BJA Brown Belt Syllabus

Following an earlier post I've scoured Youtube for the best videos of all the throws from the BJA's revised Brown Belt Syllabus.

Enjoy

Sode Tsurikomi Goshi (Sleeve lift pull grip)

Kata Guruma (Shoulder Wheel)

Ryo-Hiza-Seoi-Otoshi (Two Knee Shoulder Drop)

Sumi-Gaeshi (Corner Throw)

Yoko-Gake (Side Hook)

Ko-Uchi-Gake-Maki-Komi (Minor Inner Hook Side Winding)

Ushiro-Goshi (Rear Hip)

Ura-nage (Rear Throw)

Uki-otoshi (Floating Drop)

Koshi-Guruma (Hip Wheel)

Product Review - Martial Herbs

I mentioned here that I had received some products from a start-up company called Martial Herbs. These were their Strength tablets and also their Recovery oil. I decided to test these products until the samples they had provided me had run out, so approximately 60 days. Unfortunately shortly after taking them I suffered a number of injuries. First a bicep injury, then whiplash caused by a car crash and then finally a burst vein in my leg (Superficial thrombosis). I’m not suggesting for one minute that these tablets were the cause of my injuries by the way, it’s just bad luck that I was not able to push myself hard both in the gym and on the tatami to see what affect Martial Herbs products would have had on my training.

For these reasons I’m not able to give a proper product review so I’ve had to restrict it to the information I received from Sam at Martial Herbs. I’ll leave it up to you to decide if you want to give them a try but what I can say is that they were very quick to answer my emails and to send me the agreed products so they get 10 out of 10 for customer service. Their website can be found here



Martial Herbs 'Recovery' is best used as a massage oil after taking muscular knocks at training and shouldn't stain (though like all oils, keep away from expensive shirts!). If you're carrying the injury in to the next day, feel free to rub a small amount into the affected area of your body, it will warm and relax the surrounding muscles after a brief period of application.



Natural Ingredients - Martial Herbs Strength


Martial Herbs Strength contains 100% natural and vegetarian ingredients based on the latest clinical research into the beneficial metabolic effects of adaptogens, antioxidants and other phytochemicals. Key ones include:

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• Essential minerals: replenishing essential minerals is required for proper muscle contraction and relaxation. Mineral loss through sweating can cause cramping, slower reactions and recovery and an overall reduction in the health of cells and tissues.

• Adaptogens: actively support the immune system, fighting fatigue.

• Phosphorus, calcium and magnesium: all combining to help you combat the draining effects of tough workouts and frequent training.


Martial Herbs Strength - Expected Performance Enhancement


Our herbal supplements enhance the effects of a regular fitness regime, and help in achieving a lean, muscular body with improved resistance to injury as well as faster, more effective responses during training and competition.


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Frustrated with the abundance of low quality, untested and weak sports powders, the creators of Martial Herbs took it upon themselves to design natural products that they, themselves, wanted to use. The result is a trio of powerful supplements containing only the purest, natural ingredients that are suitable for vegetarians and manufactured under the supervision of professional herbalists.

Key benefits of Martial Herbs:

● Enhances strength and stamina.
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● Relieves pain and promotes healing of musculoskeletal injuries.
● Increases vitality, resilience and motivation.
● Helps shift stubborn fat for a sleeker body

New Year Goal Number 1 - Obtain my brown belt

Obviously my immediate goal on returning to Judo is to finish my brown belt grading of which I've already completed about 50%.
Unfortunately the BJA, in their wisdom, decided that when they changed the kyu grading syllabus it would be a good idea not to update their website with video snippets of all the techniques. Furthermore they also forgot to update the kyu grade pictorial guide so most people I have been speaking to have had to resort to using Youtube to find videos of every technique listed which isn't a particularly quick and easy thing to do.

For ease I have copied and pasted the 2nd to 1st kyu grading syllabus below. Perhaps those not from the UK would care to comment.

2ND KYU – 1ST KYU

FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS

Tachi-waza:

• Sode-tsuri-komi-goshi

• Kata-guruma

• Ryo-hiza-seoi-otoshi

• Sumi-gaeshi

• Yoko-gake

• Ko-uchi-gake-maki-komi

• Ushiro-goshi

• Ura-nage

• Uki-otoshi

• Koshi-guruma

Shime-waza:

• Kata-ha-jime

• Hadaka-jime

• Kata-te-ashi-koshi-jime

• San-gaku-jime

PERFORMANCE SKILLS

• knowledge of performance forms of selected techniques

Tachi-waza:

• Demonstrate any two variations of Sumi-gaeshi

Ne-waza:

