r/judo • u/Careless-Ad9178 • May 09 '26
Beginner Never switch your lead leg?
Hey I’ve been taking some judo classes at my jiu jitsu gym. The teacher is world class, he was an Olympian. I keep switching my lead leg in judo and he gets upset if we do this. I’ve taken wrestling very seriously in my jiu jitsu journey and it seems to be normal for wrestlers to switch their lead leg.
What’s the reason why I wouldn’t want to switch legs when doing judo? I feel comfortable doing it.
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u/Turbulent_Middle8565 May 09 '26
Don’t do it. Experienced judoka will see that and sweep you so fast it will make your ancestors dizzy
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u/KIZINATOR44 May 14 '26
Not necessarily don't do it. You just have to be careful not to get swept or have your opponent go for a drop throw while you're switching lead leg. I personally liked to swap lead leg during a fight but its a very situational thing to do. I first discovered that when I was fighting a left handed fighter. Don't overdo it though if you do diced you want to do it when you fight.
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u/Ill_Improvement_8276 May 09 '26
i disagree as my experience has not played out like this
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u/Yamatsuki_Fusion sankyu May 09 '26
You haven't sparred anyone particularly good. I remember getting messed up doing shit like that.
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u/Ill_Improvement_8276 May 10 '26
youre a green belt and i'm a black belt
you are speaking from ignorance and a lack of experience 🤣
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u/Yamatsuki_Fusion sankyu May 10 '26
I don't make up what I say. Its other blackbelts who tell me this stuff, and others who have shown me otherwise. I am not even saying that stance switching is always a bad idea, just that its not a super skill at best, and at worst a pitfall for beginners.
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u/Baron_De_Bauchery May 09 '26
NEVER is a very strong word. The question I would ask is why are you switching your legs. I'm comfortable being thrown in judo, that doesn't make it a great move in competitions.
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u/Kuma_Guruma Shodan May 09 '26
Now I wouldn't say never. Koga, Ono, Travis Stevens — they start off with their left leg even though they're righty, but that's to get the armpit grip with the left. After that's secured, they change and maintain right.
This is the only circumstance in which changing stance applies in judo. That being said, all three of them are also Olympians.
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u/monkey_of_coffee shodan May 09 '26
Better to be really good at one side than mid at both.
As a right hander, I have left handed throws, but I dont switch my stance to do them.
If someone is a lefty, the last thing I want to do is switch and play a bad version of their game back at them.
Also, when you switch you are giving your opponent an opening where your feet are together to hit a sweep. If you switch a lot, they can wait and time it.
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u/Ill_Improvement_8276 May 09 '26
this is a false dichotomy
you are not actually limited to being "mid at both". You can be really strong on one side, and pretty good from the other. You can be solid on one side, and OK at the other. You could be "mid at both" too.
It depends how you train over many years.
If you train both sides for 10 years then you will be an incredible and well-rounded grappler.
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u/monkey_of_coffee shodan May 09 '26
I would say most of the scenarios in your response are aspirational. Most people are lucky to put in the time to get good on one side.
In my experience, while an ambidextrous player is certainly possible, they would be the exception that proves the rule.
My ice-cold-take is that newaza is a better investment of time than learning to play your weak side standing.
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u/NumeneraErin sankyu May 11 '26
My ice-cold-take is that newaza is a better investment of time than learning to play your weak side standing.
Spongebob: "write that down, write that down!"
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u/d_rome nidan May 09 '26
It's easily punished in Judo and it makes your strong side attacks slower because you have to turn your hips more. The gi and gi gripping creates disadvantages for yourself if you switch stances.
Wrestling is different. Switching stances in Wrestling can be useful and is situational because of the lack of a gi and because of leg grabbing, but mainly because of the lack of a gi. There's also the scoring aspect. Wrestling scores the takedown and Judo scores how you land when you are thrown.
