Achilles

Peter mentioned to me that they would start my Red belt grading this evening and that they would probably use Clive as Uke or the receiver of the technique as he was the closest size wise to myself. Although Clive was a Brown belt he was new to me as apparently he hadn’t been to the club for about 4 years due to other commitments.


Inez was taking the class this evening for the first time and her warm up was a little different to that of Peter’s. Ten minutes in to the warm up we all heard this noise like a pencil breaking and Clive, who was right next to me, asked who had just kicked him. At first I thought he was messing about but then he suddenly grabbed the back of his right ankle and collapsed to the floor in pain. He had snapped his Achilles tendon in his right leg and this unfortunately would put a premature end to his return to Judo.


Peter helped Clive off to casualty and we continued with our warm up. Inez’s style of coaching is different to Peter’s and she said that we would have a light session with little sparring. I hope she didn’t see the face I pulled as I love sparring. However my face pulling was to be short lived as this lesson really helped with my throws. Basically she broke down each throw in to 3 sections which we would first drill with an imaginary partner. For example if we were doing Tai-toshi, part one would be to step forward with my right foot. Part two would be to step across to my right with my left foot behind my right foot and part 3 would be the arm movements with the right foot moving across to my left whilst turning my back. It’s difficult to explain without showing but if you know the throw then you’ll understand. Anyway we did this for three or four throws and then we partnered up and did them with a partner and then eventually we moved on to some light Randori where we practised the throws we had just done. All the while this was going on Graeme was walking around marking me for my Red belt grading, so when we did Deashi-barai he ticked that off the list of techniques I had to perform. None of the other styles I have done have gradings like this so it was refreshing and meant there were no nerves.


After Randori we went to some groundwork where we worked on 5 holds and moved from one to the other whilst at all times trying to keep control of Uke. I was thus able to perform all 3 of the holds that are in the Red belt syllabus plus refine Yoko-shiho-gatame and Kazure-kami-shiho-gatame and then took turns with our partner, first doing the holds whilst the other tried to break free of the hold and then we swapped over. When I was being held down I managed to pull off the Escape from Kazure-kesa-gatame, that I needed for my grading so again I had ticked off another technique.


YOKO-SHIHO-GATAME




KAMI-SHIHO-GATAME






Overall apart from poor Clive this was a really good technical lesson which I really got a lot out of.
Graeme confirmed they would finish my Red belt grading next week so hopefully my next post will have the word “red” in the title.

Triangle

Just a quick post to say that I have added a Gadget on the left called “Judo Techniques” where I have logged all the techniques needed to grade for Red Belt. Each technique is a link to the BJA website which has either a video or photo of the technique. With a grading surely on the horizon very soon for me this should come in handy as I will be able to easily access my blog and quickly remind myself what I need to know.

Following on from my success at the Newaza tournament I was very much looking forward to last night especially as the club had been closed over the Easter holiday. The only thing I wasn’t looking forward to was my hay fever which is causing my nose to constantly run, not nice if you are doing Newaza with someone.

Going back to the Newaza tournament I noticed that I was able to pull off San-gaku-jime or triangle on both of my opponents but was not able to submit them. In last night’s lesson I caught Oli in it but again I was not able to submit him. Luckily enough Graeme, one of the senior brown belt instructors, was on hand to show me where I was going wrong with this and basically I was not pulling the left arm of Oli and not squeezing my thighs together or just tensing the muscles in my thighs. Once I did this Oli tapped. Slightly gutted I wasn’t able to go back and try this out again at the Newaza tournament as I might have got gold.

I noticed from the BJA website that San-gaku-jime is a technique needed for Brown belt which could explain why the green belts in the tournament walked right in to it. It would explain why Oli, a brown belt, would not expect me to be trying this sort of technique at white belt level.

Overall a good lesson last night with plenty of Randori and Newaza and I’m more hungry than ever to keep learning.

The High Wycombe Ne-waza Championships

High Wycombe Judo club was the venue for the First Judo Newaza Championships that myself and two other guys (Stuart and Oli) from my club entered. We got there around 11.30am to see the seniors fighting which gave us a flavor of what was to come. I then started eyeing up all my potential opponents and at this point I thought I was gonna get crushed as there were some seriously large dude’s there. One in particular caught my eye as he was like a shorter version of Brock Lesnar but with Tattoos and a northern accent. I hoped to god he wasn’t in my category.
The three of us weighed in and I weighed 93.5kg and so competed in the heavyweight division in the Green belt and under category. Normally they also have a 100kg+ category but unfortunately not at this tournament.

We got our seats in the stands near the front and waited for them to announce who was fighting who etc and I was called first. I was in such a daze and a rush to get over to the mats that I forgot to ask Oli and Stuart to film me on the camera I had brought with me.

The people from St John’s Ambulance were on standby and seeing them didn’t help to settle my nerves especially as I had already seen one guy get his elbow popped from an arm bar.

