Cross Training for All Martial Artists

I have been training in Judo for many years, and have always kept an open mind, and have included different techniques from different grappling styles into my grappling repertoire. One thing I have noticed with most Judoka in today’s day and age is that they are very sport orientated. Most train 100% for Judo competition. Notice I have said Judo competition. Not MMA style fighting, kickboxing, wrestling or anything else. Just Judo. By doing this they fall into a certain way of fighting that can be applied only to Judo competition. They lose there flexibility in adapting to different situations.

In Judo competition, a win can be achieved by a near perfect throw, by submission (arm locks and choke holds), or by pinning your opponent on the ground for a certain amount of time. When ground fighting, it can be hard to apply a submission to someone who knows how to counter them. It is easier to win by pinning your opponent. Most Judoka know this and train to be able to pin someone only. A few nights ago I took the Judo class where I train. We concentrated on groundwork sparring most of the night, but I told the students that a win could only be achieved through a submission. As the students started sparring, I noticed that they were very good at achieving pins, but from there, even the higher grades where unsure how to apply submission holds, and to completely throw them off course I said leg locks where included. They did not know what to do.

The moral here is for not just Judoka but all martial artists to see and understand the value in cross training. If you are a grappler, visit striking schools, and vice versa. You shall be become a more complete fighter and shall feel comfortable training with people from different styles. This cannot be stressed enough.