Judo training will vastly improve your Jiu-Jitsu and vice versa. However, both sports have their own set of rules and have different goals. For example, in Judo the match is won by ippon when the opponent is thrown flat on their back or when pinned on the ground for 20 seconds. For those reasons, BJJ players need to know how to “modify” and adapt Judo accordingly for BJJ.

Matt D’Aquino is a multiple Australian and Oceania Champion and a 2008 Beijing Judo Olympian. He has been studying Judo for over 23 years. He is a 3rd Degree Black belt and a black belt in BJJ. Matt has also come out with a great new DVD set for BJJ players: Judo for BJJ.

Matt talked to BJJEE.com about how can BJJ players best improve their stand up:

Matt, in your opinion, is it better for a BJJ player, in order to improve his standing Jiu-Jitsu game, to learn takedowns that are specific to Jiu-Jitsu or to learn Judo on the side?

To improve their stand up it would be awesome if BJJ guys could attend a Judo class a few days a week but unfortunately most of us are time poor and can only commit to one sport at a time. If this is the case then I think BJJ practitioners should learn a modified version of stand up tailored for specifically for the BJJ posture, movement, rules etc. So should bjj guys learn traditional Judo for BJJ, the answer is no. They should learn modified techniques that allow them to flourish in their art. Many Judo techniques finish you off in a great position in Judo and a bad position in BJJ, so it is important to choose Jiujitsu specific throwing techniques and drill them. Rodolfo Viera’s stand up game is a perfect example of modified Judo techniques for BJJ.

Mike Lee and Stephan Kesting talk about how to adapt Judo for BJJ, including how to maneuver inside the guard, and how to throw someone who is bending over at the waist and stiff-arming you:

Judo inspired tweaks for sidemount (Yoko Shio Gatame) to pin a big opponent:

Judo Turtle Attacks for BJJ

Differences between Judo and BJJ Groundwork

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• Master the basics with Shintaro Higashi, 6th-degree black belt and US National Champion
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