All the guys from my category were standing around our mat and then I saw him, the Brock Lesnar lookalike that I had hoped wasn’t in my category, was. Bugger.
After watching a couple of fights my name was called. In Judo competitions you are either a white belt or a blue belt so that the judges and the referee don’t confuse two same belted competitors. I was told I was white so I kept my own belt on. The other guy looked mean but nervous whereas I had on my usual poker face and yawned as I took to the mat as if I had done this a million times before. Of course inside I was yearning to be at the family picnic which my wife had attended for her Uncle Eric on Epsom Downs and which I had passed on for the chance to wrestle lots of big men in their pajamas.

We took our kneeling position and bowed and then the Ref called Hajime. I got a good grip and pulled him in to my guard, I figured as he was a big guy there was no point wasting my energy trying to get him on his back, especially not when I prefer fighting from my back. From this position I tried a triangle (Sankaku-jime) on him which I held for 30 seconds but never quite worked and then I tried a couple of times for an arm bar, again unsuccessfully. The ref then stopped it and made us start again from our knees. I was already feeling tired but when I look at the clock and realised I still had 2 minutes and 15 seconds left of a 3 minute fight I wondered how I would have the energy to finish this. As we restarted I attacked him and pushed him to his back where he eventually crawled out of the matted area so again we were re-started. Again I pulled guard and tried a number of subs whereas all he was trying to do was choke me with my Gi inside my guard. The ref stopped us again and re-started and I noticed there was only 25 seconds left so I pushed hard and got his back. I got my hooks in and went for the choke but the buzzer went signally the end of the fight. I got the judge’s decision and we shook hands and I then collapsed in a heap waiting for my next fight.
Although I felt gassed I was pumped after my first win. I walked slowly back to Oli and Stuart and just said “water”. Stuart offered to film my next fight but the way that I felt right then I didn’t think I could win again so I told him not to bother which in hindsight I am a bit gutted about as I would have loved to have posted it on here.

After taking on some water I walked back to the mats to await my next fight and I was asked by someone called Ben, fighting in the weight category below mine, whether I did BJJ. I told him no, but I do watch a lot of UFC and MMA. He laughed and said “so did he” but he was also a four stripe white belt in BJJ at Gracie Barra Nottingham. He was impressed with my guard play and assumed I was a fellow BJJ’er which I took as a compliment. Ben had won his first two fights and looked as tired as me. He said he always gets a massive adrenaline dump in competitions which totally drain his energy and I think this is what happened to me as I would consider myself pretty fit.

Eventually after what seemed like ages but in reality was probably only 15 minutes I was called to the mat to have my second fight, but who was I fighting? Bugger, it was Brock Lesnar. Still I had nothing to lose as I had already won one fight which is more than I expected to so I didn’t feel any pressure to win this, especially as he was a Green Belt who outweighed me and had a physique that looked like Michael Angelo had carved out of stone. We started and not surprisingly he was the aggressor so I immediately pulled guard. He then proceeded to try and choke me with the Gi which I easily stopped and as he tried to pass my guard I trapped an arm and threw up a Triangle choke (Sankaku-jime). At this point I was thinking that I might actually beat this guy and even though I got a good lock on he managed to wiggle out of it. The ref then forced us to re-start and again I went in to guard on my back and threw up another triangle ( Sankaku-jime )but this time he got out and passed my guard and then got me in a pin (Kesa-gatame) which I was not able to get out of. He held me there for 25 seconds and got his victory. I was a bit annoyed but also pleased that I had made him work for his win. Brock went on to the final where he was beaten by an equally big dude. I was supposed to then fight someone for 3rd and 4th place but as he was injured they decided to give us both 3rd place and I certainly wasn’t going to complain about that.

After my fights had finished I sat back in the stands and watched the other Stuart and Oli fight in their respective Brown Belt categories and they both also finished 3rd so all in all a good day out for Dorking Judo Club.
I managed to catch up with Ben again as we watched the last few fights and we discussed the UFC and the merits and history of BJJ and Judo. It’s a shame Ben lived so far away as he is the type of person I would like to train with. Of course being blokes we didn’t exchange numbers but if anyone reading this knows of a Ben who trains at Gracie Barra in Nottingham then let me know.


Thats me on the left with Big Stuart in the middle and Oli on the right.


Receiving my trophy.


I must also add that my old training buddy Richie “the neck” is starting his Judo training tonight somewhere in Liverpool or wherever he now lives, so hopefully we can meet up again soon and get some training going.

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.

Red Horizon

Looks like I have impressed the instructors enough over the last couple of months as they want me to grade before Easter for my Red Belt. Tonight we basically went over all the techniques I need to know for 6th Kyu (Red Belt) namely

Throws
Osoto-otoshi
De-ashi-barai
Uki-goshi

Groundwork
Kesa-gatame
Mune-gatame
Kuzure-kesa-gatame
Escape from Kesa-gatame by trapping Uke’s leg
Escape from Mune-gatame using a bridge and roll action
Escape from Kuzure-kesa-gatame using sit up and push

We also did some free sparring Ne-Waza but this time the Brown Belts were being a bit more aggressive and I realised that just watching MMA will not enable me to out grapple well trained Brown Belt Judoka’s. We did discuss MMA tonight as Big Stuart (I know my name is Stuart and I’m 6ft 3 and weight 15 stone but trust me the other Stuart is bigger) is clearly fan as he wore an MMA t-shirt under his Gi.