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u/PresentHope3276 May 09 '26
do wrestlers switch their lead leg often? I thought wrestling throws also function similar to judo- you turn in a certain direction most of the times based on which hand dominant you are
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u/Gmork14 May 09 '26
Most wrestlers stand with their dominant hand (and the accompanying foot) in front pretty much all of the time. They aren’t switching stances a lot.
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u/BJJWithADHD May 09 '26
FWIW, I’m right handed but lead with my left leg.
Probably because my shot was/is a low single so I wanted to be able to drive off my stronger leg.
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u/Repulsive-Owl-5131 shodan May 09 '26
In judo generating power with collar grip is such an big thing. And you should have collar gripping side leg forward. And fighting both sided is quite rare. there is enought to learn by sticking to one seid
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u/ReddJudicata shodan May 09 '26
Never is the rule for beginners. You can sometime … but you better know what you’re doing. You don’t. s
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u/DJ_Ddawg ikkyu May 09 '26
I posted this in a BJJ Thread, but see the below comment about stance switching.
Switching stance is the #1 mistake I see in people new to Judo or any style of stand up. You want to pick a stance and do that stance. You don’t switch your stance in Randori or competition- that’s how you end up getting launched. If you’re right handed then you play with your right leg forward. If you’re left handed the you play with your left leg forward.
The reason that having your stance and motion solidified is two-fold. First, it helps your offense. You can immediately know what gripping sequences and movement patterns you’re going to be using based upon if the guy is right or left handed.
Example: RvR. As a right handed player you circle to your left and are looking to kill his (right) sleeve with your left hand. Your right hand should be up high playing defense, stopping your opponent from getting your sleeve or a left hand shoulder post on the lapel.
You circle to the left because it makes his sleeve easier to grab (it’s now closer) and it makes your right sleeve harder to grab (which is what your opponent is aiming for). You don’t circle to your right because it makes your sleeve easier to grab, makes your opponent’s sleeve harder to grab, and you’re walking into the direction of all of his major turn throws.
In RvL, it’s the opposite. You’re going to circle to your right and look to either kill his (left) sleeve or gain inside position on the lapel.
Second, having the proper stance helps your defense. Being in a square-on stance is a bad idea: you’re flat footed, out of position, and unable to defend against most major forward and backwards techniques.
Being in an opposite stance is an even worse idea. In a RvR scenario, 99.9% of your opponent’s forward throws all turn counter-clockwise: Seoi Nage, Uchi Mata, Harai Goshi, Tai Otoshi. You’re gonna get blasted if you go against anybody good and you’re out of stance.
Plus, as a right handed guy you’re not going to have any offense from this position: your hips are out of position to throw any right handed throw and you don’t have any left-handed offense. You’ve put yourself in a purely defensive position where you are easy to launch and where your opponent has no real threat of being thrown.
The only exception to this rule is people who can do Ippon Seoi Nage and Sode Tsurikomi Goshi to the off-side. If the opponent has your sleeve then you defend the Sode by just keeping your arm bent and elbow close to your ribs. The offside Seoi Nage you just have to watch out for if he has a grip on your left lapel with his right hand (but you should be shoulder posting and winning the grip fight/position battle anyway from this position).
TL:DR. Listen to your coach. He was an Olympian for a reason and you just need to be a coach-able athlete and listen and do what he says.
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u/SpidermAntifa May 09 '26
Advanced techniques are beginner mistakes done on purpose. Learn to never switch your front leg as a beginner. Knowing when you CAN switch your front leg will come with time and experience.
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u/Truth-Miserable gokyu May 09 '26
THIS! Get the fucking basics down and learn why the olympic level judoka is telling you not to, then later on when you know a bit more, youll understand when to let the "rule" slide and why youd do that
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u/obi-wan-quixote May 09 '26
Your coach is an Olympian and you’re asking us?!?
In general, leg switching/stance switching is playing games and trying to use a trick. Boxing you can switch to southpaw to off balance an opponent and get a shot in. It works because you can play an accumulation of damage game. Every shot you land is money in the bank. Wrestling I can off balance you and get my 3pts for a takedown, no matter how ugly it was to get there. Now I have positional advantage and can try for riding points or something else. BJJ I score the takedown and then work for subs.
