Judo vs. Bjj career?

If you were to start again, as a kid, who has all the options open, how would you see the sports (judo and bjj)? How do you see the current status and also the future? If you ended up being a brown belt hobbyist which sport would offer you more and why? If you made it to become a world level player, which sport would be the career of choice?

Things to consider:

Level of competition / accomplishment,
financial costs / making a living,
being a full time athlete / competing as a hobby,
risks / reward
etc. / etc.?

At kids, cadets, juniors, adults, masters, competing/not competing?

Feel free to comment any views on the career or "do" (path) of a judoka or a bjj-player and things that have an effect on that (country, organizations, business, lifestyles, trends etc.)

What I'm not intrested is the old boring judo vs. bjj -debate. There are already hundreds of miserable debates on the web for that.

judo - there's a ton of times in my life where I wouldn't have been able to afford bjj, nobody's ever played the "pedigree" game with me in judo, I can play judo around the world, and the judo dojos are generally better for women - a lot fewer people upset about working with a woman, and I'm more likely to find women in the judo dojo than the bjj dojo.

Besides, the older I get, the more I appreciate all that early falling practice, plus the continued refinement of ukemi throughout my judo life

I agree with Stacey. Judo is the only way to go. My experience is that most (not all) BJJ participants do not like to take throws especially as they get older. Judo makes you tougher which is important in life.

As for making a living...this is tough whether you follow judo or bjj. This is a low income profession.

I myself think doing both is the way to go. Stand up randori is just so much fun but so are open guard sweeps and passing guard standing, and we are not even talking about the action packed no-gi submission wrestling yet!

But the point of this thread was sports career, not the sport or technique. If we look at it from the international players perspective it is propably very difficult to study/work and train to succeed in both sports. Travis Stevens and Leo Leite have done it but I guess they have not studied or worked, just trained full time. So if you want it, work for it and have what it takes, which one is going to be the better sports career and why?

Well, gee, since we're talking as a career, then you're talking about a poverty level career for even the most talented player.

vas majority of practitioners are like me - we do it as a non-career, for the fun and education of it. If I were to start as a kid (I was a swimmer as a kid - totally wrong answer for me as it killed my body by the time I was 18), I'd start with judo. Why? Because what kid doesn't dream of Olympic gold? or the front of a Wheaties box, whether they like Wheaties or not? Bjj just doesn't have that cache.

Second, judo, because if you go UFC after your highly competitive judo career is over or when you want to make some actual money, then judo's a lot better than bjj. Bjj athletes in the UFC are a dime a dozen. Judoka are much rarer. So, there's the cache of that, the unpredictability of being a judoka in a largely bjj and boxing field. So, if you're going to want to make actual money, then being able to stand out because of a judo background is very helpful.

Third, education. There are still a few schools in the US that offer scholarships to judoka. Few and far between, sure, but the same cannot be said about bjj.

Fourth, when I realize I'm never going to be elite (as the vast majority of us will realize), and I won't even get one of those scholarships to college, there are still college level club programs at a great many schools. They're inexpensive, well established, and at schools ranking from Harvard/U of Chicago down to the community college level. If I go the military route, I can find dojo on a ton of bases. If I take a semester abroad or wind up at a military base overseas, I can find judo. Can't necessarily find a bjj club (though it's getting more popular, but once you throw in the pedigree snobbery, it becomes problematic).

Again, as a female, most of the judo dojo I've been in are far more inviting than the bjj dojo I've been in. In judo dojo, the only people who are afraid to practice with me are brand new white belts who don't know better. In bjj dojo, that can't be said - there's still too much testosterone related ego around to make it a great environment for me.

So, once I grow older, have a career, have a spouse, start having kids, I'm still going to be pleased with judo as a choice. Why? less expensive, more family oriented clubs, and the ability to get transferred without having to worry about whether or not the local judo dojo is of the right lineage. Ideally, with the big 3 orgs working together, I can easily transfer rank from JA to JF or whatever, and continue on with my journey. So can my spouse and kids. We can go to shiai when we want to, and only have to worry about having a decent white gi. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

But, then Nina Cutro Kelly is a great example of dualing in judo a sambo.

But, hey, we're talking making money. The overwhelming majority of even the most elite level practitioners don't make money at either endeavor unless a part of the Japanese team or a country that actually supports its athletes.

Right at the money Stacey
I'd like to add one more thning; If I do Judo the Brazilians think I am a decent guy and not like XXXX that BJJ practitioners are.

This is a diffcult subject as sports are so much different at different levels. Also a career can be understood in many ways. For me anyone who can do judo or bjj competitively for some time has made a career. For me a career has never been about making money, it has always been pursuing for personal goals or just doing something you love as much as you can. And then you need to make a living somehow too. (My ski-bum career was a short one, but in my eyes some of my friends made respectable careers on the mountains. None of them made any money.)

The way I see it, competitive Judo is very single mindedly Olympics-driven sport for athletes with high aspirations. Great for the few who win big time. What I know bjj offers competition with more variety, different championships, pro-tournaments etc although none of them has the prestige of highest level judo.

I'd definitively tell a parent to take the kids to judo first, but after 17 years old or so I'm not so sure... I wonder what is it going to be like in in judo and bjj in 10 years, when the kids of today start competing at the adults ranks?

I’m a Judo black belt but I don’t do any teaching/coaching. Most of the Judo coaches I do know don’t make any money from it or if they do it’s just enough to cover expenses.
If I was a BJJ black belt I could open a club and charge anything from £10 a class to £80-£100 a month and make some real money out of it. From that perspective BJJ would be the better choice financially, although a BJJ black belt will take most people longer to achieve than a Judo black belt.
The only thing I would change in my martial arts history is to have not quit Judo when I was 8 years old and to have not quit BJJ when I was 30. I’m 42 now so I can only imagine what level I would have been in both

I know people who run full time dojo/academies in either Judo or BJJ as their career.

The kids Judo seems biggercand that's where the money is to made, for adults the bjj seems to be bigger and you can get more private lessons charges etc.

In sofar as self development I'd prefer the more rounded one as only one aspect is boring after a while, both have high injury rates for people that train alot, Judo gets the knees and bjj gets the shoulders, you just don't hear about it so much.

my 2cents

cheers

Are we assuming starting again when we were kids or present day? BJJ wasn't on the scene when I was a kid....and judo almost isn't on the scene now that I'm an adult...

I would recommend both if possible. I love BJJ and that is what I concentrate on now, but I have done several JJ styles and have learned many things that are useful that I would never learn in BJJ.


Recently I have ordered a personal guide as “Hard as Nails” for me on martial arts written by "Phil Milner" from "WKC Martial Arts Supplies" for better improvement for my martial arts skill. Thanks...