It's just nicer to have the option to do 7 classes a week as opposed to 2 classes a week in a broom closet at some community center

I'm 47 and just started MMA. I enjoy jiu-jitsu, but there's something about making another grown man fly across the room that makes Judo special to me!

I think part of the "sticky for beginners" thing is that BJJ has an advantage over other martial arts: you get to do BJJ on your first day of BJJ. Your first boxing class, you aren't boxing. You're learning the stance, the names of punches, maybe hitting pads. You're getting ready to box. Muay Thai, same thing. It's probably a good thing that complete beginners aren't punching each other in the face, but it's also a bit of a let-down. Judo is similar. You can't spend 10 minutes walking someone through a breakfall and then toss them into randori.

BJJ has an absolutely killer first 5 hours compared to any other art. After 5 hours, a BJJ student knows two cool moves they can show their friends, and has been twisted into a pretzel by someone who might as well be a wizard for all they're concerned. A novice judoka with 5 hours of experience is good at falling safely, and they know one cool move, but only with an experienced uke. They have not done judo, and no one has done judo on them.

I love judo, but it definitely has the "it gets good 100 hours in" problem.

The fact that owning/operating a BJJ gym is actually a viable business opportunity, is probably the biggest reason it's more popular. Most Judo coaches in my country are basically part timers, who only run a school twice a week in a local church auditorium or sports hall after their 9-5. The BJJ business model actually affords the opportunity for a coach to make a pretty good living whilst teaching what they love to do full time, there are very few Judo gyms in my country that are actually ran for profit. Go to any city and there are at least a handful of BJJ clubs everywhere, there might be perhaps 1-2 judo schools, mostly for kids, who are ran in a charitable fashion. I hate to say it, but I would love for there to be a 'Gracie Barra' blueprint for Judo, where people could cut and paste business models and expand throughout the nation, but I think we're past that now tbh.

BJJ is also marketed better for self-defence imo, thanks to the UFC, even though I think that all things being equal, Judo is just as good for self defence.

BTW, I'm a BJJ black belt, and a Judo black belt. So I see both perspectives.

In France, when you have a kid, there are basically two options to keep them busy outside school: football (soccer) or judo. Pretty much every boy does judo for at least a year, and a lot of girls do too. People in other sports often joke that the French judo federation is basically the country’s biggest kindergarten chain.

The downside is that in most cities, it’s really hard to find a dojo with adult classes, let alone beginner ones. If you start judo at 25, you’ll mostly end up sparring with black belts who’ve been training twice a week since they were six.

On the other hand, if you start boxing, BJJ, or MMA, there’s a good chance a third of the people there will be adult beginners like you (well, beginners who, as mentioned, did a year or two of judo as kids).

I started Sport Karate and Judo around 8 years old. Sport Karate had me immediately because I could go to a tournament and compete in fighting, traditional kata, musical creative kata, traditional weapons, creative weapons and sometimes self defense. So many chances to trophy!  American Sport Jujitsu (early 90's) had a similar format which means you can choose something that you like and are good at to compete in.
Judo was very limited in their tournaments which in the South were small.
One of my Korean Judo instructors only taught self defense Judo Goshin jitsu and he many times said they needed this in tournaments and also needed to allow those who only trained goshin or kata to advance in rank.
Make Judo for Everyone regardless of age or physical ability.

I'm an old guy starting BJJ in my 50s.  I wish when I was younger I had tried wrestling or judo.  Gravity just sucks that much more when you get old.  I envy the judo guys when they come to our jits class.  They have an innate confidence and strength to start rolls standing.  My old achy back says get your ass on the ground the "easy" way.

I love the insight. Can relate to the guy you mentioned that failed shodan testing. I spent 15 years getting to test for shodan. My head sensei kept moving the goal posts on me with the requirements. I was a brown belt competing in local tournaments in black belt divisions and showing up to practice every week night. Anyway, after my sensei gave me the study materials for katas, he kept pushing out my testing and saying I needed to compete more or show up more or referee. I ended up quitting when I got into law school and tested with a friend who was a Nidan and got my shodan.

Often times Judo classes are only available to kids. I did judo as a kid and tried to get back into it, but there aren't any gyms around here with adult classes except for competitive black belts. My BJJ school offers wrestling classes which is not the same, but it solves the same problem: my take downs are shit.

Also, BJJ is more popular in america because of UFC marketing & pop culture.

Judo is still more popular globally. Id love to help make it more popular in the US. Its a very exciting sport!

What stops most of my friends from trying out judo is that Dojos require you to have a USJF/USA Judo membership to even try it out which is basically a $100 drop in fee. Whereas in bjj every gym has their own waiver and free trial classes. Paying 100 bucks plus drop in for some dojos just to see IF they like judo, cause more than one of my friends paid all that money, tried it once and never came back but were left a bit salty that they paid all that and went though the hassle of registering yourself in the usjf sites which are about as intuitive as a DMV website just to try it out. Too many barriers of entry

In my experience the best Judo players in the gym I was involved in were really good high school wrestlers or guys who were qualified for DIV 2 or 1 college admissions. Basically prospects for high end college wrestling.

Really like your vision. And your vídeos. I am 56 years old. Black belt bjj. Started Judô 18 months ago. Your content really helps me

I went to jiu-jitsu con 2025 and they had 60 mat spaces and 12500 registrations to compete.  Most of the world champs were there, and were more than happy to take time for chats and pictures

Loving these <20min shorter podcast episodes  you've been posting.

As always, great insights.

Love it great insights! Very open minded person i love your podcast.

Excellent video - some very solid points made here!

I wanted to add as someone who lived in South Korea between 2015-2017.
I think couple more reasons why people think this. While BJJ is popular there, Judo is still significantly more popular and most of all, seen as a "academic/collegiate sport." This is the same in Japan, if not more so.

I think most people who think Judo is significantly less popular are mostly American, because that is true here. We also do not have middle, high school programs, and Judo universities that people go into in order to aim for olympics at the level they do in many countries that have Judo as a popular sport.
This is very similar to our wrestling programs.

Also, the prestige attached to becoming a Judo champs is unparalleled, similar to becoming an olympian gold medalist in freestyle wrestling.

Last but not least, another reason why I think BJJ is gaining tracking in South Korea, and very popular here is the barrier of entry for older adults.

There is no such thing as a "wrestling school" here. You just start when young. While there are Judo schools in Korea, and you can start as an adult, vast majority of people there are young students, who are already black belts. These kids do additional training in these schools so they can prep and qualify to go to one of the major universities that have national level Judo programs, so that they can compete in world, or even Olympic level.

There is a career in Judo unlike BJJ in Korea. I believe this is similar in Japan.

Kind of off topic, but Judoka in Korea, and I assume same in Japan, are just significantly better and more athletic than anyone I have ever met here in the States. The pool of competition you need to go through in order to get a black belt there is insane. Just think NCCA Division I athletes, all gathered in one competition. Most people that are competing in Asian Games for example, are of extremely high caliber.

You just don't see this level of Judo players here in the States. Black belts there are NOT the same as one here. If you think you can sub them as a blue or even purple think again LOL. I learned me lesson....

Judo is more popular than BJJ globally. The real question is, why is BJJ more popular in the USA than Judo?