• San-gaku-gatame – complex entry

• San-gaku-jime – complex entry

• San-gaku-osae-gatame – turnover and hold

• Hadaka-jime – Uke prone position

• Kata-ha-jime – Uke “all fours” position

Randori:

• demonstration of attacking defence, avoidance, continuous attacking performance skills in Tachi-waza and 

Ne-waza in Randori with a co-operative partner

PERSONAL CHOICE 1

Candidates are required to:

• select and demonstrate four techniques from the BJA Technical Grading Syllabus and demonstrate them individually and then as a series combinations and counters

AND

PERSONAL CHOICE 2

Kata

• demonstrate any 1 set of the Nage-no-kata or any 1 set of the Katame-no-kata

TERMINOLOGY AND SUPPLEMENTARY KNOWLEDGE

Candidates are required to:

• know the common English translations and meaning of all Japanese terminology used in this section and must be able to discuss with the Examiner the reasons for their choice of technique, grip etc.

• give three examples of any of the penalties in the competition rules.  

NOTES

1. During the Randori demonstration the player will be required to demonstrate knowledge of basic

performance skills e.g. Kumi-kata, Renzoku-waza, Renraku-waza and Kaeshi-waza. The duration of the Randori will be approximately four minutes.

2. For the personal choice element, techniques must be demonstrated in an appropriate practical situation that includes attacking opportunity, best grip and appropriate movement. Demonstrations must include two combinations, two counters and two transitions into ne-waza. Combinations and counters can be either tachi-waza or ne-waza or a combination of both. Techniques must be demonstrated in an appropriate practical situation that includes attacking opportunity, best grip and appropriate movement.

It is expected that the player will select appropriate techniques which will allow for the demonstration of the more advanced combinations and counters.

3. Kata demonstrations must be performed in the traditional manner and include the formal opening and closing bowing procedures.

Ronda Rousey and UFC 168

Following Ronda’s recent victory at UFC 168 the BJA Facebook page has had a number of posts regarding Judo’s place in MMA. Some want to distance themselves from “this barbaric sport”. Some want Judo to embrace MMA and start teaching no-gi Judo and relax the current IJF rules to allow leg grabs and leg submissions and some, myself included, want Judo to use MMA as a way or marketing Judo and increasing its membership.

I’m not suggesting that we stop bowing when we enter and leave the dojo. I’m not suggesting that we don’t bow to the Sensei’s at the beginning and end of class. I don’t want Judoka’s to suddenly start wearing red, green and even camo coloured gis or to start adoring their gis with patches and other advertising. I’m not trying to get people to stop using the Japanese names for techniques. It’s Juji-gatame, not armbar. What I am suggesting is that Judo tries to use the success that Ronda has had in the UFC to market itself as a legit form of fighting or self-defence, call it what you will. I don’t want to change Judo, I just want to see more people start Judo so that the sport I love can grow.

Feedback

I thought I’d post the below email chain from a conversation that I had recently with Jadon. Although getting feedback from your instructor is key to developing your game sometimes feedback from your peers can be a bit more honest and in some cases brutally so.



Hi Jadon

With me being injured I’m doing a lot of reading on Judo and BJJ blogs and also places like reddit.

Anyway, I’m looking for constructive criticism regarding my game particularly my newaza. What do I need to improve on? What do I do well?

Do I roll like a typical Judoka or can you see some BJJ influence in me? Anything else you care to mention would be appreciated.

You can also critique my stand up as well but I know your area of expertise is on the ground.

Cheers
Stuart




Hi Stuart

Stylistically I think you are well rounded. You transfer from standing to ground very well and it doesn’t come across if you favour one more than the other. On the ground you can play bottom or top but are more advanced on the bottom. Although your top game is more advanced than most dan grades I have come across.


Top game:

Good work rate, you know what to look for but often don’t act on the opportunities as they arise. You can nullify different attacks and setups with good intuition and your top defence to submissions is a particular stand out. Your base is often your weak point as you can lose awareness of it when distracted by attacks from below. However any direct sweep attempt is easily defended. Unfortunately you haven’t had the opportunity to learn many standing passes which would greatly develop your passing (albeit not as useful for current judo rules). If you can add more pressure and restrict your opponent’s hip movement you would find passing easier. This could be done by having more confidence in your base and using your arms more to focus on breaking open the guard and controlling the legs. Your posture is generally always pretty good. Once past guard you have very strong pins with good pressure, you have a good variety of attacks. Sometimes you lose your pressure and allow too much space when attacking.


