As suggested in my previous post, I decided to visit Yamabushi Judo Club in Witley on Tuesday, to get some extra training in to help prepare me for the competition I have entered on the 19th February. Graeme very kindly volunteered to give me a lift as both himself and his son David train there on a regular basis.
Unfortunately a fire on or close the A3 meant that we arrived a little late but we both quickly warmed up and joined in with the rest of the class.
Oddly enough, following last week’s class at Dorking where we worked on O-uchi-gari, the first technique we practiced was ……..O-uchi-gari. After we had practiced a couple of combinations we moved on to some Uchi-Komi. As per last week I decided to concentrate on Uchi-mata.
The class ended with about 20 minutes of Randori. First up for me was a white belt, who had only been practicing for a few weeks. Coming from a club where I am the lowest ranked it was quite nice to randori with someone lower than me as it made me realise just how much I had learnt. Obviously being a beginner I didn’t throw him around, rather I encouraged him just to try all the throws he knew on me and told him not to worry about grip fighting as I would let him take whatever grip he wanted. Following two or three failed attempts of Osoto-otoshi on me, I stiffened up and threw him gently with the same technique, in the hope that he would realise why he was unsuccessful with his attempts.
My next opponent was a green belt and we fought a bit for grips. I took a high collar grip, which worked quite well as I was able to keep good control over him. This culminated in me being able to throw him with Uchi-mata and then before the end an O-uchi-gari.
I had three more rounds of Randori after this. Against another green belt I managed another O-uchi-gari and against a brown belt I managed another Uchi-mata. Both of these throws are fast becoming my favorites. My last round of Randori was against Graeme and despite a size and strength advantage I wasn’t able to get anything going against him. Graeme commented that I needed to relax but maybe I stiffened up because he is one of my instructors and I felt like I had to make an extra effort against him. I used to have the same problem when I did Chi-Sau against Kevin Chan back in my Wing Chun days.
We finished up with a couple of rounds of Newaza and I had a particularly good tussle with one of the brown belts.
Overall I really enjoyed the class despite it being a little short due to our late arrival.
Taken from Yamabushi Judo clubs website:
The head instructor Pete Swettenham started judo at the age of 6, gaining his 1st Dan at 17, and 2nd at 21. He was very active in student judo, winning the National title several times with London University before having to retire at the age of 22 with persistent knee injuries. Whilst taking a break from judo he became a triathlete, before moving on to road racing cycling. He spent 8 years as an elite road and track cyclist, riding professionally, and being a prolific winner, especially in the South of England. On returning to judo Pete started to compete again regularly. Last year, at the age of 35, he gained his 3rd Dan before winning the National Masters Championships in the 35 - 39 category, at U73 Kg. He is currently a member of the GB Masters Judo Squad. Pete is now the Children's Judo Coordinator at Yamabushi Judo Club, teaching at the Kingston and Guildford sites. He coaches judo and personal safety full time and has a special interest in ju jitsu (not sure if BJJ or traditional Japanese) and physical conditioning.
From my personal experience Pete is very enthusiastic and clearly loves his Judo. I think this rubs off on his students as they also showed a great deal of enthusiasm. I’m sure I will be come back and train here again when time permits.
Friday, 10 February 2012
Sunday, 5 February 2012
O & Ko-uchi-gari
I normally write my blog either the same evening or the day after my last lesson but today is three days afterwards. In addition, I am also looking after my eleven month old daughter whilst sat here at my desk, watching her pull every book off of one of the book shelves behind me, so apologies if this entry is a little short and a touch vague.
It seems that winter has finally reached the south of England with temperatures dropping below zero and snow forecast for the weekend (As I write this I can confirm that a couple of inches fell on Saturday night). Although there is heating in the Dojo it still felt a little colder than normal so after our normal warmup Graeme had us do plenty of uchi-komi, taking turns to pull our partner the length of the mat. I stuck with one technique (Uchi-mata) a throw which I am trying to perfect.
Graeme said that O-uchi-gari was on the menu tonight but before we got started he had us practice drawing the letter “O” on the mat with our feet. This was actually a good exercise, especially for me as it emphasised the full range of motion of the leg which was doing the reaping.
