A frozen neck kept me away from doing any training last week so I was eager to get back to class tonight especially following my last lesson, which was basically a one to one private with Ynez. Unfortunately it was bit of strange lesson tonight as, yet again the turnout was pretty bad, in fact I was the only student with Peter, Ynez and black belt Stuart as instructors. I think I’ve worked out why Ryan hasn’t been to Judo since June and that is because his BJJ club now has two dedicated Judo lessons a week so it would make sense if he attended those especially as they precede the actual BJJ classes that he takes. This will be a great loss to our club though, especially as he brought with him some good newaza skills and was similarly matched, skill wise, to myself. I still think it would be a good idea to invite a BJJ club to come and give us a BJJ class as something different to the normal Judo that we have. If nothing else we may get one or two BJJ’ers who maybe live locally that might then start taking Judo.
Back to tonight’s lesson and following on from my lesson two weeks ago, Peter decided I should go over some techniques from the green belt syllabus. We went over all the various entries to Juji-gatame which I feel I have got down pretty well. We then went over Ude-gatame, Waki-gatame and Hiza-gatame, all of which are fairly simple techniques but ones that I haven’t used much before so they do need a little perfecting. Tachi-waza wise I was shown Morote-eri-seoi-nage and I must admit this did not come easy to me. I’d like to think it was because Stuart’s gi is so thick that I couldn’t get a proper grip on it but I’m sure it’s more than that and besides, if I can grip and throw people wearing heavy double weave gi’s then throwing someone wearing a single weave will seem fairly easy in comparison.
As I said at the beginning of this post, tonight lesson was a bit strange and Peter decided to finish 30 minutes early tonight. I guess I can’t complain as again I had effectively had my own private lesson with three black belts. Maybe that’s one of the positives of having such a low turnout in the senior class, that I am getting a lot of personal instruction and if this keeps up I will likely start my green belt grading sooner rather than later.
Friday, 21 October 2011
Friday, 7 October 2011
The Darkness
On approaching the club tonight I thought it looked very dark and once inside I realised that half the lighting was not working due to an electrical fault.
The cupboard that we normally use as a makeshift changing room had no light whatsoever but I found Black Belt Stuart in there and Jamie with only a torch as a means of light.
I hadn’t seen Jamie for a number of months and with the continued absence of Ryan I was glad that he had decided to come back.
Peter got us warmed up with some light Newaza which then progressed in to one of us applying a hold, with the other trying to escape. The person applying the hold then had to move to another hold without losing control. Whilst being held in Kesa-gatame by Stuart I noticed how heavy he felt on me and how much it felt like he was crushing my ribs. Even Ynez, who is half my size, felt like a dead weight when holding me in Kesa-gatame. Ynez said it’s not about using strength or size to hold a person down its more about just making your body feel heavy, and of course using the correct technique.
Following the Newaza and with everyone nicely warmed up and due to the fact that both Graeme and Big Stuart were away with work, Peter decided that he was going to give Jamie the opportunity to start his first grading for Red belt.
As Stuart was to be Jamie’s Uke and Peter would do the examining, Ynez said that she would work with me and Peter suggested that we go over the Green belt syllabus.
As we had already been doing some Newaza we started with the various versions of Juji-gatame that are needed for green belt:
Juji-gatame
Juji-gatame sit back entry
Juji-gatame roll over entry
Juji-gatame entry from beneath
Juji-gatame over the shoulder entry
It was great to cover so many different variations of the same technique and also to do a number of repetitions of each variation.
The other Newaza techniques in the syllabus that we practised were Ude-gatame, Waki-gatame & finally Hiza-gatame. At some point over the last 18 months I have probably practised all of these but again it was really nice to really go over each one for repetitions.
