competition in Judo

One of the things that is often told about martial arts is how a skilled practitioner is supposed to be able to defeat a larger and stronger opponent. Well, in many cases I'm not so sure about that unless the difference in skill is really, really great. And in most forms of competition of which I am aware that claim is not really tested in competition because of weight divisions which keep competitors on at least a rough par.

However, Judo does have an 'Open Weight' division at the World Championship level. Does this Open weight tend to be 'heavyweights II' or are smaller fighters competitive there?

I think open weight tourneys in Judo are becoming increasingly rare, I have heard of guys in the 209 division winning, but I havent heard of smaller guys winning for awhile.In BJJ open weights are still quite common and often won by guys like Ribeiro at 180.Leo Viera at 160 beat world champion Tata who is 300 last year.

BJJ is not going to be a good example, the skill level difference still varies widely - doesn't have the uniformity that Judo can have at top levels. While you will receive your better answers on the Judo List, I'll give you my two cents worth:

The best place to validate something like this would be the All Japan Judo Championships, since they don't use weight categories. Quoting from Donn Draeger, (and he EMPHASIZED the first sentence in the book): 'There never has been a small Japanese Judo champion. All of them have been 175 pounds or more...'

That's the quick answer. Strength is ALWAYS a factor when two people match up. And against a larger & stronger *untrained* person, the martial artist will have a tremendous advantage. But when the 140 pound Godan meets with the 230 pound Godan, age and conditioning being relatively equal, you better put your money on the 230 pounder...

Before you buy.

I suppose due to the lesser numbers training BJJ that would make for more uneven skill levels, but I still believe that weight and strength are less a factor in newaza than in takedowns.

Howabout Katsuhiko Kasiwazaki (?sp) he didn't look that big and I'm sure he won the All Japan a couple of times....

Here in NZ we've had <78kg players winning the open wieght.

I fought a 134kg player sunday, I'm 88kg? I think I had a chance! He was beaten by a 92kg player. (both brown belts).

In the Nationals last year the 1st three places in the open wieght were from 3 different wieght divisions.

Chris Gunn.

In the absence of any source giving Kashiwazaki's weight and competition record, I hope you don't mind if I trust Donn Draeger a tad more?

Hmmm... I just recalled a book I have written by him... yes, here it is, okay, he was the 1972 Lightweight Olympic champion, the 1981 Featherweight World Champion, five times All-Japan *weight category* champion (Hmmm... have they started using weight categories? Looks that way).

So, no, Kashiwazaki's never won the All Japan title with no weight categories... He does mention defeating the current World University Openweight champion who weighed exactly TWICE Kashiwazaki's weight at the All Japan Team Championships...

Before you buy.

True, strength and size are always a factor in competition, but I still compete in all the open weight catagories I can. I have won two local competitions (open weight). I weigh about 55 to 57 kilograms, what's that in pounds, 120lb? I was on my 2nd kyu, and took out a 1st kyu (about 110 kg) and another heavy weight (about 100 kg), i forget his rank. Recently i was pitted up against a 90-100 kg Nidan (i am Shodan), and he took a while to throw me. But when he did, I was well and truly gone. My point is, it's not unheard of, and skill is probably the biggest factor in the higher ranks. On the street, you are more likely to be mugged by someone bigger, not smaller. So practice with the bigger guys, it can only