After several practices of this throw we moved on to Ko-uchi-gari and again even though it’s a technique I have done many time previously I was able to improve and just tweak a couple of things which had made this a rather difficult throw for me to perform previously.
We were then asked to come up with a combination which would finish with O-uchi-gari and I decided that Tai-otoshi would be a good set up. After a few minutes trying out this combination we were all asked to perform it in front of the rest of the class. Of course I could have tried Ko in to O-uchi-gari but this felt a little too obvious.
Moving on to some groundwork and we practiced various ways of escaping the guard, something I definitely need to practice especially as I tend to favour pulling guard and looking for sweeps and subs off my back. I’m ok once I’m in a Mune-gatame position and feel comfortable moving between pins and looking for subs, and I was even praised for my top control by Stewart when we did some Newaza later on, but escaping the guard or half guard frustrates me.
One of the techniques that Graeme showed us was to slip my left hand under Uke’s right leg and grab his collar. To avoid being San-gaku-jime’d you need to make sure you put pressure on Uke’s right leg as you do this. Then once you have taken a grip of Uke’s collar you simply move to your left hand side to secure a Mune-gatame. It’s a very simple technique and its one we have been shown on numerous occasions in the past but I’ve never used it in randori as I tend to favour just putting pressure on Uke’s inner thigh with my elbow and escaping that way.
We finished off with some Newaza Randori.
Next week I hope to visit another club to get some extra training in to prepare myself for my upcoming tournament. Expect a write up to follow.
It seems that winter has finally reached the south of England with temperatures dropping below zero and snow forecast for the weekend (As I write this I can confirm that a couple of inches fell on Saturday night). Although there is heating in the Dojo it still felt a little colder than normal so after our normal warmup Graeme had us do plenty of uchi-komi, taking turns to pull our partner the length of the mat. I stuck with one technique (Uchi-mata) a throw which I am trying to perfect.
Graeme said that O-uchi-gari was on the menu tonight but before we got started he had us practice drawing the letter “O” on the mat with our feet. This was actually a good exercise, especially for me as it emphasised the full range of motion of the leg which was doing the reaping.
After several practices of this throw we moved on to Ko-uchi-gari and again even though it’s a technique I have done many time previously I was able to improve and just tweak a couple of things which had made this a rather difficult throw for me to perform previously.
We were then asked to come up with a combination which would finish with O-uchi-gari and I decided that Tai-otoshi would be a good set up. After a few minutes trying out this combination we were all asked to perform it in front of the rest of the class. Of course I could have tried Ko in to O-uchi-gari but this felt a little too obvious.
Moving on to some groundwork and we practiced various ways of escaping the guard, something I definitely need to practice especially as I tend to favour pulling guard and looking for sweeps and subs off my back. I’m ok once I’m in a Mune-gatame position and feel comfortable moving between pins and looking for subs, and I was even praised for my top control by Stewart when we did some Newaza later on, but escaping the guard or half guard frustrates me.
One of the techniques that Graeme showed us was to slip my left hand under Uke’s right leg and grab his collar. To avoid being San-gaku-jime’d you need to make sure you put pressure on Uke’s right leg as you do this. Then once you have taken a grip of Uke’s collar you simply move to your left hand side to secure a Mune-gatame. It’s a very simple technique and its one we have been shown on numerous occasions in the past but I’ve never used it in randori as I tend to favour just putting pressure on Uke’s inner thigh with my elbow and escaping that way.
We finished off with some Newaza Randori.
Next week I hope to visit another club to get some extra training in to prepare myself for my upcoming tournament. Expect a write up to follow.
Friday, 27 January 2012
Turnovers and Ashi-Waza
It was nice to nice Oli back in the class tonight as I haven’t seen him since early December. Also Stewart was also present for the first time this year which meant we had a total of 6 seniors tonight, which isn’t great but a lot better than the last couple of weeks.