There are a number of throws needed for green belt and Ynez decided that we should start with Okuri-Ashi-Barai, of which I have previously devoted an entire thread to. I mentioned to Ynez that Graeme called this throw the oomph throw, as that’s the noise that Uke generally makes when he hits the matt as all of his air is knocked out of him. Ynez actually liked being thrown with this technique, providing it’s done right. Her comments were that there was something nice about being thrown by a perfectly executed throw. I’m not sure if I agree with her sentiments entirely but I agree that landing flat on your back is preferable to being dumped on your head.
Having got the timing down for Okuri-ashi-barai we moved on to Harai-goshi. Despite needing quite a bit of hip, and for me to pull this off against Ynez, who is considerably shorter than me, took a lot of knee bending, I still very much enjoyed this throw. Ynez showed me a couple of nice entries and we practised these after the normal static version. The first was literally just a hop in but the second one involved pulling Uke to my right, but instead of following them you stay still and then proceed to hop in with the throw. It seemed so simple but very effective.
With time running out with progressed on to Uchi-mata, a throw we practised before the summer break and one I got the hang of. For some reason this time I kept on muddling this up with Harai-goshi as I was reaping with my leg on the outside rather than in between Uke’s legs.
If you look at the example from the BJA website, Fallon’s left leg just clips the inside of his Uke’s left leg. You can also perform Uchi-mata by clipping the inside of their right leg but this usually required you to hop around until their fall off balance. Ynez said its better to attack the inside of the left leg, Like Fallon’s example, because if they try and manoeuvre out of it you always have the right leg with the hoping technique to fall back on, whereas if you go straight for the right leg and they move out of the way, you have missed your opportunity for this throw.
Looking up at the clock we realised it was 10.pm and Peter called matte. I had covered a hell of a lot of the green belt syllabus in the last hour and having what was effectively a private 1 hour lesson with Ynez was fantastic and probably rates as the most productive Judo lesson to date. It also made me realise that I’m not that far off of being ready for green belt grading and hopefully I can hit my target of achieving it before the end of this year.
The cupboard that we normally use as a makeshift changing room had no light whatsoever but I found Black Belt Stuart in there and Jamie with only a torch as a means of light.
I hadn’t seen Jamie for a number of months and with the continued absence of Ryan I was glad that he had decided to come back.
Peter got us warmed up with some light Newaza which then progressed in to one of us applying a hold, with the other trying to escape. The person applying the hold then had to move to another hold without losing control. Whilst being held in Kesa-gatame by Stuart I noticed how heavy he felt on me and how much it felt like he was crushing my ribs. Even Ynez, who is half my size, felt like a dead weight when holding me in Kesa-gatame. Ynez said it’s not about using strength or size to hold a person down its more about just making your body feel heavy, and of course using the correct technique.
Following the Newaza and with everyone nicely warmed up and due to the fact that both Graeme and Big Stuart were away with work, Peter decided that he was going to give Jamie the opportunity to start his first grading for Red belt.
As Stuart was to be Jamie’s Uke and Peter would do the examining, Ynez said that she would work with me and Peter suggested that we go over the Green belt syllabus.
As we had already been doing some Newaza we started with the various versions of Juji-gatame that are needed for green belt:
Juji-gatame
Juji-gatame sit back entry
Juji-gatame roll over entry
Juji-gatame entry from beneath
Juji-gatame over the shoulder entry
It was great to cover so many different variations of the same technique and also to do a number of repetitions of each variation.
The other Newaza techniques in the syllabus that we practised were Ude-gatame, Waki-gatame & finally Hiza-gatame. At some point over the last 18 months I have probably practised all of these but again it was really nice to really go over each one for repetitions.
