BJJ blue belt’s first judo sparring (vs. real judokas)

I'm about to spar one of the biggest Judo open mats I've ever seen and I don't even do Judo the Plex is a giant Sports and events facility just south of where I live in train in San Jose California it's capable of housing hundreds of people and today it was housing a small army of judokas oh and me today's event would be divided into a small section of technique drilling followed by a bunch of sparring also known in Japanese Judo terminology as randori I was meeting up with my good friend BJJ Brown Bel Matt Guffy who would not only be cameraman today but also one of my only beacons of support since I knew basically nobody here and Matt had been helping me prepare for today by being my practice dummy for throws yeah I just parked in like a random spot I don't know you're you're on camera right now oh I am yeah say hi hi I honestly have no idea what to expect this is my first time doing Judo sparring ever we were a bit lost already for the Judo yeah so it'll just be the next building over so just go down the stairway over here to left I'm currently not at one of the biggest Judah open mats I've ever seen we were also a bit late and as we made our way through a maze of arcade games we stumbled upon a hockey Ring full of Judo players and at that moment I realized my lack of Judo skill wouldn't be the only reason I'd be out of place you said I'm going to be the only one wearing a black ghee huh and everybody else I guess is wearing the The Wider blue Judo ghee nice and I've got my Jiu-Jitsu Blue Bell on I hope nobody mistakes me for a judo Blue Bell I went to check in and saw my friend and Judo black belt Seria who is as culpable as Aton was for getting me into Judo I felt more at ease knowing more of my community was present but I wondered how she really thought I would fa at the event but we'll hear more from her later German Judo instructor Sensei Tony lner was already teaching some techniques when I bumped into Aon he said uh no leg walks Ashi gami is a dangerous Tech teque and is not allowed in randori or in competition after almost 250 Jiu-Jitsu competition matches around 80% of my submission wins have come via ankle lock which is a big reason I'm here at all because I want to develop a more well-rounded game and to do that I need to be comfortable on my feet instead of just pulling guard all the time that's the advice you gave me my Jiu-Jitsu friend turned Judo Mentor who invited me Aton gilber will be medic today hopefully I don't need him for that even though in the back of my mind I'm a little worried about hurting myself I'm about to step outside of my comfort zone and navigate a completely new territory of the World of Martial Arts as with BJJ competition will this Judo sparring be another growth opportunity or will I just walk away hurt physically and mentally I got onto the mat and my worry Amplified not only because this was the second time I'd ever seen Judo instruction in person but also because I could barely hear a word he was saying luckily the move he was showing was a sumi gayi which I'd used before in BJJ as a fense to single leg takedowns but he was showing some Advanced setups and I was struggling to grasp the gripping sequence worried I'd look like an idiot when it came time to find a drilling partner I hid my anxiety behind A Smile as I looked around sheepishly for a partner willing to drill with the weird BJJ guy in the wrong ghee I wasn't sure if the etiquette was the same in Judo as BJJ where in New environments you typically wait for black belts to ask you to drill or Spar but I decided to shoot my shot and ask the black belt standing around if he wanted to drill and he happily accepted I wondered though if everyone would be as chill as him I guess I would find out as we drilled I tried to treat it the same as I would in DJJ just be fluid and Cooperative not a limp noodle nor a stiff 2x4 but somewhere in between I was having fun and learning but the confidence I was gaining would be shortlived as we transitioned into the next part of the event let go 66 kilos and 57 kilos and Below in group one and everybody else is group two if you don't know kilo figure it out I have no idea what's happening I wasn't sure where to go do I go with the lighter group since I'm new or the heavier group as I was deciding Aon had found a partner for me already it was Cella his son Aton had showed me videos before of Cella it was time for the first round of the Day cell was going pretty light on me and I wondered would everyone else be as nice is him with his grips and even just the smallest of movements he was already putting me off balance a concept called kazushi now that we' broken the ice with a throw it was my turn to start looking for something so I started with one of the few things I knew what I had tried to learn today the sumii you got to start somewhere right I tried again looking for the belt grip that Tony showed us but as we circled Cella took advantage of my weight leaning backwards and used that against me I went for a Cai a throw I'd been working on in BJJ but then C went for his [Music] specialty front uchima I remembered this from one of the First videos his dad ever showed me and that's what we call an eon I went for my Cai again and as a Cooperative UK C let me finish it so that I could get some practice he then set up at Tomo Nagi another throw we of to C and BJJ and that's when the first round of the day ended and I couldn't have asked for a better partner to kick it off I'm 15 Brown Bel in Judo a sophomore in high school yeah and a wrestler that's like a side thing though I think I'm going to ask Corwin he's a coach at CJ Judo he's a black B I'm going to see if he'll be willing to do a round of Rand Dory with me uh uh the only problem is I have a tor with his ACL injury he wasn't in shape to spar but he did give me some etiquette advice that was critical to understanding Judo sparring culture way later after the filming of this video I had a chance to interview Chuck as well at CJ Judo my name is Chuck Jefferson I'm the owner and operator of CJ Judo in San Jose California and uh how long has CJ Judo been around so I started CJ Judo in uh 2012 after I was retired from my competitive days of Judo uh but judo's been a lifetime for me he started Judo believe it or not in 1981 now Chuck