Face it. First time in the dojo, they were not there to impress you. They were keeping you from getting hurt while evaluating what you could handle. Stay with it a few months or years would be best and you would eventually feel what you are after. Believe me, there are many black belts out there that could toss you at will, all over the world.

Judoka here; my sensei personally put a LOT of emphasis on letting the younger/newer people off easy. Using those sessions to work on flexibility and somewhat movement rather than trying attacks. Even now I think I still do this instinctively and only put more effort in when i’m challenging bigger and tougher opponents or competing. Judo has a big element of respect and tradition rather than just eagdolling people

Shintaro Higashi is pretty much the best Judo channel on KZfaq. He deserves massive credit for his dedication to teaching online Judo!

Shintaro Higashi’s thoughts on aikido remind me a lot of Dave Camarillo (a highly accomplished black belt in both judo and BJJ, and also loves to use aikido techniques.)

When I was considerably younger, I was told that every man should learn Judo and Boxing. Judo teaches you how to be thrown and get back up, as well as how to throw someone else. Boxing teaches you how to take a punch, as well as how to give one. Both martial arts teach you that you can suffer being knocked down, but what's important is that you can get back up. Metaphor for life, eh?

As a Judoka for 9 months straight I can say that I am really glad you started making Judo content

Regarding being thrown like a ragdoll one one of the main tenets of judo is Jita Kyoei which roughly translated means mutual benefit warfare, meaning take care of your opponent. I injure you, especially as a white belt, you won't be back in the dojo. I, as a black belt do some randori with you, asses your skill and ability and adjust my judo to your level. My purpose is to teach you, not hurt you.

Great discussion! I’m glad it happened.

I think you're going through what I had when I had started Judo, I'm a fairly big guy (6ft 103kg) and have a little bit of experience in bjj before starting judo, and initially when doing randori I was surprised that I wasn't being tripped or thrown as much as I expected, fast forward 2 months later after learning a few techniques and actively going for attacks in randori, I can tell you now I'm getting that rag doll experience, and to be honest they seem to still be only going 80 percent at most, I'm of the opinion you will get the exact experience you're looking for if you go over and see Shintaro, or train at a judo club for a longer period of time.

Much respect to Shintaro. His perspective is a much needed breath of fresh air. It is very well-rounded and grounded. Especially his comments on cross-training. It mirrors what my instructor told me when I left my hometown to go to college. When I asked about what I should train while I was gone, he told me to find something different than him and then bring back what I've learned and teach him.

I love the amount of respect in Judo. When you first start, they will go easy on you but after a few months, you really start getting the average ragdoll experience. It's an amazing and effective martial art and I am very happy that I'm able to do it.

Many thanks to Shintaro for providing thoughtful, nuanced responses to questions that really come from limited Judo understanding and experience. Weight advantages and athleticism aside, getting launched in Judo often comes from putting yourself in compromised positions while attacking.

Great conversation - I would definitely take Shintaro up on that offer to train with him! Try make a long documentary on it, it would be great to watch.

I am a white belt Judoka and I’ve been practicing for about 7 months and only had one year of wrestling experience in high school, 10 years ago, prior to the start of this journey. I was and still am able to defend myself in class pretty well in an advanced class. However, I can say that the longer you are practicing at a dojo, the more you will get the full experience from both the Newaza and Randori components. I am one of the older and heavier, 185lbs, players at the club. Most of the players there are either in college, high school, or middle school. However, even against younger and lighter opponents I’m getting thrown and swept like crazy now that I’m less on the defensive and really allowing myself to be on the offense and just going for it. It’s tough and it hurts but man it’s so fun to see the development over time and feeling confident once you’ve got some of the basics down. Hope you continue to explore Judo! It’s a beautiful art form and one of the safer and more gentle ones all while being effective in application, in my opinion. Would love to have you come through our club sometime if you’re ever in California!

I totally agree with the part when shintaro opined that " the biggest problem is when the instructor doesn't know their own limitations and they claim what they teach to be the most effective".

This interview is exactly why I Shintaro Higashi is an inspiration to grapplers in general.

