Judo vs Brazilian jiu-jitsu: BJJ & Judo Differences

The purpose in judo is to throw your opponent flat on his back for ippon, hold him down for 20 seconds or make him tap to a submission. In BJJ you can win by points or by submission. The fight in judo ends if the opponent is taken down but in BJJ this would just be the start of the fight. So you can conclude that BJJ starts where judo ends.

In both sports, you can get a win by submission. But here we can also find some differences. In judo, you are only allowed to do chokes under the chin, triangle, kimura, and armbar. While in BJJ you can attack the wrist, knee, and feet.

While BJJ and Judo Gis are similar, there are some differences. In Judo the gi is kept mostly free of decorations, while in BJJ people usually wear a lot of patches on their gi. Apart from that, a judo gi is usually thicker and a bit harder to grab. The judo gi is also longer, and a bit baggier.

The biggest difference between standing in BJJ and Judo is that you are still allowed to use old-school judo techniques in BJJ, while they're now prohibited in Judo. For Example, you can't grab the legs while standing in Judo, while that's perfectly allowed in BJJ.

Because the rules are freer in the standup portion of BJJ, the scope of techniques is a bit wider. In BJJ you don't just need to know how to throw, but also how to pull guard, the counter guard pulls, work standing submissions, and how to attack the back.

There are also many judo techniques that don't adapt well to BJJ. Throws that expose the back for example, should not be favored.

At Stak Gent we have Gauthier Blommaert teach standing classes. Gauthier is a judo black belt that successfully competed internationally for many years. But he's also a brown belt in BJJ. That's why his classes teach all of the standing game, and not just judo. Including things like leg attacks and back takes.

For a judoka, cross-training in Brazilian Jitsu can help them do better in the ground portion of Judo (Newaza). As more attention is paid to this in BJJ, and they get to practice with experts.

BJJ athletes can learn a lot from practicing judo as well. They can learn to absolutely dominate the standing portion of the fight, and get used to fighting at a different tempo.

Lately, judo is losing a lot of old athletes to BJJ (and MMA). If you would ask a random guy he/she will give you the same answer. The answer would be: “Judo has changed, I don’t remember the sport anymore.”.  The main reason is that the International Judo Federation banned all leg grabs in 2010. The IJF was fearful that Judo was resembling Wrestling too much, by restricting leg attacks it meant that scoring points had to be more elegant and airborne making for a better spectator experience. It also meant the players stood in a more traditional and upright stance, typical of Japanese Judo rather than the bent stance of BJJ or wrestling. These were all a result of Judo becoming more mainstream and accepted in the Olympics. After yet another Olympic cycle they also banned standing submissions.

When we watch judo guys fight we always see the same pattern. They are very strong, have a good physique, and are very dominant in the standing part of the fight. This is very intimidating for the opponent but they also have some weaknesses. A judo fighter exposes his back in a lot of techniques e.g. ippon seoi nage. This is really dangerous fighting a bjj player who is trained to go to the back. In judo the athletes also overthrow themselves. It makes beautiful techniques but in bjj it is not effective. In judo, the ref would give ippon and the win to the guy who did the throw but in bjj the fight would just continue. This would mean that the guy who did the takedown would end in a disadvantageous position exposing his back or giving mount or side control.

Judo players also make 2 major mistakes on the ground. In a judo competition, the ref resets the fight if there is no activity on the ground or when the choke is on the chin. That is the reason why a judoka will always lay down flat on his belly with his chin tucked in. In bjj this is devastating because you give up your back for 4 points. You can also do your choke on the chin in BJJ whereas in judo this would just reset the match on the feet.

In judo, they follow the Gokyo-No-Waza. This is a summary of 40 techniques that you can use in judo. But there are a couple of them which are useless in competition because of the banning of the leg grabs.

In BJJ there is a constant development of new techniques, new instructional, and so on. Judo doesn’t develop a lot anymore whereas BJJ keeps evolving. Look at the athletes in BJJ who take over the world using matrix and berimbolos.

It’s important to do cross-training to be good in one of these grappling sports. Combining them is really good for your game in both sports. But always be aware of the differences. Don’t do leg grabs as bjj fighter fighting in judo and never expose your back as a judo fighter fighting in a bjj competition.

Learn more about our standing bjj program here!