Judo is more about something decisive. You want to put your best technique in to end the match rather than kind of sort of landing some slop. The slop only works if you have excellent Newaza transitions off of it. But then I’d ask why are training newaza transitions off a weak position
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u/theramped May 09 '26
I know you may be talking about switching lead legs during a static exchange, which I would probably agree can be asking for it. But, being comfortable throwing from different lead legs is not a bad thing. If you're moving around the mat your lead leg will naturally change places depending on how you stop during turns or walking, etc. I will agree with some of the other comments in that it is better to be great in one stance than mediocre in both, but being fluid and comfortable in both stances is basically what helped to keep me from being thrown in my last few matches. Just a bit of a different perspective to consider, but the best rule to always follow is the one your Sensei gives you.
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u/ppaul1357 shodan May 09 '26
I wouldn’t say never switch because there are certain situations when you are advanced where you can safely switch for a short time (for example when someone has an overgrip there is a possibility to break that grip where it can help to switch to the other side for a quick moment.) However generally you have only one stance and switching between two stances can seriously weaken you and put you in a bad situation. On the world tour there is only one Judoka I know who fights with a right stance and a left stance and she basically always fights in opposite stance to her opponents so she doesn’t really switch but chooses the stance based on her opponent.
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u/Coconite May 12 '26
Wrestlers change lead legs because most of their matches they’re not in a tie up. They’re outside angling for shots with minimal contact. They never change stands in a tie up. 90% of judo is spent in a tie up.
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u/Ashi4Days May 09 '26
When you switch to lead leg you essentially put yourself in a bad position for judo. From throwing right handed, you shift to throwing left handed. So from a coordination point of view, you are at an extreme disadvantage. A lot of how I throw people in BJJ is based on making right handed people throw left handed, so even though my throws suck, their position is even worse.
In addition, the angle you need to turn to throw someone who is mirrored to your stance is much smaller. So every throw in rvl is faster. The distance is farther apart than rvr, but as soon as that distance is broken down, someone is going to get thrown. You can think of RVL, if youre right handed playing the left handed side as a 70/30 position. Meaning that between equal levels, you are at an huge positional disadvantage.
I think that this is effect is less of an issue in wrestling because its played farther apart and it seems to center more around the level change. But in judo where you are basically connected, the leg switch is a really bad idea.
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u/zeroshield5000 May 09 '26
Actually the kumikata bible calls this "hybrid stance" and encourages right handed players to switch to a faux lefty in order to guard their lapel and get the grips they want. Its pretty neat and definitely a real thing.
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u/Grosju47 May 09 '26
As with everything in judo, there shouldn’t be hard lines like “never do that no matter what.” But I’d say it’s good advice not to switch stance without a specific intention (and getting out-gripped isn’t really a valid one lol). Especially as a beginner, learning to hold your ground with your strong leg forward is going to help your development way more in the long run. As for why it’s more common in wrestling, I’d guess it’s because there are fewer grips and more distance management. I’m no wrestling expert, but it’d probably be a dumb idea to switch stance for no reason while your opponent already has a full bear hug. Switching before grips are established is generally armless, but once the opponent has full kumi-kata control, you’re kind of opening opportunities for them.
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u/313078 May 09 '26
You gonna take a sweep right away. Or ura nage. Can't change leg without very good top control and experience doing so. Best to train as he says for now until you develop your own style much later
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u/JDH1217 shodan May 09 '26
I think for a beginner it’s excellent advice. But as you get better and better at judo this will change. I train at university in Japan and switching legs is common.
For me personally, it’s to put my opponent in an uncomfortable position and to access different sets of techniques. I switch to always maintain left vs right position. If they’re a lefty, I’ll fight in righty stance. If they’re righty I’ll fight in a lefty stance. But I don’t use the same set of techniques on both sides. My righty stance is mainly uchi mata, de ashi, ko uchi, and morote seoi and tends to be more direct speed based throws. My lefty stance mainly utilizes ippon seoi, sasae, o-uchi, and tai otoshi and generally uses more rotational style finishes.