There are a number of throws needed for green belt and Ynez decided that we should start with Okuri-Ashi-Barai, of which I have previously devoted an entire thread to. I mentioned to Ynez that Graeme called this throw the oomph throw, as that’s the noise that Uke generally makes when he hits the matt as all of his air is knocked out of him. Ynez actually liked being thrown with this technique, providing it’s done right. Her comments were that there was something nice about being thrown by a perfectly executed throw. I’m not sure if I agree with her sentiments entirely but I agree that landing flat on your back is preferable to being dumped on your head.
Having got the timing down for Okuri-ashi-barai we moved on to Harai-goshi. Despite needing quite a bit of hip, and for me to pull this off against Ynez, who is considerably shorter than me, took a lot of knee bending, I still very much enjoyed this throw. Ynez showed me a couple of nice entries and we practised these after the normal static version. The first was literally just a hop in but the second one involved pulling Uke to my right, but instead of following them you stay still and then proceed to hop in with the throw. It seemed so simple but very effective.
With time running out with progressed on to Uchi-mata, a throw we practised before the summer break and one I got the hang of. For some reason this time I kept on muddling this up with Harai-goshi as I was reaping with my leg on the outside rather than in between Uke’s legs.
If you look at the example from the BJA website, Fallon’s left leg just clips the inside of his Uke’s left leg. You can also perform Uchi-mata by clipping the inside of their right leg but this usually required you to hop around until their fall off balance. Ynez said its better to attack the inside of the left leg, Like Fallon’s example, because if they try and manoeuvre out of it you always have the right leg with the hoping technique to fall back on, whereas if you go straight for the right leg and they move out of the way, you have missed your opportunity for this throw.
Looking up at the clock we realised it was 10.pm and Peter called matte. I had covered a hell of a lot of the green belt syllabus in the last hour and having what was effectively a private 1 hour lesson with Ynez was fantastic and probably rates as the most productive Judo lesson to date. It also made me realise that I’m not that far off of being ready for green belt grading and hopefully I can hit my target of achieving it before the end of this year.
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
Yoko Tomoe Nage
I found this linked to on the Judo forum, which although its a variation of Tomoe-nage I felt it was useful to keep and share.
Tomoe-nage
There has been a bit of a delay in updating my blog since the last lesson due mainly to the fact that the morning after the lesson I was driving 300 miles to Cornwall for a week’s holiday with my Wife and Baby Daughter. Holidaying in the UK, even in the summer, can be unpredictable where the weather is concerned, but going in late September you are simply asking for wind and rain. Luckily for me the UK was experiencing some of the warmest days ever recorded for September (26-28c) so I needn’t have packed so many jumpers and coats.
Back to last week’s lesson and it was great to see Black Belt Stuart back at the club after a long absence due to a nasty toe injury/infection. Hopefully this is the start of more of the old regulars returning.
As for the finer details of the lesson, I’m afraid after a week’s holiday, where I consumed my own body weight in Cornish pasties, cream teas and Ice Cream, I can remember very little other than the main throw we worked on which was Tomoe-nage. Graeme commented that this was the throw most used in films during the 60’s and 70’s, I can just imagine Roger Moore pulling this one off in a James Bond Film followed by a “Judo Chop”.
We all took turns throwing everyone else in the class and to be honest I wasn’t too shabby at it. When it was my turn to be Uke I noticed that the fall can be a little hard, something to remember should the instructor ask for a volunteer Uke to demonstrate this throw next time.
As I said the rest of the details of the lesson are a little hazy but I should hopefully have a better reports on tomorrow’s lesson on Friday.