After our initial warm up, Peter had us go in to some light Newaza and after 10 minutes or so he told us to practice as many turnovers we knew in a minute. At this point I was paired with Big Stuart. I started with the usual turnover in to Kesa-gatame and then a couple of variations in to Juji-gatame but then my mind went blank. Big Stuart added a couple more but he also ran out of ideas. After a few minutes Graeme and Peter proceeded to show us a nice couple of turnovers, both of which I remember being shown before but the fact that none of us remembered them showed that we needed to drill them again. The one I remember the best was, with Uke in Turtle position you grab both collars with your front hand going over uke’s back but under his arm. Then you swing over uke with your momentum turning them over and pinning them as you have both their collars pulled under their arm pits.
Following the turnovers we went on to practice some Ashi-Waza (Foot sweeps). Last week I practiced Okuri-ashi-barai and we did it again this week but instead of practicing it in the usual manor where we both take side steps which sort of resemble something from Strictly Come Dancing, we did it this time using circular movements. So I would step back and pull uke around and as his trailing foot catches up I lift and sweep the foot. We then followed a similar exercise for De-ashi-barai.
Before we progressed in to Randori, Graeme had us warm up again with some Uchikomi, Uchi-mata being the throw that I practiced the most.
My first opponent in Randori was Oli. I attacked a lot but wasn’t able to throw Oli but I did nearly get him with an Uchi-mata and an O-uchi-gari before being thrown a couple of times myself.
Next up was Big Stuart and I tried a different strategy with him. I had seen a nice video on the Judo Forum recently over a Tai-otoshi in to Tani-otishi combination which I liked the look of so I decided to try this out on Stuart. I came to the conclusion at the end that I need to practice this one a lot more and probably need to commit more on the Tai-otoshi.
My final opponent was Peter and I finally managed a throw, a nice O-uchi-gari, although I had to really drive and hop forward to get him to fall.
Something I purposely did against everyone tonight was to take a higher grip, around their collars and my initial thoughts were that I had better control over everyone. Of course they are all much higher grades than me so it’s hard to say for sure but I guess I’ll find out when I enter this competition in February.
After our initial warm up, Peter had us go in to some light Newaza and after 10 minutes or so he told us to practice as many turnovers we knew in a minute. At this point I was paired with Big Stuart. I started with the usual turnover in to Kesa-gatame and then a couple of variations in to Juji-gatame but then my mind went blank. Big Stuart added a couple more but he also ran out of ideas. After a few minutes Graeme and Peter proceeded to show us a nice couple of turnovers, both of which I remember being shown before but the fact that none of us remembered them showed that we needed to drill them again. The one I remember the best was, with Uke in Turtle position you grab both collars with your front hand going over uke’s back but under his arm. Then you swing over uke with your momentum turning them over and pinning them as you have both their collars pulled under their arm pits.
Following the turnovers we went on to practice some Ashi-Waza (Foot sweeps). Last week I practiced Okuri-ashi-barai and we did it again this week but instead of practicing it in the usual manor where we both take side steps which sort of resemble something from Strictly Come Dancing, we did it this time using circular movements. So I would step back and pull uke around and as his trailing foot catches up I lift and sweep the foot. We then followed a similar exercise for De-ashi-barai.
Before we progressed in to Randori, Graeme had us warm up again with some Uchikomi, Uchi-mata being the throw that I practiced the most.
My first opponent in Randori was Oli. I attacked a lot but wasn’t able to throw Oli but I did nearly get him with an Uchi-mata and an O-uchi-gari before being thrown a couple of times myself.
Next up was Big Stuart and I tried a different strategy with him. I had seen a nice video on the Judo Forum recently over a Tai-otoshi in to Tani-otishi combination which I liked the look of so I decided to try this out on Stuart. I came to the conclusion at the end that I need to practice this one a lot more and probably need to commit more on the Tai-otoshi.
My final opponent was Peter and I finally managed a throw, a nice O-uchi-gari, although I had to really drive and hop forward to get him to fall.
Something I purposely did against everyone tonight was to take a higher grip, around their collars and my initial thoughts were that I had better control over everyone. Of course they are all much higher grades than me so it’s hard to say for sure but I guess I’ll find out when I enter this competition in February.
Friday, 20 January 2012
More Green Belt syllabus
On arriving at the Dojo I noticed that Peter wasn’t present. He usually sits watching the junior class, which is taken by Graeme, Big Stuart and recently Graeme’s son David, who is also a Brown belt. With Peter absent and still no Oli and a number of other seniors who have yet to make an appearance this year, this meant there were only three seniors. Now long term this is not good for the club or my personal development, but short term this meant that I was to get what was essentially a private lesson with two brown belts.
