Average experience — good sport, mediocre gym

I want to separate the sport from my specific experience. Judo as a discipline is genuinely compelling — the seoi-nage shoulder throw, the depth of shiai competition, grip fighting becoming its own game. All of that is real and valuable.

My gym, however, has been mediocre. Coaching quality varies session to session and grip fighting exhaustion has been handled poorly. I've seen people get hurt because progression was rushed. If I were starting over I'd research gym culture more carefully before committing. The sport gets four stars; my current gym gets two. This review averages to three.