Back to last week’s lesson and it was great to see Black Belt Stuart back at the club after a long absence due to a nasty toe injury/infection. Hopefully this is the start of more of the old regulars returning.
As for the finer details of the lesson, I’m afraid after a week’s holiday, where I consumed my own body weight in Cornish pasties, cream teas and Ice Cream, I can remember very little other than the main throw we worked on which was Tomoe-nage. Graeme commented that this was the throw most used in films during the 60’s and 70’s, I can just imagine Roger Moore pulling this one off in a James Bond Film followed by a “Judo Chop”.
We all took turns throwing everyone else in the class and to be honest I wasn’t too shabby at it. When it was my turn to be Uke I noticed that the fall can be a little hard, something to remember should the instructor ask for a volunteer Uke to demonstrate this throw next time.
As I said the rest of the details of the lesson are a little hazy but I should hopefully have a better reports on tomorrow’s lesson on Friday.
Friday, 16 September 2011
New Term
After a summer of disappointment, where my Judo training is concerned, I was finally back at Dorking Judo club for my first lesson of the new term. As mentioned previously, I had intended to train at both Yoshin Ryu and Westcroft Judo club’s in the summer months but unfortunately a broken toe on the last weekend of July put paid to that, coupled with a mysterious stomach bug which has kept me laid low over the last week, although I did manage one outing to Yoshin Ryu a couple of weeks with Oli.
Anyway I was back tonight and although my stomach was still playing up a little bit, I was very much looking forward to getting back in to training.
Unfortunately, despite a very good exhibition stall at the Capel Flower Show (yes I do live in the countryside) that the club put on and lots of interest from people watching, there were no new seniors. In fact there were only 6 seniors in total, Graeme, Peter, Ynez, Big Stuart, Oli and myself.
What was new tonight was a giant crash mat that the club purchased with Sainsbury’s vouchers (over six thousand apparently) and before the class had started both Graeme and myself were practicing flying break falls on it and generally acting like a couple of juniors.
After a quick warm up we lined up at one end of the mat and practiced some Uchi-komi, finishing off with a throw of our choice on to the lovely new crash mat. Feeling rusty as I did I went with O-goshi and then progressed on to Tai-otoshi, the throw I’m determined to make my own but am still sadly some way off of doing. After several throws each, Graeme told us all to practice Ippon-seoi-nage. At this point I was paired with Ynez, who being over a foot shorter than me was probably to worse person I could have been paired with for this throw especially as the old knee’s aren’t what they used to be.
Graeme critiqued my throw as Ynez had got a little stuck on my back and he remarked that I needed to turn my head more to the left, which in turn would help drop my right shoulder, allowing her to drop on to the mat. A good tip and one I must try to remember for next time.
Peter called a halt to our fun with the crash mat and said we would be concentrating on throwing combinations this term, which is something I definitely feel I need to work on so was pleased about this. Tonight we would be working on the O-uchi-gari/Ko-uchi-gari combination, taking it in turns to attack with each throw first. Although this is a combination we have worked before I’ve never been any good at Ko-uchi-gari but tonight, whilst partnering Ynez, I felt like I started to get the timing right for this throw and also improved my O-uchi-gari, especially in regards to my reaping leg.
Following on from this combination we then worked on Ko-uchi-gari in to O-soto-gari and then progressed in to a left handed O-soto-gari, which seemed to flow better than the right handed version preceding the Ko-uchi-gari.
The last throw we looked at this evening was Ko-soto-gari, another one of these tricky foot sweeps that require good timing and balance.
We finished off with some Newaza, the highlight of which was a nice Juji-gatame from the turtle that I managed to pull off against Oli.
It was great to be back doing Judo again and I even managed to get through the whole session without causing too much pain to my broken toe. At the end of the class Graeme mentioned that both he and Stuart will be away quite a bit this term, with work commitments abroad, so it’s likely the class will be even thinner on the ground. I do hope we can soon get some fresh blood in to the place as I’m sure the club is sustainable, certainly not from a senior’s point of view, if this continues.
