Shaolin Kung Fu and Japanese Judo, which is more practical?

In the movie Fist of Fury, Bruce Lee - a representative of traditional Chinese kung fu - single-handedly defeated an entire martial arts school with many Japanese judo masters. But in reality, which is the pinnacle of martial arts, kung fu or judo?

Shaolin Kung Fu and Japanese Judo, which martial art is more powerful? - Photo: SC

Shaolin kung fu lacks practicality

In the movie Fist of Fury , the character Chen Zhen played by Bruce Lee is a disciple of Huo Yuanjia, whose martial arts skills are said to be remarkably similar to Shaolin kung fu.

And to this day, when brought up in debate with Japanese judo, Shaolin often stands in for Chinese kung fu.

Both have a rich cultural tradition, theoretical foundation, as well as profound martial arts philosophy. When put on the scale of practical combat, there is still a significant difference between Shaolin kung fu and Japanese judo.

A scene from the movie Fist of Fury - Photo: SC

Historically, Shaolin kung fu was created for physical training, self-defense, and combat on ancient battlefields. The system includes various fists, kicks, hand and elbow strikes, and weapons.

However, that diversity comes with disadvantages: Shaolin's scattered fist techniques are often not standardized in modern combat, lacking a continuous real combat environment, leading to distortions in the direction of performance.

Famous European mixed martial arts coach Iain Abernethy once commented on the Combat Arts podcast in 2022 that “most Chinese kung fu is not tested by regular sparring, leading to a large gap between theory and practice”.

In contrast, judo was founded in the late 19th century by Jigoro Kano based on many of the best practices from ancient Jujutsu schools.

Judo was originally oriented towards real combat, with an emphasis on throws, pins and takedowns. These techniques focused on close combat situations - which are common in real-life fights.

In the ring, judo allows fighters to control their opponents without having to use too much force. On the street, simple throws can quickly eliminate threats.

The Japanese police force and many security agencies around the world still include judo in their self-defense curriculum. This is a clear sign of its applicability.

Judo is more popular

In the mixed martial arts (MMA) arena, where effectiveness is measured in live combat, grappling techniques (grappling, choking, locking) and body control dominate.

Martial arts analyst John Danaher, coach of many UFC champions, once said: “In real combat, the ability to pull an opponent to the ground, lock joints or control is the deciding factor in the outcome.”

This view was posted in the BJJ Fanatics interview program (2021). The core techniques of judo - throws (nage-waza), holds (osaekomi-waza) - are the foundation on which Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) thrives in MMA.

Shaolin kung fu (right) is almost only for show value - Photo: AI

Shaolin kung fu is virtually absent from professional tournaments, largely due to the lack of a system of repetitive sparring training.

In terms of training methods, Shaolin sessions often focus on qigong, endurance, and performance of forms, while the amount of time spent on actual combat is less. This creates an advantage in flexibility but makes it difficult to form real combat reflexes.

In contrast, judo requires randori – controlled resistance – in every training session. This repetition helps the practitioner get used to real combat pressure, feel the center of gravity, understand how to fall, and how to escape locks.

Combat sports coach Firas Zahabi (Tristar Gym) once emphasized on TSN Canada in 2018: "Only martial arts with regular confrontation can maintain their combative nature when entering real life."

In terms of everyday self-defense, common collision situations often take place at close range, hand-to-hand combat, or having to immediately knock down the opponent to escape.

Judo has a series of techniques based on body reaction, taking advantage of the opponent's center of gravity. Simple moves such as seoi-nage (shoulder swing) and osoto-gari (backward throw) do not require elaborate stances and are easy to apply to people with little experience.

Shaolin kung fu has sandalwood, but it requires precision and years of practice to be effective. From this perspective, judo is clearly more “realistic”.

In addition, the development of research institutes, curricula, and standardization helps judo to exist uniformly across the globe.

Judo is widely practiced for its combative nature, not just its philosophy - Photo: PA

Studies by the Japan Institute of Sport (JISS) from 2019-2022 show that judo improves core strength, safe fall reflexes (ukemi), and control techniques - skills that are extremely important in self-defense.

For Shaolin kung fu, recent studies in the 2020 Journal of Sports Science & Medicine found that traditional forms have physical benefits, but it is difficult to prove a direct effect on fighting performance due to the lack of a measurement mechanism.

In the professional ring, the dominance of grappling and judo has been noted for the 30 years since the UFC's inception.

Royce Gracie - the man who brought Brazilian jiu-jitsu to the UFC - had a background in classical judo, causing a stir throughout the traditional martial arts world.

In general, Shaolin kung fu has very profound cultural and philosophical values. But when put on the scale of practical combat, "Taishan, the Big Dipper of Chinese martial arts" cannot compare with Japanese judo.

HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/kung-fu-thieu-lam-va-nhu-dao-nhat-ban-mon-nao-giau-tinh-thuc-chien-hon-20251108223336949.htm