The Fall Of Judo Gatekeepers

Author: Bret Gordon

With the end of the American Judo Alliance, the Paris Olympics taking place, and the "Big 3" all vying for power, the landscape of the Judo community is changing rapidly. For those unfamiliar, let me briefly recap it for you before I go into what this means for the American judoka moving forward.

USA Judo, the US Judo Association, and the US Judo Federation, collectively known as the "Big 3," have long been held as the national governing bodies for the sport of Judo. Under the American Judo Alliance, they operated largely as one super-organization, allowing their members to cross-rank in each group and participate in each other's events. Now USA Judo, as the official national organization of the International Judo Federation (and the IOC), is the sole provider for those with Olympic and international championship aspirations. Considering the US only sent four judoka to the Paris Olympics, that doesn't seem like the enormous benefit to the average judoka that it's made out to be. Not to mention the majority of judoka I know have been turned off by this year's competition, where the goal of the athletes seems to be winning on technicalities and penalties, and not with actual Judo. If this is the direction that the IOC, the IJF, and subsequently USA Judo want to move towards, they're going to lose the support of many judoka. 

While the USJA and USJF can now resume focus on their mission of promoting "grassroots" Judo, they no longer have stake to the claim of being "more legitimate" than any other Judo organization out there. Organizations such as the Judo Black Belt Association, the American Judo & Jujutsu Federation, the American Traditional Jujutsu Association, USA Traditional Kodokan Judo, and countless others have just as much right to exist, and issue legitimate rank and coaching credentials, on the same level of credibility as USJA and USJF. 

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In every other system of martial arts, the authority of an instructor to issue certificates to their students comes down to their own rank, title and licensing, and generally speaking, an instructor is usually authorized to issue rank one or two grades below their own. The "Big 3," on the other hand, consolidated the authority to do in the organization itself and have stripped instructors of their right to certify and promote their own students, in the name of "quality control" while simultaneously charging instructors to be certified as coaches and examiners.

Judo under the "Big 3" is the only art where an 8th or 9th Dan cannot certify their own students passed a certain point (generally 1st through 3rd Dan) without someone looking over their shoulder to approve it. While I've been told that my views on rank are "too traditional," I simply believe that if an organization certifies an instructor, they don't need to be babysat in order to carry out the responsibilities of their position as an instructor. Otherwise, what is the point in the instructor certification? If you cannot trust the instructors under your organization to uphold the standards of your organization, don't certify them as instructors. 

As a Judo instructor that did not come up under the "Big 3," although I am an active member of both USA Judo and USJA now, the opportunities for me to provide for my students simply aren't there. We do not teach or compete in Olympic Judo, so there is no benefit to registering my students with USA Judo, and if I am unable to test or promote my own students past a certain point, why would I support an organization that does not support me in return?

Side note: The USJA has recently changed their promotion policies to allow instructors to promote their students to one rank below theirs, up to 3rd Dan, before needing to go through the promotion committee, so that is a step in the right direction. Their Kosen Judo competition format is also reminiscent of traditional Judo training, which is huge in promoting the art of Judo as a whole and I believe will help the art grow here in the States.

The landscape of Judo in America is changing rapidly, and I predict a rise in numbers among the "other" organizations I listed above as instructors now have multiple options to find the right affiliation that serves them and their school without being forced to choose between the lesser of three evils. Judo belongs to all of us, not the few at the heads of the "Big 3." They no longer have a monopoly on the art we all love. 

Unless you're going the Olympic route and choose to join USA Judo, the only advantage that the USJA and USJF have over every other Judo organization is their longevity. But as long as the issuing authority is of high enough rank, and certificates are issued through legitimate means, you can no longer say that the USJA and USJF are any more "valid" than the JBBA, ATJA, AJJF, USTKJ, or any other organization... And there's probably a few arguments one could make that they are actually less valid, but I'll save that for another day. 

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For those that are interested in the traditional, complete art of Kodokan Judo with an emphasis on practical self defense training instead of competition, I invite you to check out our Seikan Judo & Jujutsu Association. Having studied Japanese Jujutsu, Kodokan Judo, Korean Yudo, and Gracie Jiu Jitsu, we offer a unique perspective of the art and provide an environment that promotes the highest quality training. Even if we are not the right organization for you, the world of Judo is now wide open... 

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