Ne-Waza

Since last week I have decided that I would like to compete in the upcoming Judo Ne-Waza competition held in High Wycombe on the 11th April. Oli and Big Stuart are also going to enter, although they will be in the Blue/Brown belt category whereas I will be competing in the Novice to Green. My only concern is that the highest weight category is +90kg, now I weigh about 94-95kg so I could in theory come up against a much larger and more skilful opponent.

The class was split tonight with the first half being Ne-Waza. I did fairly well against everyone and actually got dominant position a couple of times. Peter, the head instructor keeps telling me not to use too much strength as although it works against the smaller people there will always be someone stronger and then I’ll be buggered unless I have good technique also.
When sparing Graham I got his back and he laid flat on the mat on his stomach with his legs stretched out and I had no idea how to turn him over. I tried choking him but he had his neck pretty well covered to so I ran out of ideas. This might be a position that I’ll find myself in in this upcoming comp so I’ll need to work out what to do before then.

After the Ne-Waza we did some Randori and drilled a few throws mainly Ko Uchi gari and O uchi gari. We also used either technique as a feint or set up for the other. For instance if I tried O ochi gari and my opponent moved his foot back it would be a perfect position for me to then go to Ko Uchi gari.


Ko Uchi gari






O Uchi gari







One throw that I did try tonight, which I had been taught when I did Judo a number of years ago was Tani-otoshi. I was reminded of this throw whilst watching some BJJ instructional DVD’s that someone from AV Forums kindly sent me. At the beginning of each DVD you see the two instructors (Mario Sperry and Murilo Bustamante) doing some techniques and one of the throws they do is Tani-otoshi. Anyway I tried it and it worked. I think it’s perfect for someone with long legs like me.


Tani-otoshi







Next week is that last before the clubs closes for Easter so I will need to train somewhere different before this Ne-waza competition. I might drop an email to one of the local BJJ schools and see if they mind taking me for a couple of weeks. I could go to another Judo club but they may be concentrating on throws or Kata, at least with a BJJ club I know I’m going to get some excellent ground work in.