Master’s Division Judo is so much fun! If you are over 30 and wondering if judo competition is for you, my answer is yes. Everyone has different levels of physical ability, so I usually refrain from making sweeping statements, but IN GENERAL you can say that younger people are much faster and more aggressive in their judo than older people. If you have a 50-year-old man vs. a 20-year-old man, and they both have exactly the same amount of judo training, the 50-year-old is probably at a disadvantage.
The most important thing is to get good match ups. To get good match ups, against people that are a similar size, skill level and age, Master’s level competitors will have to go to larger tournaments. At smaller local tournaments, there are generally no Master’s level divisions. The San Jose Buddhist tournament, the Winternationals, USA Judo Senior Nationals, and the U.S. Open are all good options to find the right opponents in the master’s division.
At national events like the Senior Nationals and the U.S. Open, the master’s divisions are made strictly every five years. Age 30-34 is called M1 for Master’s division level one. Age 35-39 is M2, 40-44 is M3, and so on. At San Jose Buddhist and the Winternationals, the divisions are made more informally, so everyone over a certain age may be put in together – check in with the tournament director for details.
By the way, there is even a Master’s level World Championship (somewhat confusingly, the International Judo Federation uses the designation “Veterans” in place of Masters to indicate players over age 30). Sensei Ivan Mumm has entered the Veteran’s World Championship twice, placing as high as 5th!
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