With so many different schools of martial art, it becomes all the more difficult for aspiring practitioners to decide which martial art is more effective in a street fight scenario? Should you pick a striking martial art, or stick to a grappling martial art? Should you focus on throws? These are all questions that may rack the brains of inexperienced martial arts novices.
Perhaps you’re interested in learning which martial art is more effective in a street fight scenario, BJJ or Judo? Well, we’ve prepared an analysis that you can read – about the two martial arts and how they would perform in a street fight.
Is Judo Effective in a Street fight?
Judo is a martial art that puts a tremendous focus on throws – mostly by grabbing the opponent’s gi. If you have seen professional judo matches, then chances are that you have noticed the hulking statures of experienced Judo black belts, be it men or women. This is because Judo practitioners, besides using techniques to eliminate the opponent’s balance and footing, also use tremendous levels of strength.
The problem of throwing an opponent to the ground gets exacerbated especially if you’re facing an experienced opponent, and even more so if the opponent is heavy. Long story short, Judo practitioners are known for their insane strength and their ability to throw their opponents and slam them to the ground in a fraction of a second.
And you can just as well imagine how this particular skillset can come incredibly handy in a street fight. Being able to quickly slam opponents on the ground can one day end saving your life. Of course, one could argue that Judo practitioners practice their techniques on an opponent wearing a gi. But there are many techniques where the practitioner doesn’t need to grab a gi in order to execute a throw, so, Judo would work even on a completely naked opponent.
Should I Start Judo or BJJ?
This is somewhat of a difficult question, as to answer it properly, you would need to answer yourself where you would like to specialize. Judo is focused on the stand-up aspect of the fight game and throwing opponents on the ground – but also, there are some grappling elements. BJJ, on the other hand is focused on the grappling game on the ground – but there are also stand-up elements of taking your opponent to the ground.
So, there’s really no clear-cut answer. We would say that both of these martial arts are effective in providing you with a level of protection in street fights, though, of course, no martial art would make you bulletproof. The best-case scenario would be for you to learn the basics of both of these martial arts – and then decide to specialize in one of them. You would have the best of both worlds if you pick this option.
Judo Throw on Concrete
One of the most devastating things that you could do to your opponent is to pick them up from the ground and slam them on the concrete in a street fight. Depending on how you perform the throw, you may end up breaking multiple bones in your opponent’s body all with a single through – and in worst case, it’s possible even to kill them. So, you do need to be careful when executing throws out on the streets.
Either way, there’s no arguing that Judo can be an extremely effective martial art that you can utilize with great results in a street fight. In fact, we would go so far as to say when you face multiple opponents, Judo would suit you better as it takes a small time and effort to throw people to the ground and, at least temporarily, incapacitate them. BJJ’s grappling game is on the slower, more certain side – and multiple opponents would likely easily dismantle the BJJ practitioner.
Beware of Judo Against a BJJ Player
Judo on the street is very effective. Especially against an unskilled opponent. The best thing is that it makes you get close to your opponent, which neutralizes their punches. Then when the Judoka is near their opponent, they get thrown to the ground.
However, against a BJJ adversary, Judo exposes your back too much. Which a BJJ player will take immediate action and choke you out. Check out this video below that demonstrates this. Regardless… Judo is an awesome form of self defense that is really effective on the street.