Graeme asked me if I wanted to go over my green belt syllabus, which of course I did and he then asked me if there was anything specifically that I wanted to look at. This was an easy decision for me as I feel I need some extra practice with all the throws.
We then proceeded to go over all the following throws from the Green belt syllabus:
· Uchi-mata: I got this one pretty much right first time of trying. I think it’s a throw that suits my build and is one that I think I will keep trying in randori
· Morote-eri-seoi-nage: Graeme showed me two ways of gripping for this throw. The first was two hands on the same lapel, which felt comfortable enough but I never felt like I had much power in it. However when I tried the second way of gripping, a hand on each lapel the throw felt a lot stronger. I must remember this when I am called upon to do this for my grading.
· Okuri-ashi-barai : I need to improve my timing with this foot sweep but Stuart pointed out that I need to get used to pushing my opponent down and then pulling them, bouncing them if you like. This makes the actual foot sweep part of this throw a lot easier to perform.
· Harai-goshi: I must remember that this is a hip throw and need to think O-goshi but with right leg blocking uke’s escape route. This is the throw that appears to have gained favour with a lot of UFC fighters at the moment.
· Sasae-tsurikomi-ashi : Graeme helped explain the arm movement for this throw which is pull up and behind you whilst turning your head in the same direction.
· Hiza-guruma: This was similar to Sasae-tsurikomi-ashi but my blocking leg needs to be kept straight and blocks uke’s knee and also my arm movements are wheel like.
· Hane-goshi : This is, I’m sure, the first time I have tried this throw. I found it very similar to Harai-goshi but I got the hang of this throw once I got used to springing in with my hips against uke’s
I actually feel pretty good now about grading for green belt as I think tonight’s lesson really helped me improve each throw. I’m pretty confident in the groundwork part of the grading, especially as it’s mostly variations of Juji-gatame so I have nothing to fear other than learning all the English translations for everything, which I will no doubt be getting my Wife to assist with over the coming weeks.
I’ve also decided to enter a competition on the 19th February in Redhill, which is quite local to me. Its open to Blue belts and below, so it’s likely I’ll be up against higher grades but I guess I’ve got to start somewhere.
Graeme asked me if I wanted to go over my green belt syllabus, which of course I did and he then asked me if there was anything specifically that I wanted to look at. This was an easy decision for me as I feel I need some extra practice with all the throws.
We then proceeded to go over all the following throws from the Green belt syllabus:
· Uchi-mata: I got this one pretty much right first time of trying. I think it’s a throw that suits my build and is one that I think I will keep trying in randori
· Morote-eri-seoi-nage: Graeme showed me two ways of gripping for this throw. The first was two hands on the same lapel, which felt comfortable enough but I never felt like I had much power in it. However when I tried the second way of gripping, a hand on each lapel the throw felt a lot stronger. I must remember this when I am called upon to do this for my grading.
· Okuri-ashi-barai : I need to improve my timing with this foot sweep but Stuart pointed out that I need to get used to pushing my opponent down and then pulling them, bouncing them if you like. This makes the actual foot sweep part of this throw a lot easier to perform.
· Harai-goshi: I must remember that this is a hip throw and need to think O-goshi but with right leg blocking uke’s escape route. This is the throw that appears to have gained favour with a lot of UFC fighters at the moment.
· Sasae-tsurikomi-ashi : Graeme helped explain the arm movement for this throw which is pull up and behind you whilst turning your head in the same direction.
· Hiza-guruma: This was similar to Sasae-tsurikomi-ashi but my blocking leg needs to be kept straight and blocks uke’s knee and also my arm movements are wheel like.
· Hane-goshi : This is, I’m sure, the first time I have tried this throw. I found it very similar to Harai-goshi but I got the hang of this throw once I got used to springing in with my hips against uke’s
I actually feel pretty good now about grading for green belt as I think tonight’s lesson really helped me improve each throw. I’m pretty confident in the groundwork part of the grading, especially as it’s mostly variations of Juji-gatame so I have nothing to fear other than learning all the English translations for everything, which I will no doubt be getting my Wife to assist with over the coming weeks.
