Judo historian Chadi argues that Gordon Ryan’s public conduct would not survive inside judo’s institutional culture.
Speaking on a podcast, he said the sport weighs an athlete’s behavior outside competition heavily, so technical ability alone does not guarantee advancement through the ranks.
He noted that modern judo federations watch athletes on and off the mat, social media included:
If you’re picking brawls in competition when you go out and compete or on social media or your behavior or whatever it may be, that stuff of course affects a lot.
Even now, the athletes that go on the world tour, anything on social media they do or something, of course they get sanctioned…
You cannot “Gordon Ryan” your way up to the top in judo. It’s just not possible.
He tied this to belt promotions, where respect and humility are part of the process:
The attitude you need to be following, you cannot beat someone and just gloat over them and call guys names, harass the opposite gender…
The conversation also covered the history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Chadi rejected the claim, repeated by some prominent grappling figures, that the art carries its name because Mitsuyo Maeda was never certified to teach judo.:
t’s called Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and not Brazilian judo because, Maeda when he left he was not certified or authorized to teach judo.
So he taught them Jiu-Jitsu instead and that’s why they did Jiu-Jitsu on the ground.
It’s one of the silliest things you can ever say.
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