


Practiced today by millions of individuals, judo is undoubtedly the most popular combat sport in the world. In terms of sheer numbers of participants, judo is the second most popular sport of any sport. Millions have discovered the spectacular enriching sport, and way of life, we know of as judo.

Who can learn judo?

Judo is for Men, Women, Teens and Children – Judo students should be in reasonable physical condition for their age to join. Like any other exercise program, all prospective students should visit their physician prior to starting any exercise program. One advantage Judo has over other sports in general is that both men and women from junior to senior can participate. Unlike other team sports, students do not get ˜cut™ from the team at anytime in their Judo career. Judo is a physical activity/sport/training program that can last you a lifetime.

What makes Judo unique compared to other martial arts?
Unlike Tae Kwon Do, Karate and Gung fu or Kung Fu, all striking [kicks and punches] techniques have been removed from Judo techniques applied during practice. A few striking techniques still exist in Judo Kata™s [forms]. By removing the strikes from Judo, its students are able to practice it at full speed and full effort without any need to ‘pull punches’ resulting in very effective physical training. Since Judo has it™s roots in Jujitsu, many of Judo™s techniques are similar to Ju-jitsu’s. Jujitsu does not spend much time learning how to throw their opponent to the ground. Judo and Tae Kwon Do are the only two martial arts that are Olympic Sports. Judo has a well-organized and standardized set of competition rules for local tournaments.

How does Judo compare to other sports in terms of exercise value?
Judo is an excellent way to improve strength, flexibility and cardio vascular endurance. Weightlifting can improve one™s strength but does little to improve overall flexibility & cardio vascular endurance. Exercise programs that are mainly cardio vascular in nature such as running or biking improve cardio vascular endurance, but do little to improve both upper and lower body strength.

Judo can be one of the most effective activities to ˜burn off™calories. Based on a list from Foodanddiet.com, Judo ranks up there with Boxing, Cross-Country Skiing, Jumping Rope [at least 125 skips per minute], Running [10 minute miles] or play squashing in terms of calories used during that activity. Based on which calorie burn calculator you believe, a 180lb person working out at judo will burn up to 921 calories in an hour according to discovery health.com. Based on the healthstatus.com™s calorie counter, a judo player will burn 820 calories per hour.



You should be aware if you engage in a martial arts course you are doing so entirely at your own risk (as described in the Doctrine Of Assumed Risk And Liability), including any present and/or future physical or psychological pain or injury that you may incur. The United States Judo Association (hereafter called the USJA), the author of this website the authors and editors of any USJA on-line publications contained therein cannot assume any responsibility or liability for any injuries or losses that you may incur as a result of acting upon any information provided by this website, publications, or any links to other sites found herein. Nor can the USJA, its officers, the author of this website and the authors and editors of any USJA on-line publication assume any third party liability arising out of any legal actions you may be involved in as a result of the training you received by engaging in a study of any martial art as presented by this website or any other source cited herein either directly, or through the use of hyperlinks. Although there may be a number of instructors, dojo, other organizations, seminars and other activities listed in this website and on-line publications, the USJA, its officers, the author of this website and the authors and editors of any USJA on-line publication cannot be responsible for their claims, instructional strategies, materials, facilities, or consequences that may arise by studying any martial art under their supervision and can make no recommendations or inferences as to the quality or effectiveness of their instructional programs.


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