Do Judo throws hurt? What should I expect when getting thrown?

If you’re familiar with BudoDragon, then you may have already read our article on whether Judo is hard on the body or not. Whilst that article is about the general aspects of Judo grappling and includes submissions, this piece is devoted solely to Judo throws. With this said, the question of Judo throws hurting is a common one. In answer to this question, it greatly depends on a number of factors. Although Judo throws may hurt, the good news is that there are a number of ways to minimize risk and injury. With this said, you can still learn Judo safely and progress, however you have to train smart. Anyway, here is the answer to the original question.

So, do Judo throws actually hurt?

To answer the question bluntly, yes they do. However, the good news is this can be minimized. Often, it is newcomers who get injured the most due to panicking. This is literally the worst thing you can do and can put your body in greater danger. It should also be noted that sometimes accidents do happen. If you get thrown thousands of times, then even with good technique, sometimes you may get hurt. As well, over time the small hits will add up too.

A good way to counter this is to practice on a softer floor. Some other martial arts practice throws on wood for example. This is a pretty terrible idea as your bones may hit hard off wood which isn’t soft. However, if you can practice drilling on soft mats then this will dramatically increase injuries. Not only this but in general, these throws won’t really hurt. The downside is that when it comes to randori, you can’t really train on super soft mats. This is probably where you are likely to get hurt as well due to the intensity that sparring naturally brings.

How to minimize pain – the art of breakfalling

Breakfalling is taught in many forms of martial arts and is also big in Aikido. This is designed to soak up the pressure of the ground when landing. Imagine getting thrown onto your back and your neck smashes into the ground. For obvious reasons, this isn’t good. However, imagine being trained to soak up this fall which would take the pain away. When landing, you are meant to instantly spread your arms out onto the floor to absorb the damage and spread your weight. By doing this, your head shouldn’t violently recoil.

Similarly, some people will naturally reach their arm out to absorb the landing. If you do this, your entire weight can go into the arm and lead to a break. Due to this, breakfalling is far safer as it spreads the damage. In short, if you’re going to train Judo then you MUST learn to breakfall. This is a real skill that most sportspeople lack. Over the years, it will minimize hits and increase your longevity.

The good news is that you will be taught how to breakfall early on. Not only this but you will also drill breakfalls regularly until they become natural. Further, over time your body will also naturally learn to relax. If you fall whilst relaxed your muscles are less likely to hurt. However, if you fall whilst tense, your muscles are more likely to get hurt or injured.

If worried, avoid banned or dangerous moves

Some Judo takedowns are naturally less aggressive than others. For example, some Judo takedowns were deemed too dangerous so they got banned. One example of this was the Kani Basami which is commonly known as the flying scissors. This works by jumping on your opponent and scissoring your legs around a leg whilst in mid-air.

Although this won’t concuss the opponent, it does have a higher chance of snapping the leg. This is due to your body weight landing awkwardly on one leg of the opponent which can have horrible consequences. Although gruesome, this takedown is still practiced in some dojos which use older Judo rules. Obviously, if you’re worried about safety then it’s a good idea to say to your partner beforehand that you don’t want to include certain throws.

With this in mind, it may be ideal to research some of the more dangerous and banned Judo moves. Unlike the Kani Basami, others have been banned over the years due to concussions and damage to the head. Make sure you and your partner are aware of this.

Over time, Judo will hurt less…but hurt more?

The one benefit of training for a long time is that eventually, you will become very skilled. One major bonus of this is that you won’t get thrown around so much. At some point as a black belt you will improve your defense to a high standard. This means your opponents will struggle to establish grips, let alone throw and dominate you. Similarly, at this point, you should be able to throw your opponent more and be aggressive when necessary. However, reaching this level is not easy.

The bad news is that by then you will have probably taken your fair share of hits and injuries over the years. Some Judoka will mention this, that if you can survive the first 4 years or so without major injuries then you will probably be ok. This is something to think about when training for longevity…whilst your Judo should be honest and real, if you can get good before getting injured, this will help dramatically. Usually at the level of mastery though, your body will have sadly accumulated a number of regular aches and pains by then.

If Judo hurts, then it’s actually a good thing

This may sound warped, but it’s also kind of true. Basically, you ideally want to learn a tough martial art that works in reality. There’s no point lying to yourself and pretending your art works if it doesn’t. This means there’s a lot of positives that randori brings and there are no falsehoods.

Imagine if Judo was incredibly watered down to the point where there were only a few select throws that weren’t dangerous. This idea may help your body, but your Judo would be greatly compromised as a result. Because of this, the fact that Judo is hard-hitting is a testament to its practical success. If Judo hurts on the dojo floor, imagine what it could do to an attacker on concrete. This is a good concept that proves the brutal efficiency of Judo.

Final Thoughts

Speaking honestly, Judo does hurt at times and can be quite damaging to the body. In fact, most forms of tough grappling such as BJJ and wrestling will have similar stories about injuries. However, don’t let this put you off. If you walk into a number of typical Judo dojos you will often see older, veteran Judoka’s who are proof that you can train it into old age. Of course, you should be sensible with how you train and be careful. Nonetheless, this is hard evidence that Judo can hurt yet remain a long-term martial art.

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