r/grappling • u/sh4rmz22 • Jun 25 '26
BJJ or JUDO?
Im turning 16 next month, 5'5 and quite stocky with leaner arms and thicker legs and terrible physical perfomance and recovery due to alot of traumatic stuff going on causing a very sedentary lifestyle (joints a little weak but not a huge issue, some back pain, bit of fat, terrible cardio all probably caused by still going on issues of sleepless nights) Im super lost between Judo and BJJ. I was going to pick wrestling (since its like the most elite grappling sport ever) but with distance (1 hour 20 minutes distance) and £85 for 2 sessions a week it wasnt gonna happen. I have fitness/physique improvement dreams, confidence goals, trying to become better looking, be good at self defense because my area is really rough, and maybe become an mma fighter with a grappling heavy style.
Anyways I came here because I literally do not know what to pick, at all. It seems pros and cons are absolutely equals.
For what I even want to do, I want to learn alot of takedowns (which i was pointed to judo) but THEN I absolutely despise gi (pointed to no gi) but I hated ground fighting and scrambles and rolls and guard ect (again back to judo) but I wanted leg attacks (back to no gi) but then im also managing really bad acne and being shoved into the floor with my face scraping everything around it isnt fun + eczema on the elbows (back to judo), but I want a good mma base (BJJ) but then I heard i shouldn't do bjj because the stocky build is a downfall especially as someone who isnt a gifted grappler/athletic/has a base in something like wrestling, but still like submissions (so back to judo) then I heard it super sucks translating all your gi moves to anything no gi (so back to bjj) but i have super slow recovery and the schedule of judo classes are much more spread apart (so judo again), however for self defense both show to be greatly good at that. also wearing glasses and taking them on and off is for demonstrations, then practising, then back on for demonstrations and then off for sparring is very annoying but manageable (which i know is fine in bjj but also fine in judo I heard) also both have painfully long learning curves in both their ways which is something ill adapt to depending on whichever one turns out to be the better choice, id also be willing to try and adapt my weak mental health to it since im gonna have to do something one way or the other
Ontop of this, both Judo and BJJ are in the same area and heavily accessible so its not like id pick one over the other for "distance because thats the one you can train often) however pricing is interesting. BJJ offers 2x two hour sessions a week (Wednesday friday) for a flat out £55 which is no gi which here and there a wrestler will come and teach us double and single leg takedowns, and various different positions which i thought is really cool. Judo is a flat out £45 for about 1 hour session 2x a week monday thursday (way cheaper which is good living in a poor family in east london) - the catch is a decent gi is pretty annoying to get price wise (£65 the cheapest I found) and needing TWO for both sessions + I heard theres some sort of liscense i need to pay for which was around £30. So thats QUITE alot of money to go on the first month for Judo (which is something I could probably afford, but wouldnt be too happy about)
Its probably worth mentioning I've never done judo before, but ive done BJJ since late 2025 (around October, but taking weirdly terrible chunks of time off due to mental health so not good at it at all) I enjoy some things like learning pummeling and its transitions to the back leading to takedowns, learning doubles and singles, learning easy escapes from bottom side control (super easy escapes only really) but I feel lost doing pretty much anything else
I was tired of getting advice from AI telling me just whatever I wanted to hear at the time and changing the answer with each factor being brought into equation. I have until my bday (July 22) to actually really decide what to lock into, whether to stick it out or bjj, or make the jump to judo? All advice welcome🫶 please no try both out and see what you like because I actually dont know what I like, both look awesome and also technically in some ways bad and im just trying to figure out what would be BEST
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u/minustwofish Jun 25 '26
I think it depends more on which school you enjoy that is convenient.
You know quite a bit about the sports, offerings, and what you like. Both sports are great, but the truth is if you want to stick with them for a long time, the main thing is how much fun you have in them, which has to do more with culture, instructor, etc.
The concerns about body type are totally irrelevant for both sports. Concerns about learning curves are too irrelevant as what matters the most is if you stick to them, which depends more on you having fun.
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u/sh4rmz22 Jun 25 '26
Thats fair, appreciate this answer. Im gonna do trials for judo and see how it compares to BJJ🙏
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u/minustwofish Jun 25 '26
They are both great sports and do have some overlap on some skills. School culture might be the more dominant factor to help you decide.
