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	JUDO FOR SELF DEFENSE
Judo, created by Jigoro Kano in 1882 from Jujitsu, can be a very effective martial art for self defense. Judo is one of the various grappling arts which consist of styles such as Jujitsu, wrestling, Sombo, Judo and various other indigenous wrestling styles. Judo consists of various takedowns by either throwing or "flipping", tripping, sweeping, slamming or otherwise wrestling someone off of their feet. Once on the ground, Judo teaches one to pin or hold down an opponent in a controlling position. From this controlling position one can apply "submission" techniques like chokes and strangulation which can render someone unconscious, or jointlocks to the arm - commonly referred to as armbars. These jointlocks can be painful, damaging to the joint and incapacitating. While not taught in Judo, it's obvious that if you are able to control someone on the ground and prevent them from getting up, you can also easily administer other techniques not part of the Judo cirriculum such as punching, elbowing, headbutting, etc and any number of nasty attacks. Judo is currently practiced in most every dojo in the World as an Olympic sport rather than for self defense purposes. This is because after WWII all the Japanese arts were banned but judo was allowed as long as it was practiced as a 'sport', so the striking techniques were ignored and the grappling techniques used in competition were focused on. Because of this most people practice Judo for the sport aspect rather than self defense but once someone begins Judo training he or she will quickly realize how effective judo can be used to defend oneself. Recently, the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) no hold barred type fights that started in 1993 which are now called MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighting was what many considerd the true test of a fighting art as an effective art for self defense or at least the most realistic test. Sport arts such as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling and kickboxing were very successful. Because there were very few MMA champions who did Judo a lot of people initially and erroneously held the opinion that Judo was innefective as a real fighting art. But the fact was that there was only a handful of Judo fighters in MMA compared to Gracie Jiu-Jistu, wrestling and other styles. This was because Judo is an Olympic sport and most people who were seriously competitive in Judo had an Olympic Gold Medal on their minds since childhood and that was their ultimate goal which much more prestgious than a MMA championship. But things are different now. Many people retiring from Judo and Sombo (which is almost identical to Judo) are fighting in MMA competition and winning very sucessfully. Because of Judo's recent successes in MMA, many former non-believers now consider Judo to be one of the truly effective and realistic arts out there.
I'm not proposing that Judo is a complete art for self defense because no single art is complete. There are so many variables involved that it's almost impossible to have one art cover it all. But because judo is such a highly competitive combative sport, one develops great reflexes, technique, mental toughness and cardiovascular conditioning from thousands of hours of intense sparring against heavily resisting opponents. This develops vastly superior and effective fighting skills compared to most traditional martial arts styles that don't spar realistically and/or  prefer to practice techniques at a slow pace with a cooperative partner. This is the same reason that Judo was so effective against it's parent art of Jujistu and why the Japanese police adopted it as their art after the Kodokan judo school beat Jujistu schools in a National competition. See the other articles on this site about sport arts for self defense vs traditional arts for self defense for more information on this subject. If you crosstrain by adding another art to your Judo training such as boxing or kickboxing, your ability to use Judo for self defense will be that much greater. You can use boxing technique to distract or disorient someone with a few punches and that can enhance your ability to move in on someone into grappling range. Likewise, a low kick such as is taught in Muay Thai kickboxing, can also help you to safely close the distance to enter into grappling range by throwing your opponent off balance which naturally causes one to drops his hands and opens him up to other attacks.                                  JUDO FOR KIDS Since Judo is an Olympic sport, classes are held for kids as young as pre school. Judo is fun for kids because they learn to tumble, fall, wrestle with other kids, develop self respect and confidence that carries over to other aspects of life and can use it to keep the bullies away as well. If you're looking for a martial art for your child or even yourself then try Judo!                             LAW ENFORCEMENT In my opinion, Judo is the single best fighting art to learn if you're a law enforcement officer. Usually your primary goal is to take an offender off of his feet to immobilize and control him. Often times an officer already has partial control or a one handed grip on a suspect while standing upright before the suspect begins to resist or attempt an attack. This is a prime position for you to be in to use Judo to take someone down effectively. I have trained with several officers who enjoy and have praised Judo's benefits while performing their duties. So if you want to supplement your defensive tactics training then try Judo!