I’ve also decided to enter a competition on the 19th February in Redhill, which is quite local to me. Its open to Blue belts and below, so it’s likely I’ll be up against higher grades but I guess I’ve got to start somewhere.
Friday, 13 January 2012
O-Soto-Gari
I was very much looking forward to my first class of the New Year especially as it’s been 1 calendar month since I last trained. Although I wasn’t training Judo, apart from 10 days off over Christmas, I have been back in the gym for nearly two weeks and have been hitting the weights hard as I attempt to bulk up a little.
Rather disappointingly there weren’t any new faces on my arrival at the Dojo, not even people on a New Years “I want to lose weight and learn how to defend myself” resolution. In fact there were a number of the regular seniors not present tonight which meant that only Peter, Graeme and Big Stuart were in attendance.
After warming up we got the crash mats out and practiced Osoto-gari. Before we actually performed the throw, Graeme had us all practicing the leg movements emphasizing the fact that this is a real committed type of throw. After performing the throw several times each we then worked on setting this throw up with Ko-uchi-gari as a first attack. Graeme then showed us a nice left handed (from a right handed grip) Osoto-gari as a different variation to the Ko-uchi-gari entry and this seemed to flow even better than the traditional right handed version.
We moved on to some groundwork shortly afterwards and Graeme showed us an interesting way of turning your opponent over if they are laying flat on their face and are trying to waste time, waiting for the ref to call matte. Lying across them, looking towards their feet, you lift up their nearest leg and put your furthest leg underneath theirs. You then put your furthest arm under the leg that you have lifted up and grab the bottom of their jacket. Then, whilst keeping hold of their jacket you simply work your way up their body and ever so slowly the movement forces them to turnover. At this point you should be looking to gather up their arms, pushing them across their own neck, making it rather uncomfortable for them as you secure Yoko-shiho-gatame.
We finished up with some Newaza and started from various positions, each taking turns to start in the turtle or lying on your stomach etc. Considering I hadn’t trained for a month I felt pretty good with my Newaza and especially with my fitness. Actually when I say I haven’t done any Judo for a month it’s not entirely true. I posted an entry back in May last year called “Newaza is for Babies” in which I spoke about how my then 3 month old daughter Florence appeared to have a very good ground game and the fact that changing her nappy was fast becoming a Newaza session. Well since then her Newaza has improved a lot, especially as she crawls everywhere now and doesn’t like to sit still for more than a few seconds. She especially doesn’t like to be put on her back, which makes changing her nappy very difficult indeed.
She is literally impossible to pin down. Even if I pin the top half of her body flat on the changing mat she is still able to turn the bottom half of her body completely over. If I had half of her flexibility I’d be a Newaza god by now and would be mentioned in the same breath as an Adams or Pedro.
Anyway, an enjoyable first session of the new year despite the lack of seniors present. Lots to think about though, especially as there is a competition in February that Peter and Graeme have recommended I enter. Should I try and keep under 90KG or continue to bulk up and enter the under 100kg division. We shall see.....
Rather disappointingly there weren’t any new faces on my arrival at the Dojo, not even people on a New Years “I want to lose weight and learn how to defend myself” resolution. In fact there were a number of the regular seniors not present tonight which meant that only Peter, Graeme and Big Stuart were in attendance.
After warming up we got the crash mats out and practiced Osoto-gari. Before we actually performed the throw, Graeme had us all practicing the leg movements emphasizing the fact that this is a real committed type of throw. After performing the throw several times each we then worked on setting this throw up with Ko-uchi-gari as a first attack. Graeme then showed us a nice left handed (from a right handed grip) Osoto-gari as a different variation to the Ko-uchi-gari entry and this seemed to flow even better than the traditional right handed version.
We moved on to some groundwork shortly afterwards and Graeme showed us an interesting way of turning your opponent over if they are laying flat on their face and are trying to waste time, waiting for the ref to call matte. Lying across them, looking towards their feet, you lift up their nearest leg and put your furthest leg underneath theirs. You then put your furthest arm under the leg that you have lifted up and grab the bottom of their jacket. Then, whilst keeping hold of their jacket you simply work your way up their body and ever so slowly the movement forces them to turnover. At this point you should be looking to gather up their arms, pushing them across their own neck, making it rather uncomfortable for them as you secure Yoko-shiho-gatame.