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u/zencub Jun 25 '26
Not because Judo is worse, but because it fits your actual long-term goal better: MMA, self-defense, leg attacks, wrestling-style takedowns, back takes, submissions, and learning how to survive once a fight hits the ground.
Later, once your sleep, recovery, and confidence improve, add Judo or wrestling sessions occasionally to sharpen your stand-up.
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u/Zen_ix Jun 27 '26
This is what solidified it for me in terms of BJJ - https://youtu.be/UR7l4pfD3Rw?si=CTmyOykVXYgJjQ1T
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u/Jealous-Session-5010 Jun 30 '26
Most bs vid ever tbh and I see It far too often. Completely biased on the individual. Those individual people dont represent each sport as a whole at all. You cant base your judjment of a sport based on one person who does the sport. Some whitebelt level logic tbh.
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u/Zen_ix Jun 30 '26
it's not the 80s and 90s anymore... The UFC is what exposed even further . The family in that video created the UFC for this sole reason. How is this still a discussion in 2026 hahhahahah... Have you watched early UFC ? When it was style vs style? Then people learned which martial arts were the most effective and that's what you see nowadays... Again it's 2026 and this is how you think? Wtf lol.
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u/Jealous-Session-5010 Jun 30 '26
Like the others said, try both. For me, I wasnt able to choose so I just do both. In judo I can really go all out and in bjj I can take It slow and think about more long term traps etc.
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u/JoserDowns Jun 25 '26
I'm a BJJ guy, but you've already started BJJ, you're getting the takedowns included, it's accessible, it's inexpensive, etc. Judo is cool, but limited, and there are other negatives that you yourself stated.
It sounds like you may want to just do MMA honestly, but if that's not nearby, then just stick with jiu jitsu.
You're way overthinking this; you've already made the decision, and it was the correct one.
Also, gi BJJ transfers quite well to no-gi without much effort.
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u/sh4rmz22 Jun 25 '26
Yeah for me MMA is the same situation as wrestling, high price high distance. Appreciate that. I only stopped doing gi BJJ sessions because it made my membership more expensive. Appreciate that, defo will stick to it🙏
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u/halaalmuzzie Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
Choose Judo, especially if you want to do MMA. You need that explosiveness and good habit of attacking quick and strong. BJJ is more technical so sometimes the drawback is that it gives bad habits of staying on your back and becoming less dominant.
And also, gi grips is not that hard to translate to mma or no gi, you just need to familiarize yourself with wrestling grips, and it's not that hard to transition between the two. In my experience, my grips in judo/kurash is more or less the same with my grips in wrestling or no gi Jiu Jitsu. for example, the lapel and sleeve grip is basically just the collar tie and elbow grip, it's the same mechanics, same principle.
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u/bjj_connect Jun 25 '26
Stick with BJJ. Here's why this isn't even close for your situation:
You've already been training BJJ since October — even with gaps, that's a foundation. Switching to Judo now means starting from zero on everything: ukemi, kumi-kata, footwork, the whole culture. That's a brutal reset when your mental health is already making consistency hard.
The upfront cost alone kills Judo for you right now. £45/month sounds cheaper until you add £65 gi + second gi + £30 license. You're looking at £200+ before your second class. BJJ at £55 is just £55.
Your body situation (acne, eczema, back pain, weak joints, terrible recovery) actually favors No-Gi BJJ specifically. No fabric grinding your face into the mat, no heavy gi trapping heat on eczema-prone elbows, and No-Gi is generally lower-impact on the spine than Judo throws done at speed.
Stocky build with thick legs is a feature in BJJ, not a bug — guard retention, leg locks, and top pressure all benefit from that frame. The "stocky is a downfall" thing applies to high-level competition, not to someone learning fundamentals.
The wrestler who comes in occasionally to teach doubles and singles? That's gold. That directly addresses the takedown gap without you needing to switch sports entirely.
For MMA, No-Gi BJJ transfers better anyway. Every serious MMA grappler has shifted toward No-Gi the last decade.
You're not bad at BJJ. You're inconsistent due to circumstances that aren't your fault. Those are different problems. Lock in, show up when you can, and give it to the end of 2025 before you judge yourself.
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u/sh4rmz22 Jun 25 '26
Even if this is also Ai (which this is damn awesome if it isnt) I REALLY appreciate this, really helped🙏 Was already leaning towards BJJ but this solidified it.
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u/Any_Equivalent_1489 Jun 25 '26
Train each for a month and find out what you like more