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What’s Better for Self Defense, Judo or BJJ?

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Which Martial Art Is Better for Self Defense… Judo or BJJ ?Which combat art is better for self defense in Texarkana, BJJ or Judo?

This question comes up so often and is very polarizing. Everyone has an opinion based on their own experiences.

I have been fortunate enough to train both Judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with some incredible instructors.

I don’t believe that there is a single right answer here.

Should you train BJJ or Judo?

It depends on the specific gym, the instructor, the other students, and the individual that is thinking about training.

These probably matter much more than the art itself in this case… and because a wide variety exists in all these variables and what may suit you may not be the best for many others.

It depends a lot on you because if you don’t like the training or are training at a place where you are often injured due to poor safety standards then you won’t get good enough to use the techniques in a self defense situation.

Judo for Self Defense

My Judo instructor, the late Vince Tamura, was very ‘old school’ and taught his family’s style of jujitsu as well as Judo in a pretty well rounded curriculum that still predominately focused on competitive Judo for the most part.

I don’t think the self defense techniques were all that necessary to allow any of the Judoka I trained with to defend themselves against an attack.

The throws, conditioning, and the groundwork would give you a huge advantage in a fight over an opponent that likely knows nothing in the grappling area either stand up or ground.

There is a little less variation in curriculum between Judo schools, but it’s still very variable depending on the coach.

Judo tends to really stand out in the clinch/throwing department.

There’s more to Judo than throws though as I mention below.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for Self Defense

Restating the idea above, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu may be the best art for you.

It depends.

As far as self defense goes, the greatest danger is when you are in close combat – not when you’re throwing punches at each other while at a distance.

If you aren’t in the clinch already you are likely able to get away in most situations… or you can very likely get there quickly.

In close combat, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner is going to have a huge advantage over the average person.

The specific Jiu Jitsu school curriculum does matter to some degree.

If the training is too focused on competition techniques without covering basic foundational Jiu Jitsu techniques then it might not be quite as effective… even so, the average sport focused BJJ practitioner will have a big advantage in close combat over most attacks.

If there are no clinch or takedown techniques it might not be ideal for self defense.

I haven’t done a formal  survey of BJJ schools, but I would guess the vast majority teach some stand up grappling to varying degrees.

Judo or BJJ for Self Defense

The reality is that both martial arts are likely to help someone be able to defend themselves for a variety of reasons.

  • These are both grappling based martial arts that will give you skills in close range combat where the vast majority of the public have no technical skills.
  • Both martial arts are generally trained against a resisting opponent giving the practitioners a more realistic type of training where the practitioners have to develop strategies that work in a real situation.
  • These arts tend to push your fitness, conditioning, and balance which will give you an advantage over the vast majority of people that do not train and are out of shape.
  • Both Judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will help practitioners develop mental toughness and perseverance through constant challenges that will help you in a self defense situation when things may get tough.

Texarkana Jiu Jitsu

Texarkana is a small town. We don’t have a separate Judo gym here.

My own gym, Texarkana Jiu Jitsu, trains a good amount of Judo in our Jiu Jitsu class.

At my school, Texarkana Jiu Jitsu, we spend a significant amount of time on takedowns in our Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes although not as much as the average Judo school.

This time is vastly more than the individual you are likely to fight in a self defense situation has in stand up grappling… and more than the average BJJ school.

The ground matters, a lot, particularly for women’s self defense who in the worst scenario will be put on their back against likely a bigger, stronger male… but the ground matters for everyone that gets in a fight.

Mostly to be able to get up or sweep from the bottom, as well as being able to dominate in the top position.

 

Coach Marc Hagebusch

 

 

 

Real Self Defense in Texarkana

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How To Save Your Family, Your Own Life, and Defend Yourself in Texarkanaself defense for texarkana

What Is Real Self Defense?

NOTE: this is relative to adults, not children. Kids do have specific, but different needs to protect themselves. Some are the same as adults, whereas others are different.

Gun control is always a hot, highly charged political topic. We will not debate that issue here!

But, let’s talk briefly about firearms.

One of the core issues around guns is self defense.

I think that everyone should have 4 things to protect themselves and their family.

Four Important Self Defense Components to Protect Yourself, Your Family, and Your Home.

Fitness, unarmed self defense skills, a good dog (good deterrent and barking gives you forewarning), and a gun.

Your health and fitness are the most likely threat to you (and your family).

The reality is that most people die from a lack of health/fitness.

You are much more likely to drop dead of a heart attack from lifestyle problems than have someone shoot you….

So, it makes sense to focus a lot of attention here.

The vast majority of early deaths are from chronic diseases… heart problems, cancer, diabetes, and others.

These are virtually all lifestyle, it’s not your genes but how they are expressed through lifestyle/environmental factors… primarily diet, exercise, stress management, and sleep that effect whether you get a health problem or not.

Weapons, Isn’t A Gun Enough?guns, self defense, protect your family texarkana

The short answer is, “No!” Here are a couple of reasons why.

As I mentioned above, you’re more likely to die from a preventable health problem than from an attack. This must be at the forefront of your protection plan for you and your family.

Another important point,

Sometimes, you can’t get to your gun in time.

Other times, it will be very risky because of the situation where you may lose control of your gun,particularly at very close range and if you can not control the attacker (another way Jiu Jitsu will save you).

I mentioned a well known Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt in a prior post that had his home invaded in a past email. He awoke at 2 AM while sleeping on his couch to a masked man standing over him pointing a gun directly at his head.

The intruder said, “If you say anything or move, I’ll kill you and everyone in the house.”

His 3 year old son, his wife, and a few friends were also in his house.

It turned out that there were 2 intruders in his house. They rounded everyone up in a room and told everyone to kneel on the floor.

Fortunately, one of the gunmen was very close to the black belt as he told him to get on the ground to be executed with his family.

The BJJ black belt was able to take the gun and save his family.

His unarmed self defense skills saved him, his wife, his 3 year old son, and his friends.

If he did not have them and act, they would likely all be dead. So would the next house that came under invasion from these criminals and so on.

Was all the time he spent training worth that one moment in time where he saved his family?

If you asked him, clearly his answer would be yes. The challenge is that the time training had to be spent BEFORE the incident, not after.

The home invaders were later caught and tried. They had murdered 2 families before this particular home invasion took place.

Why did this event happen? Many factors, including there are bad people in this world.

Here are a few contributing factors…

  • He had an alarm (it wasn’t on).
  • He had a gun (not on him).
  • He didn’t have a dog (but has 2 now).

Here is the cool thing about Training Jiu Jitsu with us…

You will improve your Health and Fitness, Reduce Stress, and Learn How TO Protect Yourself in Unarmed Combat.

You can add additional protection with a gun and a dog if you would like, but we improve the things that are most likely to take you out AND that’s real self defense.

“I have a very strict gun control policy: if there’s a gun around, I want to be in control of it.” Clint Eastwood on gun control.

Of course, it helps if you know Jiu Jitsu to maintain that control!

Want To Try A Texarkana Jiu Jitsu Class?

Call Us: (903) 793-1085 Email Us: TexarkanaJiuJitsu@gmail.com