Bottom game:

Very good, your affinity for it is more natural than most judoka and bjj'ers your size. Good grips and good control. You can lockdown and keep control anytime you want. You have a very good triangle but could experiment more with entries and combo's (with armbars and sweeps). Understandably your weakness is standing passes but this is improving quickly. You can sweep and attack but often not in combo. You can defend low passes very well but sometimes give up to easily before the pass is completed. Don’t be afraid to scramble and create space. When pinned you can keep yourself safe and easily defend direct attacks. Combo attacks will sometimes find a gap in your defences and distract you from regaining guard. Your ability to regain guard is pretty good when you are feeling safe and you have a good sense of how to conserve your energy. Timing is generally good but you could make things easier by cinching up submission attempts tighter and breaking down defences.

I’ve tried to be super critical in order for it to be useful but please don’t let it demotivate you. I am judging your performance against the very best I have sparred with. Training with tough dudes who smash you is the key. So for Dorking the best you can do is focus on the weakest parts of your game in every roll but that is quite difficult with the very short time limits....

Cheers Jadon




Hi Jadon

I think I developed a bottom game mainly because I can’t be bothered with the knee wrestling that sometimes happens in Newaza, which can either result in no actual newaza at all or, if the guy you are sparring with is a lot bigger, can just result in them pushing you back and pinning you. When I first started Judo at Dorking the next nearest belt to me was a brown belt who seriously outweighed me. He would quite often push me back and pin me so I decided pulling guard was a better option. Things have changed at Dorking and this has helped me develop a more attacking game from the top.

So if I was able to focus solely on BJJ how far away from getting a blue belt would I be?

With regards to giving you feedback, well on the ground it’s hard for me to say anything other than “Damn” due to you being so much better than anyone else at Dorking but I’ll try to be constructive. Obviously remember this is from someone who holds no rank in BJJ.

Top Game:

You have some excellent guard passes although you do have the tendency to sometimes stand up when you do this. I’m not sure if a ref would stop the contest if we were in competition for doing that but I know they do in a Newaza only competition. You are good at using the gi for chokes and your chokes are very tight. You are able to quickly transition to armbar without being obvious about it (something I need to work on). Another thing you do well is that you are able to make yourself feel a lot heavier than you are. I can sweep some heavy guys at will but when I try that on you it’s like you weigh 20 stone. I hope that makes sense, I think what I’m trying to say is that you have a good base. Your pins are pretty good but not your strongpoint. However when someone tries to escape from one of your pins you are normally able to grab an arm or a neck and get the submission anyway. Still if you are looking for one area to work on which could win you lots of fights when competing for your dan grade then I’d say work on your pins. Ref’s at low level competitions have very little idea of whether the two fighters are making progress on the ground and matte could be called just as you are cranking on an armbar.



Bottom Game:

Ok, so you clearly favour being on top but passing your guard is ni on impossible for me at the moment. You shrimp well and have good hips. The few times that I have been able to get to half guard you have been quick to regain full guard or sweep me from there. Again, half guard is another position which I am not very experienced at and don’t really know what to do from there other than push down on the leg if I’m passing, or hang on for dear life If I’m on the bottom.

Standing up:

You are quite explosive with your throws and you have some good sacrifice throws. I think what you need to work on is chaining attacks together more. For instance go for a tai otoshi and if it’s not successful immediately go for a tani otoshi or or ko uchi gari. I think Seoi nage in to ko uchi gari maki komi should be ideal for you. I think at our level we should always attack with two throws and possibly three. Other than that I can’t fault you. You already have good enough newaza for a dan grade you just need to refine your stand up a bit more and then you’d be worth a black belt.

Let me know what you think

Cheers
Stuart



Hi Stuart,

Lots of useful stuff there. Definitely agree with the chaining attacks part in standing, something I have been finding quite difficult to do without consciously thinking about it in randori. Standing passing is a bad habit for judo your right :(

Belt wise it’s hard to tell but I would want you to be able to survive well against blue's and also be able to occasionally sub them whilst also doing very well against the whites, so more performance orientated than curriculum based, but also having some tools for every position, but definitely getting there. I think it’s just consistency in ground work holding you back, as it’s just the little adjustments and timing that need honing.

Cheers,
Jadon





Hi Jadon

I know I’m not BJJ blue belt standard, I guess if Nova Forca did stripes I’d be worth a couple?

I’ve never subbed a blue belt but have come close a couple of times.

For chaining attacks check out this http://princetonjudo.org/princetonjudo/gokyu/ It has a nice video of every throw from the Goyko and has suggestions for counters and combinations. To start with just add a combination to each of your favourite throws (no more than 4 or 5) and try and work on them in randori. Against the young-uns is a perfect opportunity to practice them.

Cheers
Stuart




Hi Stuart

Cool thanks, Ill check it out.
Oh yeah, solid 3 stripes.

