Is it good to get downvoted on this one? My opinion is judo should be a little less confident that they are somehow more about mutual benefit and welfare than other grappling arts are. Yes, there are lots of bad stories about unsafe or bullying practices at BJJ or wrestling gyms. But, I've also heard some bad ones about judoka, especially in the birthplace of judo, and I have personally seen good and bad behavior in both judo and BJJ gyms. Striving for mutual benefit and welfare is good, and an essential part of any grappling art, but judo isn't really on a pedestal here compared to others.
I actually think mutual benefit should just be done away with. It makes judoka think that they have some kind of moral superiority just because they do judo. It doesn’t make you better any more than being a football player necessarily makes you more disciplined or a better person. Plenty of assholes on the football team, in boxing gyms, on gymnastics squads. I don’t think at its core it’s any better than saying “we’re a team and we help each other get better because it makes our team stronger.”
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u/invertflow Jun 07 '25
Is it good to get downvoted on this one? My opinion is judo should be a little less confident that they are somehow more about mutual benefit and welfare than other grappling arts are. Yes, there are lots of bad stories about unsafe or bullying practices at BJJ or wrestling gyms. But, I've also heard some bad ones about judoka, especially in the birthplace of judo, and I have personally seen good and bad behavior in both judo and BJJ gyms. Striving for mutual benefit and welfare is good, and an essential part of any grappling art, but judo isn't really on a pedestal here compared to others.