Just a quick post while I still remember this but I mentioned to someone that when doing break falls it made me feel giddy and even nauseous and he told me to “tuck my chin in”, which has really helped.
My 2nd lesson was taken by two different instructors and there was also a brown belt student. Again not a good turnout but I’m not concerned at the moment.
One thing I do like about doing Judo is that other clubs are usually quite welcoming, so if you can’t make your usual class then you can go someone else and train.
Talking of training elsewhere, my old Wing Chun Instructor, Kevin Chan, is now also a BJJ Black Belt and runs a BJJ club in Portsmouth. In addition to this he also has monthly BJJ workshops/seminars which I might look in to attending as I’m sure this would give me an edge with my Judo groundwork.
Back to the lesson and we did a lot longer warm-up with plenty of rolling exercises where, starting on your back you first roll over your left shoulder and touch the floor with your feet and then roll back to the start position before rolling over your right shoulder and repeat. This seems like a good exercise for your core muscles like Abs and also strengthens your neck, which I would imagine is essential.
Technique wise I went over the three throws from my first lesson ie.
Osoto-otoshi
De-ashi-barai
Uki-goshi
These still don’t come very naturally to me so I will study some Youtube vids before my next lesson to hopefully help me improve this.
As the moment my main problem is trying to do everything together, for example with Osoto-otoshi, you have to pull them towards you to so that they resist and pull away, then you have to move in close and sweep the leg whilst at the same time pushing them back over it. Sounds simple but not when you are thinking about all these things.
Also I have a habit of doing the throw and then letting them go, which would rob me of a potential Ippon in a competition as I don’t have control of my opponent.
No class this week as it’s a half term but will do a workout and maybe if I feel really brave I will try some of the techniques out on the wife.