Anyway I was back tonight and although my stomach was still playing up a little bit, I was very much looking forward to getting back in to training.
Unfortunately, despite a very good exhibition stall at the Capel Flower Show (yes I do live in the countryside) that the club put on and lots of interest from people watching, there were no new seniors. In fact there were only 6 seniors in total, Graeme, Peter, Ynez, Big Stuart, Oli and myself.
What was new tonight was a giant crash mat that the club purchased with Sainsbury’s vouchers (over six thousand apparently) and before the class had started both Graeme and myself were practicing flying break falls on it and generally acting like a couple of juniors.
After a quick warm up we lined up at one end of the mat and practiced some Uchi-komi, finishing off with a throw of our choice on to the lovely new crash mat. Feeling rusty as I did I went with O-goshi and then progressed on to Tai-otoshi, the throw I’m determined to make my own but am still sadly some way off of doing. After several throws each, Graeme told us all to practice Ippon-seoi-nage. At this point I was paired with Ynez, who being over a foot shorter than me was probably to worse person I could have been paired with for this throw especially as the old knee’s aren’t what they used to be.
Graeme critiqued my throw as Ynez had got a little stuck on my back and he remarked that I needed to turn my head more to the left, which in turn would help drop my right shoulder, allowing her to drop on to the mat. A good tip and one I must try to remember for next time.
Peter called a halt to our fun with the crash mat and said we would be concentrating on throwing combinations this term, which is something I definitely feel I need to work on so was pleased about this. Tonight we would be working on the O-uchi-gari/Ko-uchi-gari combination, taking it in turns to attack with each throw first. Although this is a combination we have worked before I’ve never been any good at Ko-uchi-gari but tonight, whilst partnering Ynez, I felt like I started to get the timing right for this throw and also improved my O-uchi-gari, especially in regards to my reaping leg.
Following on from this combination we then worked on Ko-uchi-gari in to O-soto-gari and then progressed in to a left handed O-soto-gari, which seemed to flow better than the right handed version preceding the Ko-uchi-gari.
The last throw we looked at this evening was Ko-soto-gari, another one of these tricky foot sweeps that require good timing and balance.
We finished off with some Newaza, the highlight of which was a nice Juji-gatame from the turtle that I managed to pull off against Oli.
It was great to be back doing Judo again and I even managed to get through the whole session without causing too much pain to my broken toe. At the end of the class Graeme mentioned that both he and Stuart will be away quite a bit this term, with work commitments abroad, so it’s likely the class will be even thinner on the ground. I do hope we can soon get some fresh blood in to the place as I’m sure the club is sustainable, certainly not from a senior’s point of view, if this continues.
Monday, 5 September 2011
Judo Tips and Tricks
Looking Good
The smoother and more controlled you are when you do Judo the better you look, because smoothness and control come only with skill and technique this isn’t easy to achieve. However there are some little tricks to make yourself look good.
The Serious
How you conduct yourself on the mat is important.
When you’re tired, worn out, feeling useless it’s important that you still conduct yourself like a man.
Don’t slump in a heap when watching a demo sit in seiza or anza (crossed legs) if your knees can’t take it.
If you’re knackered don’t just wonder off the mat and sit down.Take yourself to a corner stay on your feet and just get your breath back, tidy your kit, sort yourself out. When you’re feeling ready rejoin the class and go with a sense of purpose to pick out your randori partner or whatever the situation is.
Sort your belt out.
If you haven’t done your belt properly you look like a complete chump. No one will ever take you or your Judo seriously if you don’t tie your belt properly.
If your belt looks like this

