Judo does a really trash job in conditioning compared to wrestling. Technique is one thing, but having an integrated conditioning routine like wrestling is really important and a lot of places don’t have that.
Another thing is sports aspect of Judo has led to the martial arts being diluted significantly. Same is the issue with TKD and Karate.
Wrestling is a taxpayer funded martial art taught from middle school to college. They have full blown S&C programs to develop an athlete. In college and some states in high school, wrestling is damn near a full time job.
Judo is usually taught at your local YMCA by a volunteer or as a side class in a bjj school twice a week. If they started training like you would a real athlete, the class size would shrink by 90%.
This is very good and even ttue for western europe. Yes judokas can be tough as nails. As atheltic as elite wrestler but on average judoka clubs are far far far inferior in conditioning and athleticism than wrestling clubs. Especially western europe and even usa like u say, so many hobbyist judokas black belt from 18 to 45 lets say who definitely have a hobbyist mindset and approach and dont train nearly as hard as wrestling im this aspect.
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u/ChurchofMarx Jul 06 '25
Judo does a really trash job in conditioning compared to wrestling. Technique is one thing, but having an integrated conditioning routine like wrestling is really important and a lot of places don’t have that.
Another thing is sports aspect of Judo has led to the martial arts being diluted significantly. Same is the issue with TKD and Karate.