If this guy's actual judo is half as good as his verbal judo, he is a god among men. Amazing interview, he never tried to defend the indefensible, but he never ceded more ground than he needed either. In other words, his love for judo shone through, but he was extremely objective about its shortcomings and the compromises on the sport side of things.

Shintaro Higashi may be the most grounded, down-to-earth, open-minded person I’ve ever seen in martial arts.

I love judo. I’ve tried many martial arts but judo is the only one that has stuck for me. My dojo is offering no gi and free style judo soon too I’m so hype

This would make a great podcast! Your super respectful and thoughtful attitude fosters a great environment for meaningful discussion, and I would love to hear more of these in-depth conversations with experts and well respected martial artists.

"There's black belts and then there's black belts" is the truest shit ever said.

Higashi... is clearly a master in more than martial arts. Great communicator with well balanced and broad opinions.

Also, I really enjoyed how Shintaro laid out the path to becoming and olympic sport. When you do that you really give up a ton of control of your own sport to the people who run the olympics. In just the last 15 years, wrestling has had MAJOR rule changes back and forth only because the big suits at the head of the IOC had opinions on how wrestling matches played out. And we're not talking just banning a technique here or there, we're talking the number and length of rounds, scoring systems, penalties and overall judging. That's basically the whole rulebook thrown out over and over because a bunch of old dudes in some office had opinions of a sport they've never even practiced. Those who wish BJJ would enter the olympics should be a little careful of what they wish for since they just might get it.

Amazing discussion! Shintaro shows how real martial artists should think and express themselves towards other martial arts as well as their own. Instead of talking trash about everything else like many people on youtube do, he finds a way to look at every art from its perspective first. Great stuff!!

I often have the impression in those "what is the best martial art" "who has the strongest brown belts" or "they are push overs" arguments, that it is forgotten, that most people in martial arts do them as recreational sports and not competativly. In Germany you have to be a certain age (16?) to become a brown belt (and I think 18 for black. you needed at least 1 year between tests for most belts. And for black/brown belts you needed to do special workshops outside of the dojo and special people to test you. Also for the black belt now most of the test is a traditional judo kata. So how do you judge people doing judo for years just for fun and never trained for hard fights. Do you judge a sports of those people? So as a kid up to college I went once or twice a month to training, did a bit cross training with aikido and German Jujutsu. and now have paused for 10 years. Of course I would be a push over when I go with my brown belt back in a Dojo. So what? Maybe, one aspect of a sport is also how healthy it is for the person. Aikido and Judo can be done for ages with a quite minimal injury risk. When you do a lot of heavy boxing, not so good. I wish martial arts would also be more realistic about that. Not everybody wants to be a real fighter and rather thinks martial arts are more interesting than jogging.

Really like Shintaro Higashi in this video. Very eloquent and smart man who knows his stuff it seems.

Speaking of rank our coach really makes sure you deserve that black belt. Typically I’d say most students take as long from brown to black as they do from white to brown. I personally have been at brown belt for 2 years. We have an old school former Olympian coach. He’s 60 with a pacemaker and will do randori with his eyes closed and beat anyone of any rank and any weight that’s been in the gym, it’s an incredible thing to watch.

I was expecting this for a long time. Thanks for posting the whole thing. As a judoka for 13 years I can relate to a lot of things Shintaro pointed out and I understand how you got this first judo experience. Can't wait to see you train with Shintaro at the near future.

I'm surprised that you didn't offer the courtesy of linking Shintaro Higashi's KZfaq channel after he gave your channel so much time and insight. This was a really good conversation with a very intelligent and skilled practitioner, and clearly a dedicated Sensei.

When I was researching judo I found that there seems to be a distinction between Olympic Judo and kodokan judo. (Maybe you mention this in the video I'm still watching). Kodokan judo is judo in its original form with everything still included. Olympic Judo has been watered down due to Olympic rules making a lot of move sets illegal. As far as I can tell there are some Olympic Judo practitioners that are pretty damn good and it does depend on the school but kodokan judo is really where it's at.

