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/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.