Wednesday 10 September 2014

Dan Grade Theory

In preparation for the theory side of my dan grading Graeme said that we will be doing lots of dan grade techniques this term. We learnt the first set of Nage waza under Renzoku waza on Thursday, which are combination throws in the same direction as follows:

Seoi nage to Seoi otoshi
O Uchi gari to Ko Uchi Gari
Hiza guruma to Harai Goshi/Ashi-guruma

The last technique Graeme had us do Ashi-guruma as this is what is listed in the BJA dan grade theory book as released by Roy Inman. However the BJA’s website lists Harai-goshi so I did it with both and as there isn’t a great deal of difference in the throws, apart from using the hip in the Harai, it didn’t make too much of a difference. I was actually pleased with how well I performed these techniques especially the likes of Seoi otoshi and Ashi-guruma, which are not throws I ever use.

We also covered Kesa gatame and Kuzure Kesa gatame, the holds and the escapes from, both of which are fairly rudimentary.


There are still an awful lot of techniques to cover from the dan grade theory and a lot of revision will be necessary but it looks slightly less daunting once you actually get in to the nuts and bolts of it.