The same, they say happened with Karate earlier in time. After the war, Jirogo Kano travelled the world and wanted to use Judo as a means to promote world peace. One of his goals was to make it an olympic sport. That necessarily included tightening it up with a lots of rules.

I didnt think I was gonna go thru the whole interview but I did, the interaction between the 2 of you was amazing. You Rokas are such a light energy, good vibe guy but made a lot of potentially uncomfortable questions to a super grounded, sure of himself wiseman Shintaro who gave the closest to perfect answers, thank you both and hopefully you'll have him again soon!

The interviewer is looking for a flaw in Judo. Saying there is no ground technique. But there is ground technique. BJJ was born from Judo ne waza. I spent my first five years in Judo at a club that did a ton of ne waza every practice. Anyway, if you are talking about a street fight, then the last thing you want to do is go to the ground. A hard tai toshi with a finishing stomp to your foe's head will be more effective than trying to drag them to the ground and submit them. While you are rolling around on the ground their friend comes up and stabs you in the back. In the street you need to be able to stay on your feet and be aware of everything else that is happening around you. You might just have to run. Rolling with BJJ will not help you, where as a quick Judo throw and taking off running might.

He does such a good job of explaining so many valuable lessons! Well done! Great video!

Thanks for putting little descriptions of what you're talking about in the video's runtime bar. It's so helpful for finding the topic I'm looking for, especially in these longer videos, and I wish more youtubers would do what you're doing. The extra effort is noticed and appreciated, keep up the good work.

Great conversation, quite interesting and before I knew time flew away. Thanks for sharing.

Good Day, I won’t be “politically correct” as I prefer to be straightforward, I did not like the approach you took on in the video and I watched it fully. I do appreciate Shintaro Coach/Sensei and the outlook he gave. First of all the title is very misleading which is good for clicks but does not represent the content of the interview. There is this stupid divide/fight/controversy, between Judo and BJJ on which is the "most effective and original" actually none is, both are useful to train for different reasons so both are great, the only divide, are money interests. Kosen judo is an interesting style and I suggest you try it, unfortunately, it is mostly practised in Japan, at the universities of Tokyo, Kyoto, Tohoku Kyushu, Hokkaido, Osaka and Nagoya, collectively known as the Seven Imperial Universities, Nanatei Jūdō (七帝柔道). Shintaro Sensei seems very patient and polite and he gives quite complete answers, You practised for 14 years Aikido which is great and taught for 7. I respect that because that means you put time and effort into your activity, but during this time didn't you “cross” train with other disciplines? Just to compare? Or out of curiosity? Also, from Aikido, you probably know how to fall and you are a blue belt in BJJ which is a practice of around 2 or 3 years where people also do some takedown drills and fight standing on some occasions so you should already have had an idea of a Randori right? The truth is that in most BJJ clubs they do not teach most of the times people how to fall correctly, rather they teach a mixed amount of break falls which are not that effective when a real throw comes into play, moreover, they start from kneeling positions, something, that many BJJ teachers have also pointed out as a wrong practice as no contest/ situation starts from a kneeling position everything starts from a standing position. Again depends on the school but people starting in their 30's or more would go for the kneeling part of training as it is very hard to learn to trust to be thrown and break fall correctly and as such standing training won't "sell" right of the bat, but you with the Aikido experience should not have this issue. You then say that you joined an "Olympic" training center or team, as you say in another video, the fact is that in France the training centers are very few, and very specific places and the training center for the Olympic/National team is not the one you have in your video, in your video you train with ACBB www.acbbjudo.com/ here is the link so people can see the same dojo. It is a Division 1 Judo club certainly not the Olympic team, it has produced some National team members but you joined a normal training session not a high performance/competitors session, and even in a high-level training they would never smash you for sure, especially when you show up with a white belt, that should and would never happen and especially in your case and the way you did randori. Also there, they probably knew that you either probably could not fall correctly or manage a proper throw, or you knew how to fall but had such a stiff and resistant posture as I saw in the video where it would make it dangerous for them to force you in order to throw you as you could get injured from your own stiff resistance or they could get injured along with you. Also, I have observed that you repeat the phrase “thrown around like a rag doll” why do you have this concept? this is a very wrong approach mentally/ Psychologically speaking. From where does the assumption/expectation, that someone new must be beaten come from? For me, all these "beating, smashing" etc expressions when it regards not buddies but newcomers and that seem "cool" are very toxic as in certain clubs they beat the newcomer to prove that they are the “real deal” but guess what, these clubs rarely have more success than the regional level and it goes against everything Judo and BJJ represent which is, respect for the Uke(teammate who you train with) and protecting each other while training, as you progress through each other not against him, in judo this is very nicely stipulated by the adage 自他共栄　which means literally “me, you mutual progress” or mutual effort for mutual benefit, that is why as well both practices are considered as a team activity so in a healthy mindset we shouldn't hate anything, like "judo is the best" or "BJJ is the best" No, both should be learnt and practised, as they can benefit greatly, drill, mat, train, repeat, adjust, train some more. “Belts are to tie your trousers” a Japanese world and Olympic champion once said to me. And that it is true you can’t judge anyone by the belt he has, as some trained a lot and stopped and/or restarted, some got their belts because of time passed in the club regardless of effort, it is very random, depend the place and location of the dojo, you can find an old wolf "smeshing or killing" new generation and/or a young cub "killing or smeshing" regulars to use the "current" expressions etc. Shintaro sensei pointed out this really well What I propose to you is, instead of trying to talk and overthink things, just pause the video making, train in a Judo or a SAMBO club for a while (and why not combine it with BBJ) learn correctly how to allow yourself to fall even like a "rag doll...." for a year and then make videos and have expectations. You can't have expectations based on false assumptions that are derived from lack of experience, because a blue belt in BJJ and a Brown in Judo are just starting the journey or if no belt criteria are used to assess this better get a real experience with time and effort invested in these, just like you did with Aikido and you will stop having “expectations” and you will have real training experience, train, train, and train again, mat time is the real deal get tapped, tap people, throw, repeat and go on keep on training, all the rest is talk and blah blah blah to get clicks, everyone can pick up a mic and say I am this or that, and equally, everyone can put the mic to rest for a while and start training to get to the correct conclusions and then make a video.