We finished up with some Newaza and started from various positions, each taking turns to start in the turtle or lying on your stomach etc. Considering I hadn’t trained for a month I felt pretty good with my Newaza and especially with my fitness. Actually when I say I haven’t done any Judo for a month it’s not entirely true. I posted an entry back in May last year called “Newaza is for Babies” in which I spoke about how my then 3 month old daughter Florence appeared to have a very good ground game and the fact that changing her nappy was fast becoming a Newaza session. Well since then her Newaza has improved a lot, especially as she crawls everywhere now and doesn’t like to sit still for more than a few seconds. She especially doesn’t like to be put on her back, which makes changing her nappy very difficult indeed.
She is literally impossible to pin down. Even if I pin the top half of her body flat on the changing mat she is still able to turn the bottom half of her body completely over. If I had half of her flexibility I’d be a Newaza god by now and would be mentioned in the same breath as an Adams or Pedro.
Anyway, an enjoyable first session of the new year despite the lack of seniors present. Lots to think about though, especially as there is a competition in February that Peter and Graeme have recommended I enter. Should I try and keep under 90KG or continue to bulk up and enter the under 100kg division. We shall see.....
Friday, 6 January 2012
Joe Rogan
Ok so I’m sitting down watching UFC 141 from the comfort of my sofa and the first fight of the night is between Nam Phan, someone I’ve seen before from The Ultimate Fighter, and Jimy Hettes, who is introduced as a Judo Brown Belt and BJJ Purple Belt. As Nam Phan is pretty experienced in MMA and also a BJJ black Belt I assume he will have too much for the young Hettes but I am proved wrong as Hettes repeatedly performs lovely Judo throws which include Harai-Goshi, O-uchi-gari and I think I saw an Uchi-mata as well. To top this off Hettes has very good control over Phan on the ground as well and is definitely a hot prospect for the future.
Another fight that night was between Kim Dong-Hyun, a 4th dan black belt in Judo and Sean Pierson. Again I was delighted to see some lovely throws from Kim, especially a lovely Harai-Goshi.
Joe Rogan, who is one of the commentators for the UFC and has been for a number of years now does an excellent job commentating and really puts over a fans perspective of each of the fights. Coupled with this Rogan also holds a Black Belt in Taekwondo and a brown belt in BJJ, so he understands a lot of what is going on and is very good at seeing techniques and moves that are being set up, particularly where the ground work is concerned. He can tell you the (BJJ) name of every submission, choke, leg lock etc and also tell you how to escape the said submission, providing of course that it’s still possible. I do however have one gripe with Mr Rogan and that is that he calls every throw a “Judo Throw” or “Judo trip”. It infuriates me that after all these years he isn’t able to name the throws correctly. Now I don’t expect him to go away and learn all 67 throws of the Gokyu but he doesn’t need to as there are only about half a dozen or so throws that are performed in MMA, due mainly to the lack of gi but also because some Judo throws can leave you vulnerable to punches or can give your opponent a superior ground position following the throw, which isn’t such a hazard when competing in Judo Shiai.
So Joe Rogan, if you are reading this, please go away and learn the correct names of these lovely Judo throws, it will make me and the rest of the Judo performing MMA fans very happy.
Another fight that night was between Kim Dong-Hyun, a 4th dan black belt in Judo and Sean Pierson. Again I was delighted to see some lovely throws from Kim, especially a lovely Harai-Goshi.
Joe Rogan, who is one of the commentators for the UFC and has been for a number of years now does an excellent job commentating and really puts over a fans perspective of each of the fights. Coupled with this Rogan also holds a Black Belt in Taekwondo and a brown belt in BJJ, so he understands a lot of what is going on and is very good at seeing techniques and moves that are being set up, particularly where the ground work is concerned. He can tell you the (BJJ) name of every submission, choke, leg lock etc and also tell you how to escape the said submission, providing of course that it’s still possible. I do however have one gripe with Mr Rogan and that is that he calls every throw a “Judo Throw” or “Judo trip”. It infuriates me that after all these years he isn’t able to name the throws correctly. Now I don’t expect him to go away and learn all 67 throws of the Gokyu but he doesn’t need to as there are only about half a dozen or so throws that are performed in MMA, due mainly to the lack of gi but also because some Judo throws can leave you vulnerable to punches or can give your opponent a superior ground position following the throw, which isn’t such a hazard when competing in Judo Shiai.