Sort it out quickly or expect people to laugh at you.
Even more so if you have a ‘dick belt’

Just, no.
Being knackered
Shiai
We’ve all been there its minute 4 of the contest and you are absolutely knackered. You need some time to get a breath, but when the fighting breaks you have to go back to your spot and start again right away, there aren’t any timeouts in Judo, or are there...
So you’re on a Judo contest mat. There’s the contest area, in green, the danger area, in red, and the two spots for the guy in the white belt and the guy in the blue belt.

Whenever there’s a break in the contest you return to your respective spots, white for white – blue for blue, and start again.
However, here lies the perfect opportunity to catch a few seconds of air.
Most people when the contest breaks they walk back from where it broke, at the X, to their spot.

The smart and experienced player knows that this is there opportunity to catch some breaths and so will take the longest and most circuitous route back to their spot they can

If you’re knackered 3 or 4 extra seconds of sucking in air makes a massive difference.
Those who are even cannier and or even more knackered can upgrade this little breath catching trick.
The fight should only restart when you are at your appropriate spot, so if you go to the wrong spot then it shouldn’t restart.
If the contest breaks at the X and blue walks back to whites spot and waits there ready to go.

This means that you not only look sincere in your attempt to continue, but also means that quite a few seconds will pass, because the ref won’t actually speak to say you’ve got it wrong. They will just gesture with their hands. You can game out the confusion for a good 5 maybe 10 seconds before ‘realising’ what you’ve done and then walking back to your correct spot.
You’ve broken your opponents concentration because of the deliberate mix up, you’ve gained maybe 15 extra seconds of air and are now in a much better state to get going again.
Now, obviously, you can’t do the second one more than once a match. However, the first you can milk for a good 3 or 4 goes depending on how blatant/subtle you are, and in a close fought match those few extra seconds you gain to get your breath can mean the difference between eking out the win and losing.
Randori
In randori its a million times easier to catch some breath and stay on the mat than it is in shiai, because there’s no ref to chide or penalise you.
If you’re 10, 5 minute randoris into your 1hr 30 randori session most likely you’re going to be sucking wind, unless you’re one of the top guys on the mat, in which case you won’t be reading this.
So you get thrown, attempt a throw and fall down, block a throw and fall down, or maybe even throw and you’re on a busy mat.
You’re the red circle, your partner right and all the other couples black.

However, you’re knackered the other guy is amped up and you need to catch a breather. Now you could just stand up and go straight back at it or you could be smart and get a few seconds of air and take yourself in a loop back to your partner, ideally behind another pair doing randori.

This is so you can gain even more time by, undoing your belt just as you past behind the other randori pair, marked by the X.

This means that when you get back to your partner you have your belt in your hand and can have a legitimate excuse to stand still for 10 seconds whilst you tie your belt. If you’re truly knackered make a hash of it first time round and take it off, re-adjust your jacket and then start the whole process of tying the belt again.
WINNING!
Getting a choke
Often from this position against an experienced opponent it can be difficult to get your hands in to apply a shimewaza. However, there is a simple and effective method to break even the toughest of defences.
Take your opposite side elbow and place it against uke’s ear, so right elbow against uke’s left ear.

Note it must be against the ear, no higher or lower, otherwise you will lose leverage.
Then simply drive your elbow across trying to get uke’s other ear to touch their shoulder. As the space is created slip your hand in to secure either the collar or bring the forearm across the neck for the Hadaka jime.

If your elbow and upper body is not strong enough to move their neck, then, well, you probably weren’t going to get anywhere anyway...
Being Fast
Usually fast is good.
Here is one way of creating acceleration into a throw from a static or slow moving situation during uchikomi and nagekomi.
I call it the ‘touch step’ because you bring your feet so that they almost touch to create speed for the step.
We start with the usual positioning

Then tori brings his foot to his other foot

This generates energy that can be released into the step.

Thanks to Judoka_uk for letting me publish this and apparently he does have many more tips and tricks, however, a true martial artist never reveals all of his moves and always keeps some in reserve so that the student can never become the master.
The smoother and more controlled you are when you do Judo the better you look, because smoothness and control come only with skill and technique this isn’t easy to achieve. However there are some little tricks to make yourself look good.
The Serious
How you conduct yourself on the mat is important.
When you’re tired, worn out, feeling useless it’s important that you still conduct yourself like a man.
Don’t slump in a heap when watching a demo sit in seiza or anza (crossed legs) if your knees can’t take it.
If you’re knackered don’t just wonder off the mat and sit down.Take yourself to a corner stay on your feet and just get your breath back, tidy your kit, sort yourself out. When you’re feeling ready rejoin the class and go with a sense of purpose to pick out your randori partner or whatever the situation is.
Sort your belt out.
If you haven’t done your belt properly you look like a complete chump. No one will ever take you or your Judo seriously if you don’t tie your belt properly.
If your belt looks like this

Sort it out quickly or expect people to laugh at you.
Even more so if you have a ‘dick belt’

Just, no.
Being knackered
Shiai
We’ve all been there its minute 4 of the contest and you are absolutely knackered. You need some time to get a breath, but when the fighting breaks you have to go back to your spot and start again right away, there aren’t any timeouts in Judo, or are there...
So you’re on a Judo contest mat. There’s the contest area, in green, the danger area, in red, and the two spots for the guy in the white belt and the guy in the blue belt.