Shintaro never ceases to amaze me on his ability for insightful commentary, instructional wisdom, and open mindfulness of his trade. Listening to his macro-awareness of martial sport gives me a heightened respect of his contributions. you are so lucky to have interviewed him. Seems like a truly genuine cool guy to be friends with and have in one's corner.

I practiced judo for a lot of time in collegue years. And i remembered the first classes were all about learning how to break a fall properly to avoid injury and then mostly newaza techniques, and when i finally did some tachiwaza it was with higher ranking judokas that made my life hell. By the end of my judo journey I was a green belt, and imo, judo works when someone is trying to grab you with very little effort you can send someone flying, it has its uses.

Shintaro is awesome. Loved this interview!

He sounds like a cult member that got away from his cult and treated his next interest like a replacement for his cult. It's kind of an arrogant thing to ask why aren't these black belts good enough to rag doll me? 2hen they think he's a newbie white belt and they're treating him with respect. Since he has multiple years of grappling now he should be totally forthcoming with that walking in the door.

Khabib: "Judo next level, brotha. Judo higher than wrestling. In Olympic Games, 176 countries compete in Judo. In wrestling, 54 or 56." Rokus after two lessons: "iS juDo WaTeRed dOwN?!?!?!"

What a great conversation. Thank you to both gentlemen.

Shintaro just gave one of the best and well grounded discussion of Martial Arts that I have ever heard. Everything he said, on very different topics, was convincing, well argumented, and properly nuanced and not faith-based.

Outstanding content in this conversation. I often watch Shintaro's takedown and throw tips for my BJJ.

In the dojo I grew up in, a beginner would never get hard training or abused. I saw on mcdojo where a 7yr old boy was killed by a ridiculous "judo" person who was literally rag dolling this boy. He was new and it was very sad and needless.

Really sage advice and thoughts from Shintaro. Thanks for doing this interview with him.

