Aching

The ache’s that the title of this post refers to are due to the running that I’m doing which again totaled 20 miles this week. I read somewhere that your body takes about 3 weeks to get used to running 4 times a week and this is my third week since I had man flu so hopefully by next week I should be feeling a bit better.


On to the Judo and Graeme took the class and as Peter had to leave early I didn’t do anymore of my grading. After the warm up we did some Newaza. First a light roll with Ryan where we just went through different holds and reversals and then a more strenuous roll with Big Stuart. Big Stuart certainly seems to be trying that bit more now when he rolls with me, whether that’s because he has to as I have improved I’m not sure yet but when he does try he is certainly a formidable opponent. Obviously his size can be an advantage to him and when he lays across your face and puts his weight down its uncomfortable to say the least. Stuart did manage to secure some sort of color choke but it was only very slowly choking me so I decided not to tap and luckily for me Graeme called matte just in time.


Next up was Mark and this time we had to take turns starting from the turtle position. I started in turtle first Mark attempted to roll me bit I pulled guard and as he tried to pass I threw up a San-gaku-jime (triangle). Again as per my previous roll with Mark he left his left arm in so I had to remember which leg I was to choke him with and fortunately I had learnt from my mistakes and correctly applied the pressure with my legs around his neck and pulled his left arm across my body and after about 10 seconds he tapped.

His turn now to start in turtle and I ended up in his guard but was able to pass into Mune-gatame but I didn’t really have good control from here so I decided to change to Tate-shiho-gatame (the mount). Mark tried to bridge and buck me off but I kept hold of him and was slowly working my way up his body as I intended to go for a Juji-gatame (Arm bar). Unfortunately Graeme called matte before I had the chance but I was pleased nonetheless as this was my first proper roll with Mark and I was able to submit him. I would think that next time he will know what to expect from me and I might find it that little bit harder but for now I was happy.



Tachi-waza was next and we practiced Uchi-mata, which previously I found difficult to pull off against Black Belt Stuart but tonight I was paired with Big Stuart. Surprisingly I was able to throw Stuart a number of times. I’m starting to realise the importance of not only using my legs when I throw but also my arms and my body. After I break Stuart’s balance its really important to pull his arm around my body and also to turn my head as this aids in the twisting motion.


We finished up tonight with some Randori and first I paired up with Oli and we went throw for throw which was good practice for me. After some more light Randori with Inez and Big Stuart I paired up with Ryan. Looking back at my blog I realised that Ryan had been training since May and should really have started his Red belt grading by now. I realise the club is small and its difficult for them to concentrate on more than one persons grading at a time so hopefully after I get my Yellow they can quickly grade Ryan.