So Joe Rogan, if you are reading this, please go away and learn the correct names of these lovely Judo throws, it will make me and the rest of the Judo performing MMA fans very happy.
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Review of the year 2011
I missed the last lesson of the year last Thursday due to unforeseen circumstances so I thought I’d take the opportunity to write a quick review of my Judo in 2011.
In January my training was dominated by my Marathon training. I was quite often tired and sore but I was obviously feeling very fit and this was reflected when I did Newaza and would still feel fresh at the end of it. I did however have to sacrifice by BJJ training due to lack of time and energy, which is a shame as really enjoy it.
Of course the biggest event of 2011, and in fact my life up till now, was the birth of my baby daughter Florence. Her birth did force me re-evaluate my Marathon training and as a consequence I decided it wasn’t fair on either my wife or myself to continue to spend hours a week pounding the streets especially when I could be spending that time looking after my daughter and giving my wife a brief reprieve. I therefore decided to pull out of the Marathon but at least I managed to run distances I never thought I would be capable of (13 miles) and I will certainly be back some time in the future to have another crack at it.
Coincidently the London Marathon was on the same day as the High Wycombe Newaza tournament, which I had entered the previous year winning a bronze in the process. So with no Marathon to contend with I decided to enter again. The tournament had definitely grown from the previous year and there were guys there from other grappling arts such as BJJ, Greco Roman and other Wrestling forms who were competing, making the tournament a lot more competitive. This made the bronze medal I managed to win all the more satisfying but it did make me think about the differences of Judo Newaza vs BJJ.
I managed to re-visit Westcroft Judo club for a Randori only night. Westcroft is where I had trained briefly a few years earlier before getting injured and giving it up so it was nice to pay them a visit. Since I last trained there they have moved to a permanent Dojo which I was very impressed with. The head instructor, Andy Ede, recognised me and made me feel very welcome and both myself and Oli had an excellent nights training.
I got my Orange belt in July, just before my club closed for the summer months. I had already decided to train at Yoshin Ryu Judo club for the summer but unfortunately a broken toe on the last day of July meant that I was only able to attend one lesson there. However I got a lot out of that one lesson and was impressed with the guys that train there and the facilities on offer and will attempt to take as many classes there as possible in 2012.
On one of my visits to Yoshin Ryu I got totally dominated in randori by a fellow orange belt. This had the effect of making me re-evaluate my Judo training as a whole although it subsequently turned out that this orange belt was someone who had trained as a junior and was now training four times a week as an adult, so maybe it was to be expected. This is one of the reasons I want to take some extra classes.
It also made me a bit less belt hungry as I would much rather be a good orange belt than a poor green belt.
Subsequently I didn’t hit my target of getting my green belt by Christmas but hopefully I will make some good progress next year and be ready to grade before the summer.
After the summer break Ryan didn’t return to the seniors due to sciatica and Mark was also absent for the whole year due to injury. With no other new seniors joining and other senior members missing for large chunks of the year this meant that the class size was sometimes as low as 4 seniors. I understand that there are plans in the new year to try and attract some new seniors in to the club and that would be very welcome.
I made a concerted effort to weigh below 90kg as I felt I would do better in tournaments as a heavy under 90kg rather than a light under 100kg. Following a gym assessment yesterday at my work, I can confirm that I now weigh 89.5kg and have 16% body fat, which is classed as excellent for my age. My resting pulse rate is also down to 58 so I’m getting fitter as well. However I’m not sure I like the leaner looking me. I like the lower body fat but I think I’m going to try and put on some extra muscle in 2012 and get back up to 95kg. If I can do that with compromising my body fat I will be very happy indeed.
The blog is averaging around 30 hits a day and currently has 8420 in total so someone must be reading it. An anonymous person took offence to my links to BJJ and took it upon themselves to send an email to my Judo club to complain. After reading my blog I then got the full backing of all my instructors at the club to continue with what I was writing.