Really learned a lot from this conversation myself u guys are 👍🏾

The conversation on Belt standards was very insightful, but overall amazing interview my man!

Yes, this conversation is long, but it was totally worth the watch. I love conversations about sports vs martial arts vs combat when everyone comes in with humility and honesty with what they know and do. Thanks for the watch and listen, Rokas and Shintaro!

Great interview, thanks for sharing!

Excellent work Rokas your contribution to the martial arts community is significant I'm learning alot.

Oh yes a long one! Coffee, cookies and get ready to learn 😎

"I went to one class and they didn't sand bag me. I guess it doesn't work"

Great interview! 👍🏾

That was a fantastic discussion. Keep 'em coming.

Great conversation. We need more videos like this.

Loved the video! One thing I would have loved to hear discussed, is that, if you question about judo being useful in self defense, you should also consider that in a real self defense situation, if the other person is in a very stiff low position, kind of a bjj stand, he is 1) in a very bad position against punches and 2) If the other person is just trying to get out of there and being overly defensive, maybe then you are being overly aggresive and not him anymore. It doesnt mean you shouldnt learn how to deal with that, but I think for a self defense situation you are still in a better position, and of course, learning striking game will help a lot with that

I really hope you do more content with Shintaro - watching you two spar would be incredible!

Great discussion and I love Shintaros way of analyzing. You just feel the experience he has in this matter. Great insights here. First time in a long time a watched a video that long

Excellent video, I trained in Judo to brown belt. Tae Kwon Do to 2nd Degree, Karate to 4th Dan. I have been a Kickboxer and also trained at Wing Chun, Lau Gar, Kali, and Japanese Ju Jitsu. You can learn from all. I have met too many who say their style has everything and there is no need to train in anything else.

We have a black belt in bjj and judo. I’m a blue belt but did judo as a kid. The bjj black belt hits foot sweeps, throws (of a judo persuasion) like no one’s business; even with resisting opponents. It seems judo lends quite a lot.

Man, that was way more thoughtful than I expected. Great job guys.

I really enjoy this video. Great work

You can tell a great teacher by his answers. Shintaro Higashi is certainly one. In the age of aphorisms of 280 characters max it's good to find nuence.

Really like this guy, would be great to attend a class with him.

Long but great interview. I stayed to the end. I just bought Shintaro's instructional on stiff arms today but haven't looked it yet. My humble experience so far is that as a pretty bad brown belt in judo, I had the feeling that I couldn't really throw anybody who was defensive, and once I started BJJ as well, I very rarely threw anybody from the BJJ school. We start all BJJ fights standing, and most pull guard right away, so it is even harder to get a throw. But other judokas there do throw almost everybody. And "rarely" still means that I am one of the few who do takedowns instead of guard pulls. Then had a breakthrough. I worked on my tomoe nage, sumi gaeshi, and osoto gari (Danaher's instructionals are amazing. So is Shintaro's on tomoe nage). My success rate shot through the roof. Now if you stiff-arm me and bend forward, i will flip you with tomoe nage at least 95% of the time. You let me take grips and come close, I will get an osoto gari (again, Danaher) quite often. Sumi against single leg--so-so; needs more work. Wrestlers with good balance usually stay on top, but there is hope. Next on the list is perfecting hiza guruma. The word is that it works great against BJJ posture. So, I think that somewhere between brown and black belt most judokas get past the stiff arms problem and will impress you.

Great discussion! Well done!

In regards to Bjj vs judo culture, I’ve had a much different experience than the example you presented. The local judo community( pretty much 50+ mile radius) here is very friendly and we all visit and train with each other, while I notice tribalism in the bjj world. That is, if you’re at a bjj school not affiliated with another, you can’t go train with them without being labeled a traitor or shady in some way. Having said that, the judo schools do have more strict etiquette, but coming from a traditional martial arts background, I’m ok with it.

53:53: If BJJ becomes an olympíc sport, it'll exactly like judo, since groundfighting is not spectator-friendly

FANTASTIC video!!! Loved it!