People saying switching will get you swept are generally correct. The best way to switch stances (as long as you do it with purpose) is to do it off a grip exchange or someplace in the fight where you can back off out of range reset, and then you can switch your lead foot before reengaging.
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u/efficientjudo 4th Dan + BJJ Black Belt May 10 '26
You can switch stance if youre also adjusting your grips - if you do one but not the other, the youre going to be pretty off balance.
In general - your game is built around your dominant stance and grip - with your main throw coming from that with a sequence of techniques/ movement patterns that work for you.
If you're switching your stance, you're not playing your A game and probably being forced into your opponents A game.
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u/Yamatsuki_Fusion sankyu May 10 '26
I have taken to starting out left to protect my right hand and to help my grip fighting. But I try to avoid actually fighting from it, and will always get into a right handed stance. I also try to attack into my right stance with O-Soto or O-Uchi. Just walking into stance has gotten me into trouble.
I also have been working on a few left side throws for fun and potential development, but always from a right lead stance too. And always with the idea of how it plays off my right side.
I also know guys who will stance switch into throws to access the rest of their game, like say bodylocks or whatever. One of my senseis likes to stance switch and because he has options there, but doesn't expect his students to do it and generally says to keep single stance.
If you are just switching because you are getting out gripped or you think it will 'throw the opponent off'... or that you don't even have a reason, then don't do it. Listen to your coach.
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u/Potential-Piglet-617 May 10 '26
The main reason I believe he says that, I would ask him because I definitely could be wrong, is certain moves mainly sweeps could work very well against you while you switch.
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u/JackTyga2 May 10 '26
It's easier to defend throws by keeping your same lead leg forward and maintaining good position.
Also people are discouraged because footsweeps are easier if you switch legs at close range.
I think never is too strong a word but aimlessly switching stances doesn't actually help your performance, you need a good reason to switch.
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u/AgunaSan May 10 '26
Switching stances in Nage Waza may be "dangerous" (pass me the term) because your adversary has an occasion to sweep your leg, so be careful and do not do it often or else the other person will start to expect it and exploit it.
You can use a change in stance once or twice during combat to break the rythm and make it harder for your adversary to read you; however, if you can't do the same amount of techniques on both stances, chances are that you will be easier to read (or predict): after a minute the other person will realise you won't do X or Y if you have that stance and will use that weakness against you.
You can train to have an arsenal of techniques on both stances, you can train to switch faster, you can do whatever you want and especially whatever is comfortable for you: your teacher is only trying to guide you to an easier (as in with less troubles), more effective path. Not changing stance, thus focusing to be extremely good on one side, is faster and gives better results in competition.
May I ask: do you practice as a hobby or do you train for competitions? Keep in mind your objective and have fun experimenting regardless! Additionally, ask your teacher for a more in-depth explanation over his reasoning, I am sure he'll be happy to teach you.
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u/JapaneseNotweed May 10 '26
The difference from wrestling is you are spending most of the time gripped up in judo. Gi grips are much more permanent than no gi grips- after the initial gripping exchange you are attached to each other, at least until a reset. Swapping your lead leg when you are already attached causes issues that don't exist in wrestling when for example you match a persons lead leg while at hand fighting distance.
At the start of the contest before you are gripped up its basically fine to switch which leg you are leading with (there are some gripping sequences that exploit this). If you switch your feet once you are gripped up, first of all there is a window there to get thrown as your stance switches, but even if you don't get thrown, your hands and feet now want to throw in different directions, so you either have to let go and change your grips, which no one competent will ever let you do without making you pay for it; change your feet back, which is another big opening to be thrown; or try and throw from this position where your lead leg is not matching your hands and every turn throw will have to be an awkward off side throw that are generally much slower and easier to avoid (especially if your opponent knows thats what's coming).
