Judo Uniform & Belts (Intro for Beginners) 

Hey, so great to hear! I think it's great to cross-train in both (I'm struggling to do so right now because of time and physical limitations, but it's definitely something I recommend to those who are able). Note also that there are variations in the belt structures due to changes as political and regulatory bodies within the art have developed. For instance, the judo school I'm at now operates under a different set of belt colors than the one I was with when I made this video. Foe them, the progression is white, green, blue, and three ranks of brown. Thus, they have 6 total kyu (color belt) ranks instead of 7 like I was originally trained in. It didn't affect me, since I was already a brown belt when I moved over, but it can be relevant for some students for sure.

@MystiqWisdom yeah, there are more variations I'm aware of than when I originally did this video. Maybe I should do a sequel video that encompasses things better, though I did try to edit the description to account for the limited applicability of this information. USA Judo does things akin to how I do them here, while USJF (itself under IJF rules) has a different belt system. I'm in the latter now. In Canada, it doesn't surprise me that there will be additional variation.

Oh hey, thanks! Much appreciated. I would like to keep the channel growing and improving (along with my own technique, of course). To answer your question, someone I'm very close to may be moving out there and attending the school, so I may have occasion to go out there to visit. On a less likely but still possible level, I might attend the university as well -- provided I decide I can handle going back to school at all. Loooooong story there 🤣

Also, let me know if you have ideas for any other videos I should do. I'm always open to suggestions.

Oh gotcha. Yeah going back to school is a huge commitment lol. Ok buddy if i think of anything to help the channel I will definitely let you know. Its good to talk to ya

@@justinwilson4795 absolutely. Great chatting. Drop in on the vids any time. I love actually being able to engage with people on these :)

Thanks for sharing. Yeah, I had a rather lengthy and inconsistent training history (and then tore my ACL in a randori session, grinding my training to a halt before the pandemic started). If I had been consistent since I began, I'd have likely made it to nidan by now. Oh well. I've never done formal aikido, though I've trained with friends who did some of it for a while. I did a number of years practicing with its Korean sister art hapkido, though, so there's that. Judo is a special thing for sure :)

@BonniePlushGaming red is a very senior belt in judo, so it's essentially after every other belt. In the systems I'm familiar with, red is the highest color, as it is the most senior of the "dan" ranks, coming after black belts. To be a little more thorough, sometimes "black belt" is used to refer to all ranks above the typical colored ranks regardless of whether belt is actually black. The lower colored ranks (which I mainly tall about in this video) are referred to as "kyu" ranks, while the ones above them are "dan" ranks. The first 5 dan ranks typically carry a black belt, with the next 3 (so 6th through 8th) having an alternating red-and-white belt, and the remaining (9th and 10th) being solid red. There are sometimes exceptions to this in offshoot disciplines, and I've seen rare occasion where one can have an alternating red-and-*black* belt (associated with around 4th and 5th dan as I recall), but those aren't typical in the world of judo. At any rate, red is almost always associated with the very highest ranks, above any other color or belt style. Hope that helps.

I have explained this several times by now, but I guess I have to explain it again: Yes, blue belts exist, but they are not *typical* of most judo programs for adults. I never said that they didn't exist at all. I've trained in several judo programs over the years, and exactly one of them had blue and purple for adults. That's it. At the national and international competition level, you will almost never see blue for adults as a recognized rank; instead they, will be ranked as an appropriately matched brown belt (assuming the tournament even separates brown belts to begin with).

@@JudoGeoff very good information

This one was made several years ago by one of our instructors at the place where I used to train. I don't know if he has more or if he can ship them. I can look into it.

@@JudoGeoff Ah nice, lemme know if you know something about it. Glad to buy one of them.

It will depend on the school and what the owner(s) or instructor(s) say about it, but aikido and karate gis tend to be lighter and thinner. The abuse that a judogi takes tends to be greater, so I'd typically advice grabbing one specifically for judo (or for Brazilian jiu-jitsu). If you have an abnormally thick gi for karate or aikido, though, you may be fine. Now if you're *competing*, you will need a gi that meets specific regulations (including things like sleeve length and space around the wrist), so be aware of that. Some instructors may let you try a class out with the gi you have, and then insist on getting a new one if you plan on staying in their school long-term. Just check around with schools where you may want to train.

