Another thought on Freestyle Judo

When I first heard about Freestyle Judo, I was a fan.  Not completely sold on the rules, but I was happy to see that someone was actively trying to undo some of the garbage that the IJF was pushing down, and glad to see someone trying something new.  After my interview with USJA president Gary Goltz, however, my feeling was that since the USJA would back a tourney with decent rules, I would prefer people to go that route (using non-IJF rules in a USJA/F sponsored tourney) rather than requiring people to join another organization (the AAU) to compete...

Thinking further about it, though, I think the distinction between "allowing" and "promoting" a decent rule set is really important.  JA/JF will allow different rules, but they promote the IJF nonsense.  AAU and Steve Scott actively promote the different rules, and I think that is what our dedicated Judo organizations should be doing, as well.  So, until they do, I'm all for AAU and Freestyle Judo.  Maybe the competition (if there turns out to be some) will get these organizations' heads right.