I will throw out a bunch of ideas, perhaps these interest or trigger people..... who knows.
Judo is not a sport but a way of life with spiritual and survival connections mostly lost. Make Judo Budo again with temple dojos etc. again.
Volunteers, dabblers and nepotism are more rife as coaching infrastructure than qualified people appropriate for the job.
Baby boomers ruined Judo by not passing on the torch, preserving their art or encouraging generations to come up behind them. Most Judo clubs have a coach somewhere between 60 and 100 years old, that can't demonstrate and can only say "pull harder!". On average you're missing 5+ generations of coaches from clubs where no third dans or higher are on stand by to take over.
Most Judo coaches want to receive a lot more praise than they're willing to give.
The status quo with belts is toxic and mostly not based on merit. Remove the rainbow system and have a person be either an absolute novice white belt, journeyman brown belt or pass your driving test black belt. Kata, technique specialities, competition wins etc. are just filled out in a work book with stickers if you really want people to feel "special". You don't go to play basketball for belts and people are respected in clubs for their abilities alone. Coaches, area leadership, first aid givers, national champions etc. receive either a simple mark on their gi or belt to distinguish their utility from the others. Whether it's safety, authority etc. people know who to talk to. Coral belts look awful IMHO and are usually reserved for old men.
Self defence and mental training need to return with the same emphasis as physical education. But this means the ceiling of coaching raises so high you need only professional coaches who have this as their only career. Personally I would like Tomiki Aikido, Kyushindo/Kawaishi Judo, Uechi Ryu, Shorinji Kempo etc. combined together to get the atemi, kyusho and flow back in.
Judo contest rules should change to Fight 2 Win ruleset. I believe these rules are both fairer to athletes and are more entertaining to fans:
7 minutes for black belts / 5 mins for teens
First person to 2 ippons (via throw) wins, or a submission at any time ends the bout.
Match continues after the ippon throw is scored
No restarts except for repositioning if the competitors go out of bounds
30 seconds of ground fighting allowed before restart, unless there is a submission attack
All arm locks and chokes allowed
Picking up and slamming from guard or a submission is counted as an ippon
\ Edit: Pulling guard is now NOT allowed, but flying attacks such as armbars and triangles are permitted*
Pins / hold downs do not score
No gripping penalties
Leg grabs are allowed
Judo's popularity needs to open up through local leagues and promoting both individual athletes as well as more team events. Just like other sports, twice a week you have competition between clubs in home and away games. Japanese Judoka retire and spend 12 months or much longer in Britain but their presence and influence is not felt enough to increase the quality and popularity of Judo.
If you are on the Olympic programme, unless you do something stupid you're also on the track for a career and your own club regardless if you are chosen for the Olympics.
Judo cannot thrive financially in the Olympic system and must get it's revenue and independence through more organic means with the public.
The Japanese need a much larger global presence internationally with getting involved in other countries like as if WWII hadn't happened and they were pushing Judo like Kano desired.
Women need to train with a diverse population of people but they also need their own female only sessions with some of them dedicated to self defence, no gi and not just sport.
Masters Judoka need to be celebrated as much as youngsters as their Judo is more beautiful and often more fun to watch IMHO. The chess and flow element is much more on display especially with a better ruleset.
Every school and university in the world should have a Judo club, man places are thriving by having Judo schools emerge to help greatly reform impoverished areas.
Steroid testing needs to greatly improve and they need to do a much better job stopping youth from using.
We need to embrace prize fighting for adults not reject it whether it's UFC or another company. Khabib, Kayla and others have been incredible ambassadors as well as examples of how to win with class. Can you completely take away war? No. Can you completely take away people's desire to fight? No. Can you stop people from wanting to pressure test their arts to see what works? No. Would the Japanese have readily gone into prize fighting if given the opportunity? Kimura, Maeda etc..... most definitely.
Judogi should change colour from white to grey because purification is somewhat of a myth, life is a mixture of black and white with the detail in between. Grey is a very mature colour and is easier to clean. Like Buddhism I would have orange or brown gi for children to distinguish their age and if they cross train age groups there is no mistaking how young they are.
I think we should try using shoes like Sambo to see if it improves the performance and willingness to do ashi waza and dynamic taisabaki with less fear of toe/foot injuries.
I would like to see Judogi change their material from cotton polyester to hemp because it's much more durable, sustainable, and naturally helps prevent growth of bacteria and odors.
I think serious coaches should have mandatory exposure to founding arts from Tenjin Shinyo, Kito, Yagyu Shingan, Oshikiuchi etc. On top of this formal training in strength and conditioning, massage styles, injury prevention etc too.
All Judoka should understand leverage from taisabaki through Jo practice.
All coaches should be fluent in Judo Japanese lingo to the point where if they travel to any other foreign country they know enough to communicate simply regardless of nationality. Learning a second language has been proven to be extremely beneficial to brain health, memory development and much more.
We desperately need some Judo video/board games to push how amazing and fun the system really is.
I'm certain there's plenty here some will really dislike.....
When I say brown I just mean the natural colour of hemp fibre. Which is already pale wheat brown. A gray gi would just be the same thing but grey that fades over time inevitably. Whether sweat stains or blood, white is not ideal and even sun drying your gi or removing colouration with chemicals just shortens it's life. I also think a darker gi for the eyes is better for distinguishing flesh from fabric for waza.
What I would never have are gi with coloured piping like Chinese uniforms. Or badges everywhere like BJJ turning you into a skatedeck billboard of stickers punk guitar.
Different available rashguards and sambo shoes are the only thing I'd allow people to have at their discretion within reason.
2
u/zealous_sophophile Jun 08 '25
I will throw out a bunch of ideas, perhaps these interest or trigger people..... who knows.
Judo is not a sport but a way of life with spiritual and survival connections mostly lost. Make Judo Budo again with temple dojos etc. again.
Volunteers, dabblers and nepotism are more rife as coaching infrastructure than qualified people appropriate for the job.
Baby boomers ruined Judo by not passing on the torch, preserving their art or encouraging generations to come up behind them. Most Judo clubs have a coach somewhere between 60 and 100 years old, that can't demonstrate and can only say "pull harder!". On average you're missing 5+ generations of coaches from clubs where no third dans or higher are on stand by to take over.
Most Judo coaches want to receive a lot more praise than they're willing to give.
The status quo with belts is toxic and mostly not based on merit. Remove the rainbow system and have a person be either an absolute novice white belt, journeyman brown belt or pass your driving test black belt. Kata, technique specialities, competition wins etc. are just filled out in a work book with stickers if you really want people to feel "special". You don't go to play basketball for belts and people are respected in clubs for their abilities alone. Coaches, area leadership, first aid givers, national champions etc. receive either a simple mark on their gi or belt to distinguish their utility from the others. Whether it's safety, authority etc. people know who to talk to. Coral belts look awful IMHO and are usually reserved for old men.
Self defence and mental training need to return with the same emphasis as physical education. But this means the ceiling of coaching raises so high you need only professional coaches who have this as their only career. Personally I would like Tomiki Aikido, Kyushindo/Kawaishi Judo, Uechi Ryu, Shorinji Kempo etc. combined together to get the atemi, kyusho and flow back in.
Judo contest rules should change to Fight 2 Win ruleset. I believe these rules are both fairer to athletes and are more entertaining to fans:
7 minutes for black belts / 5 mins for teens
Judo's popularity needs to open up through local leagues and promoting both individual athletes as well as more team events. Just like other sports, twice a week you have competition between clubs in home and away games. Japanese Judoka retire and spend 12 months or much longer in Britain but their presence and influence is not felt enough to increase the quality and popularity of Judo.