The mindless parrots who say "I would do Judo if it allowed leg grabs" were never actually going to seriously train Judo to begin with. If Judo allows leg grabs, they will just move the goalposts to something else, or they would train Judo for a short while and quit after getting a hard reality check that leg grabs really aren't all that they were hyped up to be.
There's certainly a contingent of people who want leg grabs because they're.... easy. It's a hell of a lot easier as a beginner to try and grab some other beginner's leg and pull it out from under them - than to get anywhere near a turn throw.
I do see it all the time honestly. From BJJers but also random Judoka who don't compete.
But your second point is something people don't realise actually. The nature of the Judo game was not ever going to make us great leg grabbers. Morote Gari is far inferior to a real wrestler's double leg, and the jacket alone makes the well honed and dynamic level change hard.
Oh interesting. People do always find inventive reasons not to train haha
The nature of the Judo game was not ever going to make us great leg grabbers.
Yeah definitely. I often see the argument "yeah but Eastern Europeans are great leg grabbers in Judo because of their wrestling background" but I don't find that compelling. The US has some of the best leg grabbers on the planet but that doesn't mean the same people hold both sets of skills
Eastern Europeans aren't even considered the leg grabbers of wrestling, they're more like varied all rounders as I understand it. They don't practice American Collegiate wrestling, which is the premium for leg grabs in my mind.
Matter of fact, Japan got its worst results in the Olympics possible after the leg grab ban. Eastern European Judoka were actually considered perfectly strong conventional Judoka, and Caucasus folk jacket wrestleing is literally 'no leg grab' rules. Without having to worry about leg grabs, these guys actually did even better.
6
u/wowspare Jun 07 '25 edited Jun 07 '25
The mindless parrots who say "I would do Judo if it allowed leg grabs" were never actually going to seriously train Judo to begin with. If Judo allows leg grabs, they will just move the goalposts to something else, or they would train Judo for a short while and quit after getting a hard reality check that leg grabs really aren't all that they were hyped up to be.