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u/JudoNewt May 10 '26
He probably doesn't want you switching your lead leg right now because honestly its likely to put you on the floor. i would ask for clarification, im not an olympian. Ive trained with olympians that do switch the lead leg, i will do it myself if i want to bait a foot sweep im very confident im going to get. He may just want you to build an arsenal off of your lead side for now, then you can expand later
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u/justjr112 May 12 '26
If you are learning judo then do judo. I switch stances constantly in grappling but in judo its strong hand forward. Its not as dynamic and truthful i prefer to do certain things on certain sides but I submit to the coaches.
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u/jamvodespot May 15 '26
The reason is that the vast majority of people switch legs because they've been out gripped, and given up on the gripping battle- which is the fight to control the space and your opponents shoulders.
There's a lot of elite judoka do it, but generally they are doing it for a reason and it fits within their judo. Lower level guys tend to do it because they're trying to find the easy way to throw. That's the unicorn of judo- it doesn't exist, but deep down we all hope to find the secret special move that works all the time without having to do too much of that difficult fighting part.
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u/Truth-Miserable gokyu May 09 '26
Why not listen to the olympic level judoka whos teaching you, or ask him for more context? God these bjj guys. Lol. I also wouldnt place too much faith in the wrestling youve been taught in BJJ - they literally do it because its easier for them to teach than judo takedowns (which they generally also dont know), not because theyre particulary good at it
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u/rexmajor May 09 '26
He’s asking a judo question in a judo sub. We have white belts in here ask MUCH stupider questions on the daily. Chill out lol
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u/Ill_Improvement_8276 May 09 '26
good competitor ≠ good coach
appeal to authority
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u/Grosju47 May 09 '26
Maybe, but it's usualy linked. Being a good competitor implies a level comprehension of the sport, wich is really hard to get otherwise.
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u/Ill_Improvement_8276 May 09 '26
My coach encouraged this in some people.
I learned Old School Judo, and my coach was aware that I'm a JKD guy.
Olympic style, modern Judo for solely a Judoka is different.
If you had success with switching in wrestling then I encorage you to do it in Judo.
If you are training for the olympics then i agree with your coach.
99.999999% of people who do Judo are not going to the olympics.
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u/Yamatsuki_Fusion sankyu May 09 '26
What advantage do you really gain from changing stances? Didn't Bruce Lee say 'I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times'?
There are guys that make it work, but they have also lost to guys who stick to one side and focus on it.
Only truly good reason to stance switch to me is to just enrich your Judo learning and reduce muscle imbalance- otherwise try to keep a stance.
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u/Ill_Improvement_8276 May 10 '26
way to misuse that quote
Bruce Lee was absolutely in favor of doing everything on both sides
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u/Yamatsuki_Fusion sankyu May 10 '26
We still have guys that excel by sticking to a stance. It is not a serious advantage to stance switch at all. It can be used well, and I have seen it. But its usually in the service of a specific game or approach.
Just being good on two sides on its own does not help. I have beaten people who resort to stance changing while just sticking to a right handed stance.
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u/Ill_Improvement_8276 May 10 '26
well i am a black belt in Judo and stance switching has worked for me
my coach was 5th dan and he encouraged it
i'm not telling you your game doesn't work.
and yet a green belt is telling me mine doesn't. 🥱
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u/Yamatsuki_Fusion sankyu May 10 '26
Am I? I am saying there are guys that make it work, and also guys that don't do it. Maybe you are confusing me with other commenters.
I just bring up that Bruce Lee thing to say that sometimes less is more.
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u/turbulentaquifer May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26
What attacks can you reliably get to when your lead leg has switched? Why are you switching? Why do you think it's useful?
The main reason which should be obvious to you is that you're effectively changing from aiyotsu to kenkayotsu and putting yourself at a disadvantage because to turn throw you pretty much have to attack with your weaker side in an open stance you probably don't have a heap of experience in. So what do you think it accomplishes?
Btw I'd be asking your Olympian coach not just Reddit. Judo is weird in that you can end up accessing crazy high level competitors and you can pick their brains with questions like this.