@JudoGeoff okay, thank you. Also, I see jujutsu and jujitsu guys practice in all kinds of color dogis. I was wondering if this is okay in Judo as well. I understand that only white and blue are allowed in official competition.

I would like to do an update to this video at some point, because it was too specific to my personal experiences in belt systems. Many schools do have a blue belt, but the one I had the most training in at the time of this video did not use blue for adults. The IJF, however, currently does have blue, and my present schools follow that scheme. Specifically, they go as follows: white, green, blue, brown (x3), then black. So they have 1 less kyu (color) rank than the system I was in when I did this video. My *very* first school, however, was different again, having it go: white, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown, black. So you will definitely see variation. There is no one "correct" progression, in my opinion. As long as you can establish parity/equivalence between ranks from different belt systems and have an understanding between schools, I don't see it as an issue. Others on the internet disagree, because as we all know, such internet disagreements are life or death ;) Thank you for your comment and your question, as they allowed me an opportunity to clarify a bit.

Typically there are no blue belts in the adult judo ranks (levels of brown correspond for adults to blue and purple in junior ranks). If I were covering BJJ instead, then there would definitely be a blue belt in there ;)

@@JudoGeoff interesting, maybe its a IJF vs USJA belt thing. IJF for sure has a blue belt (white, yellow, orange, green, blue brown, black).

I would need to look into it for sure. My first judo program had blue and purple for adults, but I learned later that that was somewhat a rarity in the other programs I had access to. Every one I've interacted with since then has used brown for those ranks in adults. I didn't look closely enough at the associations/affiliations the clubs had, unfortunately.

@@JudoGeoff if its like 3 browns then black its probably USJA. Im a japanese jujitsu black belt + BJJ blue belt. Thinking of joining Judo too any tips?

Dive in! You will notice lots of overlap with your previous experience, but be open to the differences as well. Not really any specific advice other than have fun, learn a lot, and (when you're ready/comfortable) share what you know with others in your school/club so you can help to enrich their program and the lives of those you're training with.

In this progression, I think that would be fair to say. Note that this was the ranking system used by a USA Judo-affiliated club where I was training when I recorded this video. I'm now training with a USJF-affiliated club in a different part of the country, and the early ranks have different colors. In *that* system, green is the first rank after white, so it's still rather novice-level (particularly given the very lax time-in-grade requirements for the first couple of promotions in that system). So just note that a color in one system may not denote the same rank when you see it in a different system.

@@JudoGeoff Okay, thanks for the info Geoff. I'm just starting judo, finished my third class last week. I appreciate the info since it gives me a better understanding of how the system works. Thanks!

Nope! I started at 22, and I've seen many people start in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. If you have good partners and instruction, I don't think there's really an age limit.

@@JudoGeoff Thank you so much👍🏻

@@abdulrahmanel-daly4155 happy to help :)

Nah man, I started at 25. Never been a better time.

@@JudoGeoffi started in my late 40s :)🎉

No I didn't (at least, not exactly). Read my response to Minja Mirza from a year ago. It was an intentional omission, because blue is not a typical rank for adult judoka. Children have blue and purple, whereas those ranks are replaced by brown in adults (which I believe I even mentioned in this video). BJJ ranks also do not apply here, in case that was what you were thinking of.

Additionally, the video description was careful to explain that this is not the *only* way the rank system will be presented. There are some judo programs with blue belts for adults, though they are somewhat rare in my experience. Thanks for watching

No I didn't. I was talking about traditional adult judo ranks. Typically, blue in judo is only used with kids, and it corresponds to the sankyu rank (the first rank of brown that is received). Then it would be followed by purple (again, only for kids), and then brown for the final rank before black. I believe I mention this in the video, but I'd have to go back and check. *Editing (on 28 Nov 2023) to add that the above remarks are also specific to the system I was in at the time of this video. Later comments have added clarifications based on an expanded perspective, as I don't want to give the impression that I think the USA Judo affiliation I was with when I recorded this video was the only game in town.

@@JudoGeoff True, I didn't watch the full video and I jumped to conclusions :( I actually learned something new. Thank you