Ffion Davies is a black belt in both judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and in a recent podcast with James Smith, she talked about the sport she competed in before making her name on the grappling circuit.
When the conversation turned to her early days in jiu-jitsu, Davies was quick to credit, and critique, her judo roots. “I came from a judo background, so I have a really different perspective to a lot of beginners,” she said.
Davies stated: “I was psychotic. I was trying to compete against elderly people and I was like, I don’t care that you’ve got a wife and two kids. I’m going to take your head off. I had no chill. Because I came from a really competitive judo background and then suddenly I’m rolling with people who do it for fun. I’m like, for fun? You do things for fun? What do you mean?”
That competitive upbringing also shaped her early behavior with submissions on the mat. “In judo, it was very… even with submissions and competition, this is really bad. I’m going to sound terrible now, but please understand that I was young. And this is what I was taught.”
She continued: “But in judo, you get an arm bar, which was rare because the newaza is really bad in judo. And that is just a fact. Standing up is great, but the groundwork is terrible. But if you get a submission somehow, you hold it on until the referee stops you.”
The result was not particularly gracious. “I was just there like, ‘Referee, you’re going to have to pull me off.’ Someone’s tapping away, banging the mat. But I’m like, I’m not letting go until the ref says, not when you’re saying in a competition.”
When prompted to explain judo for listeners unfamiliar with the sport, Davies kept it brief. “You’re trying to throw a person on their back. You get both their shoulders on the mat. Kind of similar to wrestling, but you’re in the gi. So you’re in the pajamas, or the robe, as one of the beginners called it. And I was like, that is the best thing I’ve ever heard. So you’re like at a spa.”
She then made her feelings about judo’s difficulty very clear. “It’s one of the toughest sports in the world. It’s way harder than jiu-jitsu. That’s why I do jiu-jitsu.”
On the people who practice it, Davies was equally direct. She stated, “They are freaks. Yeah. More than jiu-jitsu people. Judo people are freaks. I say that confidently.”
