A judoka and grappler buddy of mine, Matt Marcinek, told me about something called Freestyle Judo. I’ve heard about it before from several people but never really looked into it.

I would say it’s an evolution of judo back to its roots and forward to a martial art that is more encompassing of different grappling styles. It takes the parts of judo that make it an exciting spectator sport, and the parts of jiu jitsu that make it applicable for self-defense / MMA scenarios.

Matt also mentioned that they are planning to hold a freestyle judo event in PA sometime this summer (2011). I would definitely come out to support it. It’s very grass roots right now, but much like voting for the Green Party candidate, I think this type of event has a chance of putting enough pressure on the IJF to alter its rules in the less restrictive direction.