defend yourself, of course. In a one on one fight yeah, being good at bjj and judo will be killer, but how many fights are one on one? Most people don't go around looking for fights by themselves. And are you going to hip-toss a group of guys? If someone pulls a knife are you going to pull guard?

One on one = takedown>smash

Weapon = pushkick>run like the wind

Group of guys = out-box and stay on your feet

For good self-defence you have to be a mixed martial artist. It's as simple as that.

[Rob T]

Who gets in real fights anyway?

[Andy K]

not me I own a ford focus!

[david5]

olympic sprinting is the greatest art for self defence

[thai-jitsu]

A judo BB i trained with was bein provocted into a fight, usual shit like who you looking at? etc, he ignored it & when the guy attacked him, my mate grabbed him & just before using a judo throw to make a crater in the ground the guy came out with something stupid like "look hes cuddling me". At the police station a few minutes later the guy couldnt get up & had to be assisted into the station. Its funnier to hear it from the people that where there.

Id say a good judo player would slam any attacker to the ground hard enough to cause some considerable damage. Theres obviously the attackers "punchers chance" though. Oh and blades etc that no martial art would help with, Olympic level sprinting in that case would be handy.

[jackmcd]

Funny that, because my judo coach always warns us not to use throws in self defence since the police take a very dim view of it. Almost every judo throw or takedown is potentially lethal on a hard surface, and since you've been training to do it, it's not like you can stand up in court and say "I didn't know what I was doing before I threw him onto concrete with an uchi mata."

UK law provides for the use of reasonable force to protect yourself, a black belt judoka using a hip throw is likely to be seen in the same light as a boxer knocking someone out or a muay thai guy using repeated knee strikes to the head. I know of (friends of friends) people who have gone to prison for the first two instances.

If your definition of self defence is "the ability to fuck someone up in a dark alley", then yeah, judo throws are good. But if your definition of self defence is "the ability to come away from a threatening situation unharmed and without the police arresting you" then you'd probably want to look at the pressure training that is a part of judo. I'd say any competitive martial art will help with that, but since judo (and wrestling for that matter), focus on controlling people without battering them, they're probably more useful than others, from a legal standpoint. Then again, the best defence is to run away, or not get into fights in the first place.

[PointyShinyBurning]

Almost every judo throw or takedown is potentially lethal on a hard surface, and since you've been training to do it, it's not like you can stand up in court and say "I didn't know what I was doing before I threw him onto concrete with an uchi mata."

You don't have to crater people, there's such a thing as a gentle throw or takedown. The two times I've done such a thing on the deadly streets I lowered them to the floor like you would a 100 pound white belt.

UK law provides for the use of reasonable force to protect yourself, a black belt judoka using a hip throw is likely to be seen in the same light as a boxer knocking someone out or a muay thai guy using repeated knee strikes to the head. I know of (friends of friends) people who have gone to prison for the first two instances.

You're entitled to use as much force as a reasonable person would think necessary. If you've got to knock someone down the law's more likely to be sympathetic to a foot sweep than a punch in the face, I'd think?