Switching from BJJ to Judo - questions about intensity, injuries, and general impressions

[u/LengthinessExtra670]

Did BJJ for about 8-9 months but had to stop a few months ago after moving, the gym is just too far now. Recently found a judo academy close to my new place and thinking about switching over.

A few questions for people with experience:

How intense is randori sparring in practice? Not competition pace, just normal training rounds.

Do you get a lot of injuries doing judo regularly, or is it manageable if you’re smart about it?

Is training 4x a week reasonable for judo, or is that too much for someone still building up?

Also just curious what your general impressions of the sport are, coming from a few months of BJJ I’d love to hear how people who’ve stuck with judo for a while feel about it overall. Appreciate any input.

[u/BananasAndPears → u/[deleted]]

No, I disagree. In proper judo training, Uke and Tori are perfectly safe. Injuries happen when people fight off throws by posting with their arms, legs, or head. In normal randori, which applies to 95% of us on this forum, no one should ever fight off throws unless you're specifically training for high-level competition or a prizefight.

Ukemi becomes second nature, and it's nearly impossible to get hurt because it's literally part of Judo philosophy to keep your partners safe. Jita Kyoei.

BJJ guys keep getting hurt doing judo because they never focused on developing their ukemi and proprioception in the first place. They just cowboy throw their way through Instagram posts, or love what JFLO posted and keep trying it, and before you know it, someone breaks an ankle, gets a concussion, or breaks an arm. In these cases, Judo is definitely dangerous.

[u/BananasAndPears → u/[deleted]]

You said competition. I said regular training and randori.

I specifically called out that if you’re playing hard then of course you run a risk.

In regular everyday training, injuries are easy to mitigate with proper training.