wouldn't offer up the following information on his own since he's a very humble guy so I asked him for some specifics about his career highlights was the Olympic team alternate in 2008 and a two-time Pan-American Champion did you have national titles as well yeah I won the uh I won the US Nationals multiple times uh I was a four-time college national champion and and many time Junior national champion that's crazy I've done everything I can to promote the sport of Judo um my most recent Venture is Judo United a company that I started to promote events and experiences in the sport of Judo uh we do tournaments training camps seminars and anything that we'll promote the sport of Judo and he echoed a similar sentiment as Corwin about Judo sparring culture one of the big things with etiquette in Judo is partner choice and who you choose to train with in Judo it is highly encouraged to chase after the best guy in the gym most of the time that upper ranked guy will go with you and help you but when I go to a training camp my coach says go after the best people in the room before I moved on to find my next sparring partner Corwin gave me some advice and I took my very first class with Corwin in J and did amazing let me doing my first ever randor do you have any tips for me get your grip first get my grip first and initiate your get your feet going get your aaza going use your movement to open up those bigger throws don't just try to go into those big throws right away right get the movement going that's like what we were doing at class yeah don't be too stiff got to loosen up relax keep my hips up right say Be Like Water yeah then they can't feel when you're going to come in right right right oh it's like a almost like stay loose don't be a jiujitsu I quickly found my next partner also named Joshua I asked if we could film The Round ensuring he knew I wasn't trying to highlight anybody and he pointed at my belt as I made it clear that this was a Jiu-Jitsu blue belt all right let's do it man he slap bumped which is definitely not a judo thing and we did the traditional bow before getting into our round his movement was fluid and graceful anytime I entered into a throw he cooperated with it in such a way that made it easy to execute my technique smoothly almost making it appear as if I knew what I was doing and it turns out this is an essential part of being a good UK it didn't feel like we were fighting instead it felt like we were [Music] dancing I cooperated with his throws as well I could feel his movement and entrances into his techniques and I went with them focusing on being light and falling correctly this was so different than BJJ sparring most people can't actually flow roll but right now felt like we were flow [Music] throwing Joshua moved on to sparring with some more advanced judokas as I found myself on the search yet again for another partner but carefully avoiding the ones who looked like they might kill [Music] me what do you think that that was intense Aon gave me some advice on who to ask next oh he said I should go with one of the Korean um girl coaches ex but it didn't go quite the way I saw it in my head she say no I got totally shot down now some places that guy will tell you no it's a no it's a big no all right but the mission continues I'm going to find somebody to annihilate me I was determined though so I went to find the nearest black belt around my size and after I explained to him that I was not trying to highlight anyone on camera he agreed to do a round with me we started out the round pretty easy feeling each other out but I sensed some hesitation on his part as if he was analyzing me for something and that's when I realized he had been looking at my stance because I was doing everything backwards see I'm right-handed and I come from a Muay type background where my right hand is my power hand so I have my left foot forwards that's a very standard stance in all striking Sports in fact it's the most common to where if you stand with your right foot forward people would call you a Southpaw Which is less common just like my opponent actually in this fight but in Judo if I'm a right-handed player I lead with my right leg and my right hand just like my partner is doing here so I kept my left leg forward like he said to do and he switched my grips which felt really strange but I guess that was more Orthodox for a left foot forward player like me the problem is though I know all of my turn throws with the opposite grips like the ones I was doing with Joshua before while this was an interesting exercise I was now doubting my entire Judo game or what little there was to begin with and this round turned out to be more of a puzzle than an athletic Endeavor although I was beginning to notice the power of the foot sweep per usual Aon led me to my next partner this this is Nancy by the way're going to get her grips immediately felt strong and I was struggling to set up anything I wanted when suddenly she hit me with a clean uchimata that was fun she even had someone cheering for her matte side Nice N I was keeping a smile on my face but this was the point where it really began to set in just how big the skill Gap is between me and real judokas I basically had no chance to hit any techniques unless Nancy let me I also didn't want to make a classic beginner mistake that you see in BJJ all the time going too hard and spazzing while I was tempted to use strength and try to muscle her down I knew it would be ineffective against someone at her level and at the minimum lead to a bad round for both of us and at maximum lead to someone getting hurt that was Nancy Nancy doesn't play around so this morning um I did the coffee crew um and like the third round I sprained my thumb so like I don't even have use of this thumb right now so like I'm must trying to grip but I just have like these four fingers to grip with so but there is no what is it there is no there's no Victory without perseverance uh George Washington probably said that so I watched Dawn as we waited for the next round to begin admiring the intricate movement patterns of everyone around me now it was time to spar with Matthew while this round was still controlled I definitely sensed a difference in speed and intensity and then once again I was told my stance was wrong I was still getting beat up but I did begin to