The Truth Is Out…

I’ve long regretted the emergence of the UFC’s, but not for the reason many people would first think. It truly has nothing to do with BJJ, but rather with what used to be a rather deep dark secret of Judo.

Back when I began, Judo was considered by most people to be some sort of dance, or at best - a wrestling style, but certainly nothing to be afraid of. No-one believed that Judo would be useful in a fight - after all, we couldn’t rip a guy’s heart out with our bare hands… or knock someone out with a single blow. Karate was definitely the style to take if you wanted to learn a truly effective self-defensive art.

The implication in the “Art of War” by Suntzu is that you are better off if others don’t know your capabilities - and unfortunately, that’s no longer true of Judo. I regret this. I’d rather have everyone think that what I do is harmless.

I’ve always known, from my earliest training in Judo - that it would be more than effective against the average striker - it’s sad to see that most other people now realize this as well. I would have preferred that this ’secret’ remain just that. But BJJ has let the world know that striking is not the ultimate martial art that for many years it was thought to have been.

Interestingly, it seems that the more unknown a martial art is - the more deadly it’s thought to be… witness Ninjitsu vs Karate, for example. But the UFC’s have shown that it’s the sport based arts that are truly the most effective, or at least, the most effectively trained.