Great interview! I really like Shintaro explanation and general positive mindset

Love the long video man

Fun fact, if they added open hand strikes like in sumo, judo would be one hell of a spectator sport for the olympics... And having in mind there are strikes in the self defense forms, it would technically be true to the source

This is a very good podcast. Good questions and great answers. I learned a lot. Thanks. Osu.

I appreciate these martial artist's you bring in they are always humble and kind and generous in the sharing of their experience. Greatly appreciated. Really man can't thank you enough for your work.

Shintaro was very patient, understanding, but firm while explaining to a guy trying to paint judo as a half baked martial art. He is a true judoka, more than the art itself it’s manifestation in life I think is encapsulated by this mans’ demeanor. Great video!

So much wisdom and truth in this interview. Quality content Bro

Awesome convo, dudes. I'm gonna have to bring people up from Pittsburgh to train with Shintaro!

Thanks for sharing this discussion.

With all due respect to Chadi and his dojo-mates, you need to come to the U.S. and do a randori session with either Travis Stevens (east coast) or one of the Camarillo brothers (west coast) or even Shintaro himself. Or even Japan at the Kodokan itself or at one of the Kosen schools, but really go in-depth with your background and how hard you want to go. The Kosen clubs might be more interesting because they are pure judo clubs, but that focus on newaza. Shintaro, Travis and the Camarillos are black belts in both judo and jiu-jitsu.

What a great conversation.

Love how educated this judo dude is and how he keeps it to facts while always being respectful ,..very good interview, a must see for all martial arts.

Quite enjoyed that little chat.. Thanks boys!

I think you underestimate how much Akido improved your core balance and grappling skills. I've grappled against a newbies in Judo/BJJ, who were former Akido practitioners and they always amazed me how great their balance, composer, grappling and grip game was.

It also seems like a lot of modern Judo schools are disconnected from the complete Judo systems. If you really look into complete Judo manuals, you will see a lot more locks and even strikes that are not taught normally. You also have very aggressive Ne-waza AIMED AT QUICKLY DOMINATING AND FINISHING. I actually used some of these against BJJ guys and they were surprised because they didn't know these techniques, and they were rather simple and quick. My favorite: when facing someone in a guard, grab his feet, put them together and throw them to the side with brute force, the person will spin,hahaha, even BJJ brown belts! Why schools have left this by the wayside is anyone's guess.

Wow! This guest is great! He has a very nuanced view and the discussion was very interesting

I really enjoy your content!

Great interview, you have talent to get the best out your guests

Thank you for finally addressing Judo, this video finally convinced me about my doubts of Judo and BJJ what I would like better. Thank you!

I love how you always seek the truth, Rokas. Keep up the good work 👍

What a great conversation!

I just started watching but calling Chadi "some youtuber friend" is really hillarious lol Chadi and Shintaro Higashi know each other they did a podcast

As a martial artist (I prefer combat martial artists) I love this challenge. I believe every martial artist should have a high-quality of curiosity and then go after that curryosity wherever it takes them. Rokas to me is an example of a great and true martial artist oss 🤙🏾

When I started judo they told me that we have to let you get used to getting thrown and they did indeed just throw me around like a ragdoll. If you wanted to be thrown you should have just asked.

The Lord bless you and keep you Rokas, im excited that im able to move one of the muscles in my left leg that hasnt moved in over 5 years. Cant wait for our sparring match when I get out of this wheelchair. Shalom Rokas, I will pray for your health! 🙏😊

THIS CONVERSATION IS PURE GOLD!!

I wrestled from middle school through college division 1, judo from high school to college. I took Gracie jujitsu and my instructor told me that my top game was black belt level which was a big compliment for me. To be honest I was already familiar with most of the submissions, but jujitsu really sharpened my holds and made me more effective. Statistics show most champions in MMA have wrestling backgrounds.

Love this discussion!

Great perspective, and yeah...for Aikidoka: Cross train, and cross train early on. Know what it is and isn't, what it contributes and what it lacks. Love it! And for martial arts teachers...embed cross training in your curriculum, that is the key. Embed what you believe, add what will build the Aikido skills that it may not be providing. Keep it up, my friend!