Whenever there’s a break in the contest you return to your respective spots, white for white – blue for blue, and start again.
However, here lies the perfect opportunity to catch a few seconds of air.
Most people when the contest breaks they walk back from where it broke, at the X, to their spot.

The smart and experienced player knows that this is there opportunity to catch some breaths and so will take the longest and most circuitous route back to their spot they can

If you’re knackered 3 or 4 extra seconds of sucking in air makes a massive difference.
Those who are even cannier and or even more knackered can upgrade this little breath catching trick.
The fight should only restart when you are at your appropriate spot, so if you go to the wrong spot then it shouldn’t restart.
If the contest breaks at the X and blue walks back to whites spot and waits there ready to go.

This means that you not only look sincere in your attempt to continue, but also means that quite a few seconds will pass, because the ref won’t actually speak to say you’ve got it wrong. They will just gesture with their hands. You can game out the confusion for a good 5 maybe 10 seconds before ‘realising’ what you’ve done and then walking back to your correct spot.
You’ve broken your opponents concentration because of the deliberate mix up, you’ve gained maybe 15 extra seconds of air and are now in a much better state to get going again.
Now, obviously, you can’t do the second one more than once a match. However, the first you can milk for a good 3 or 4 goes depending on how blatant/subtle you are, and in a close fought match those few extra seconds you gain to get your breath can mean the difference between eking out the win and losing.
Randori
In randori its a million times easier to catch some breath and stay on the mat than it is in shiai, because there’s no ref to chide or penalise you.
If you’re 10, 5 minute randoris into your 1hr 30 randori session most likely you’re going to be sucking wind, unless you’re one of the top guys on the mat, in which case you won’t be reading this.
So you get thrown, attempt a throw and fall down, block a throw and fall down, or maybe even throw and you’re on a busy mat.
You’re the red circle, your partner right and all the other couples black.

However, you’re knackered the other guy is amped up and you need to catch a breather. Now you could just stand up and go straight back at it or you could be smart and get a few seconds of air and take yourself in a loop back to your partner, ideally behind another pair doing randori.

This is so you can gain even more time by, undoing your belt just as you past behind the other randori pair, marked by the X.

This means that when you get back to your partner you have your belt in your hand and can have a legitimate excuse to stand still for 10 seconds whilst you tie your belt. If you’re truly knackered make a hash of it first time round and take it off, re-adjust your jacket and then start the whole process of tying the belt again.
WINNING!
Getting a choke
Often from this position against an experienced opponent it can be difficult to get your hands in to apply a shimewaza. However, there is a simple and effective method to break even the toughest of defences.
Take your opposite side elbow and place it against uke’s ear, so right elbow against uke’s left ear.

Note it must be against the ear, no higher or lower, otherwise you will lose leverage.
Then simply drive your elbow across trying to get uke’s other ear to touch their shoulder. As the space is created slip your hand in to secure either the collar or bring the forearm across the neck for the Hadaka jime.

If your elbow and upper body is not strong enough to move their neck, then, well, you probably weren’t going to get anywhere anyway...
Being Fast
Usually fast is good.
Here is one way of creating acceleration into a throw from a static or slow moving situation during uchikomi and nagekomi.
I call it the ‘touch step’ because you bring your feet so that they almost touch to create speed for the step.
We start with the usual positioning

Then tori brings his foot to his other foot

This generates energy that can be released into the step.

Thanks to Judoka_uk for letting me publish this and apparently he does have many more tips and tricks, however, a true martial artist never reveals all of his moves and always keeps some in reserve so that the student can never become the master.
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Judo Newaza Grappling International Fights
Although BJJ and Judo share a lot of common techniques I think this clip shows how differently Judo groundwork has evolved compared to the more patient style of BJJ, Personally I find this a lot easier on the eye than BJJ but still appreciate both arts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)