There is apparently either a Judo Ne-Waza competition coming up or just a groundfighting competition coming up which I would like to go watch. Oli (another Brown belt) is keen to compete so maybe we will go together. I wouldn’t mind having a go myself but i don’t feel like I have enough experience and I have a feeling that some BJJ guys might turn up in their white Belts just to mess up a few Judoka who are unaware of the groundfighting skills of BJJ even at white belt level. I’m still keen to cross train in BJJ at some point but I want to get the old body used to the Judo first before I risk Limb, if not life, doing BJJ.

Burn Baby Burn

Not quite worked out the best way of posting video clips on here yet but I’ll get there.

We started with some Newaza (groundwork) and it was performed in a fairly relaxed manner, basically we took turns in going for a sub. I did manage to pull off what in BJJ is called an Americana but I can’t quite find the Judo equivalent. Looking on wiki it appears that Ude-garami is used to describe an Americana, Keylock and a Kimura.


Anyway I pulled an Americana which pins an opponent’s arm to the ground so that it is bent at the elbow, with the opponent's palm upwards. The wrist is grabbed with the opposite hand, and the arm on the same side is put under the opponents arm, gripping the attacker's wrist. This results in the necessary figure-four hold. While keeping the opponent's hand pinned to the ground, the attacker begins sliding his or her pinned arm down and parallel to his or her thigh while cranking the elbow upwards. The opponent will feel pressure on their elbow and/or shoulder. I did this both from the mount and side mount. This was one of the techniques I remember from a couple of BJJ lessons I had a number of years back.


After the Newaza we went on to Kata. I must admit I wasn’t looking forward to this as if it is anything like the Kata in Karate or Forms in Wing Chun then IMO it’s a waste of good training time.
However surprisingly it was ok. I think Kata is only needed for the higher grades and even then it’s not essential but it does teach you good form and for a beginner like me it was useful to go over Kesure Kesa Gatame


and also to learn Yoko Shiko Gazame



Basically I put the hold on my opponent and he tries 3 different set ways to get out of it and I defend each one in a set manner., we then swap over. Not as exciting as Newaza but certainly better than Karate Kata.




Next up we worked on a couple of throws and first up was Ogoshi,



which is a hip throw. Being tall like me makes this throw very difficult to pull off as I really have to bend my knees to get my hips under my opponents. The instructor showed us what to do if your opponent resists this throw or in my case if I cock it up and that was to go straight in to Uke Goshi


which basically allows me to swing them round kinda of in a discus throwing way, over your right leg. This was easier to pull off for me especially against the heavier guys.






We finished off with some light Randori again where we both alternated between throwing and being thrown. I worked on my Osoto otoshi



and De Ashi Barai and tried but failed at Ogoshi.
I did manage to drag the top of my foot across the mat at one point which gave me a nice friction burn from my big toe half way down my left foot, hence the title of this thread.






The pictures I have used on this thread I got from this website http://www.judoinfo.com/ which has been quickly saved to my favourites.
Definitely worth a look as it has every technique listed and plenty of videos of great Judo players past and present on there.

Full House

A much better turn out this week and another white belt so I’m no longer the FNG. There was also a Husband and Wife, she is a Black Belt and GB squad member and he is a brown belt. So there are 3 black belts, 4 brown belts and two white belts.
After the warm up we practiced our break falls and then shortly afterwards we go straight in to Newaza or groundwork. As I said before this is my favourite part of Judo and also what I am best at partly due to a few BJJ lessons and many years of watching the UFC.
I’m not sure how hard they were trying on me but I managed to submit some of them. I think I probably surprised them as I’m sure they were not expecting a white belt to Triangle choke( Sankaku-jime) them. They all seemed to find it hard to pass my guard, again not sure if they were really trying or if I just have good hips. Funny thing is I have been doing Yoga for the last few months to try and improve my flexibility and prevent injuries but I can still barely touch my toes, however I seem to be able to pull off body triangle’s at ease which is strange considering I’m not that flexible.
Apparently a body triangle or Dojime is illegal in Randori or competition, which I only found out when I looked through my “A-Z of Judo” book when I got home, because it can cause damage to the internal organs.

On to the throws and I practiced De-Ashi-Barai and then the counter to this throw which is called Tsubame Gaeshi.
This looks a very simple throw but is very effective and I could imagine pulling this off in the real world.

I then did Osoto-otoshi and then we added a second throw as if the first was stopped and I decided on Tobi-Goshi which due to the excellent instruction from my partner I managed to pull off quite well.
Again I can’t say enough how friendly everyone at this club is, even the new people who I hadn’t seen before were very approachable and had absolutely no ego’s.

According to the head instructor these throws with the counters were Dan grade moves, done for the benefit of a couple of the Brown belts who are due to grade sometime soon so I was really pleased that I was able to pull these off to a reasonable standard.

We finished with some light Randori.

So far this was easily my best lesson and I look forward to next week.