So there you have it, a brief review of 2011. My goals for next year are to get my Green belt and compete again in the High Wycombe Newaza tournament and hopefully at least one other tournament. Also to try and train as much as possible at Yoshin Ryu (probably on a Monday).
I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
In January my training was dominated by my Marathon training. I was quite often tired and sore but I was obviously feeling very fit and this was reflected when I did Newaza and would still feel fresh at the end of it. I did however have to sacrifice by BJJ training due to lack of time and energy, which is a shame as really enjoy it.
Of course the biggest event of 2011, and in fact my life up till now, was the birth of my baby daughter Florence. Her birth did force me re-evaluate my Marathon training and as a consequence I decided it wasn’t fair on either my wife or myself to continue to spend hours a week pounding the streets especially when I could be spending that time looking after my daughter and giving my wife a brief reprieve. I therefore decided to pull out of the Marathon but at least I managed to run distances I never thought I would be capable of (13 miles) and I will certainly be back some time in the future to have another crack at it.
Coincidently the London Marathon was on the same day as the High Wycombe Newaza tournament, which I had entered the previous year winning a bronze in the process. So with no Marathon to contend with I decided to enter again. The tournament had definitely grown from the previous year and there were guys there from other grappling arts such as BJJ, Greco Roman and other Wrestling forms who were competing, making the tournament a lot more competitive. This made the bronze medal I managed to win all the more satisfying but it did make me think about the differences of Judo Newaza vs BJJ.
I managed to re-visit Westcroft Judo club for a Randori only night. Westcroft is where I had trained briefly a few years earlier before getting injured and giving it up so it was nice to pay them a visit. Since I last trained there they have moved to a permanent Dojo which I was very impressed with. The head instructor, Andy Ede, recognised me and made me feel very welcome and both myself and Oli had an excellent nights training.
I got my Orange belt in July, just before my club closed for the summer months. I had already decided to train at Yoshin Ryu Judo club for the summer but unfortunately a broken toe on the last day of July meant that I was only able to attend one lesson there. However I got a lot out of that one lesson and was impressed with the guys that train there and the facilities on offer and will attempt to take as many classes there as possible in 2012.
On one of my visits to Yoshin Ryu I got totally dominated in randori by a fellow orange belt. This had the effect of making me re-evaluate my Judo training as a whole although it subsequently turned out that this orange belt was someone who had trained as a junior and was now training four times a week as an adult, so maybe it was to be expected. This is one of the reasons I want to take some extra classes.
It also made me a bit less belt hungry as I would much rather be a good orange belt than a poor green belt.
Subsequently I didn’t hit my target of getting my green belt by Christmas but hopefully I will make some good progress next year and be ready to grade before the summer.
After the summer break Ryan didn’t return to the seniors due to sciatica and Mark was also absent for the whole year due to injury. With no other new seniors joining and other senior members missing for large chunks of the year this meant that the class size was sometimes as low as 4 seniors. I understand that there are plans in the new year to try and attract some new seniors in to the club and that would be very welcome.
I made a concerted effort to weigh below 90kg as I felt I would do better in tournaments as a heavy under 90kg rather than a light under 100kg. Following a gym assessment yesterday at my work, I can confirm that I now weigh 89.5kg and have 16% body fat, which is classed as excellent for my age. My resting pulse rate is also down to 58 so I’m getting fitter as well. However I’m not sure I like the leaner looking me. I like the lower body fat but I think I’m going to try and put on some extra muscle in 2012 and get back up to 95kg. If I can do that with compromising my body fat I will be very happy indeed.
The blog is averaging around 30 hits a day and currently has 8420 in total so someone must be reading it. An anonymous person took offence to my links to BJJ and took it upon themselves to send an email to my Judo club to complain. After reading my blog I then got the full backing of all my instructors at the club to continue with what I was writing.
So there you have it, a brief review of 2011. My goals for next year are to get my Green belt and compete again in the High Wycombe Newaza tournament and hopefully at least one other tournament. Also to try and train as much as possible at Yoshin Ryu (probably on a Monday).
I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)