notice something from the rounds so far the thing I'm noticing about the way we're doing Judo sparring here compared to like how we do it at Jiu-Jitsu Jiu-Jitsu everybody's like super tight and like hips back and everybody here that I'm going with they're just constantly creating this movement and it's just like constantly just moving around there's no like these like Jiu-Jitsu battles where we're just standing there gripping the death grip around yeah you want to do around yeah she was 3/4 my size but I had no intention of underestimating her and I was right in not doing so she hit me immediately with the turn throw and I was amazed at the speed and Grace with which she executed it I had heard before that being shorter than someone you're throwing can be an advantage since you're able to get your entire body under their center of gravity much more easily and it clicked right now that that's exactly what was happening despite it appearing that the size difference would lead me to doing well in this round an's technical ability combined with her size made her a form itable sparring partner as she continued with more throws I began to resist a bit more but it was futile and I felt a slight sense of frustration that I still couldn't manage to do much of anything even on an undersized [Music] opponent oh man go next time yeah what we could go the round after this we can go right now yeah I'm down to go right now I'm trying to switch right now I'm just tring to we pick one I I vote I vote left just because you're naturally like this so it might be easier okay to not switch your stance okay I'm going to try for this round see [Music] careful now I was nervous this whole backwards grip situation had been confusing me since several rounds ago and now Bobby was suggesting i' try this entire round in a left-handed stance despite my grips feeling more comfortable on the right hand side this was my most intense opponent yet his grips and speed were strong and I felt threatened at every move and on top of that I was committed to using an entirely different stance than what I was used to it almost felt useless to even try that's left hand lelel left Handel and then your sleeve there you go now Circle towards your feet yeah move towards your feet other Circle toward to your right go right Circle right here you go just circle right move right here you go just keep moving right with his coaching advice I felt more confident that I may be able to understand the stance more even with qes as simple as knowing which side to Circle towards I'd come this far already and made it through many previous rounds so I wasn't going to give up now I was getting thrown all over the place but I was going to keep working because that would be the only way to learn anything from this round I didn't manage to get any throws but I did persevere at least and while Keen even complimented me and dayon also had some encouraging words for me you know Josh doesn't have a lot of experience yet in Judo but the good thing he knows how to take good Falls this really important actually okay we accept all the things of like throwing people first if you resist too much the fall you're going to get injured and you're you're taking us good Falls which is the most important thing for a beginner in Judo okay so good job great thank you progress isn't always obvious at first but it's there if you look for it even in the smallest ways you have to chip away at the stone one hammer strike at a time and you must seek discomfort in order to extract the lessons and fost growth I learned a lot more today about navigating a new culture what it means to be around a supportive Community the utility of mentorship and how to learn adapt stay humble and persevere even as an experienced martial artist I still got nerves going in here today A very similar feeling to when I first started Muay Thai years ago and again when I started up with jiu-jitsu a little while back but you realize that everything's probably going to be fine and the hesitation and anxiety is actually a signal that it's an opportunity for growth not something to be avoided consider the circumstances and understand that you don't need to let fear stop you from even starting don't be your only obstacle if the opportunity is there in front of you and remember why you're doing this in the first place that's great I love that since this event I've actually joined CJ Judo and made so many new friends learned many new skills and have had opportunities that I would have never had if it weren't for an encouraging community and and stepping outside of my comfort zone so I encourage you to do the same because it can only work to your benefit oh and I finally got to talk to Seria after the day ended I did my my first ever Judo CL are are you nervous to be on camera uh maybe like yeah okay go ahead can you say your name for the camera Seria you're a judo blackbell and we train together in Jiu-Jitsu we do I have my Jiu-Jitsu belt in my bag that's a what color that it's not as impressive it's a white belt but I have two stripes so I would say that's impressive um and so you were there helping coach me at my first ever Judo class um how from your perspective how did that go I think it went well like you move well so it's probably years of doing martial arts you know so like I was not afraid of you coming here to the open mat and doing rounds with people cuz you know how to fall safely and and you know enough to at least like get some good rounds in so like that's me and Jiu-Jitsu have no idea what I'm doing but I just kind of make stuff up until someone tells me to do otherwise okay that's what I was doing here I felt like I was just making stuff up and like every once in a while they somebody would fall for me and and they'd be like nice I'd be like thanks can you throw me or are you still hurt I can hope you got something out of this video thanks for watching if you're scared to try something just try it you won't regret it I promise catch you guys in the next one big H hold on I'm going to disappear out of the don't move don't [Music] move that's how I'm going to make it [Music] disappear

Channel: Josh Beam BJJ

Views: 209,486

Keywords: BJJ, jiu jitsu, brazilian jiu jitsu, judo

Id: Rcyq2t5VYPA

Length: 20min 21sec (1221 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 20 2024