Stand up:

Good gripping, good tricky ashi waza. I think you could use these 2 strengths more to help setup your big throws like harai goshi and uchimata but they are formidable in their own right as well, particularly the gripping. I find I have to use unconventional attacks and grips just to survive. I have spent time asking for coaching pointers and training them to specifically deal with your game. Your awareness of kuzushi is good which is why I think your ashi waza is good. You could be meaner! and more aggressive, although I know you aren’t always encouraged to do that. You know which throws you are weak on and I think they are always classically difficult for any tall guy to do against short opponents.

Cheers
Jadon

Review of the year 2013

With me being out for the rest of the year through injury (Superficial Thrombosis in my lower leg) I may as well write my review of the year early as I won’t be getting in any more Judo training.

I started the year as a green belt but was eager to grade for my blue. The club saw the return of Duncan, a 2nd dan, who had trained and taught Judo extensively in Japan. Duncan has been a very welcome addition to the coaching staff at Dorking Judo Club and his son has been a very welcome addition to the cadets and has great promise and some lovely Judo.

The only competition I entered this year was the Surrey Open Blue Belt and below ( I got a silver last year) but unfortunately due to the lack on entrants it was cancelled for the seniors.

I managed to get some training in at the following other clubs throughout the year:

• Witley – Run by the excellent Pete Swettenham, who also visited and took several of the classes at Dorking.

• Yoshin Ryu – My number two club really. I have only attended their Randori session on a Thursday night but can thoroughly recommend it to anyone who wants some hard randori and also an excellent work out at the same time. All the coaches here are very friendly and have some excellent Judo and this is reflected by the high standards of the students. On a good night there are a dozen or so dan grades on the mat and another dozen kyu grades.

• Nova Forca – My number one and only BJJ club. After an absence of a couple of years I managed to get a summers worth of training in with Ricardo and his excellent team in Epsom, Surrey. I don’t think there was a single night when there weren’t at least forty guys present. I’m always made to feel very welcome by Ricardo and will of course be back again sometime next year. Who knows, one day I might actually have the time to commit properly to BJJ.

That's me, back row, 5th from the right

In March I attended an excellent seminar held by Aneta Szcepanska, a former Olympic Silver Medallist from Poland. This was held at Yoshin Ryu where we had upwards of forty people present.

April saw me receive my blue belt which made me think I should actually start to feel like I’m getting good at Judo.

I missed Brian Jacks visit to Yoshin Ryu in June because the arrival of Edward, my son, was imminent. He duly arrived on the 1st July.



My boy, Edward

Black Eagle very kindly sent me their new Judo gi to review. Subsequently I was also asked to review some products from a new company called Martial Herbs who, according to their website, are the premier British sport supplement company providing unique formulas designed especially with the martial artist in mind. I was sent approximately 1 months’ supply of their strength and recovery supplements but due to lots of different injuries, some more serious than others I haven’t been able to finish this review as yet.

September was greeted by the good news that Graeme’s son, David, had earned the final 20 points needed to gain his first dan black belt. The BJA decided to change their grading syllabus, without much, if any, prior warning. The main difference affected the brown belt syllabus, which I was working through and included several throws which I had already performed to get my blue belt.

A car crash saw me miss some weeks in November with whiplash and although I returned to Judo and completed half of my brown belt syllabus I missed the last class of the year and the chance to get my brown belt due to the injury I have now, a Superficial Thrombosis, which is basically a burst vein in my lower leg. This has resulted in a very large swelling, where the blood collected and massive bruising down my leg and in to my foot. Three visits to my GP and one to A&E confirmed that all I can do is take pain killers and wait for my body to heal itself, which could take anywhere between 3-6 weeks.

Andrew received his yellow belt on the last session of the year and he has shown some steady improvement in his game and his overall fitness. Some of his pins are particularly crushing and I’m sure that if he continues to train regularly he could make newaza his forte.

At the beginning of the year my main training partners were Oli and Meho but unfortunately both have since left the club for various reasons. Ivan, another regular, who has an incredible fighting spirit, saw injury ruin his year as an operation to fix a damaged cruciate ligament put paid to any training whatsoever. Big Stuart has been another casualty and has been absent the whole year, again due to a knee injury. Also Black belt Stewart has retired from Judo due to work commitments. This has meant that my main training partner for most of this year has been Jadon, a fellow blue belt, although his main club is Guildford Police Judo club. As I’ve stated before, Jadon is the reason that this blog started as I found myself reading his excellent blog in BJJ several years ago now. Jadon stopped blogging but continued to train BJJ at Andy Roberts’s club in Farnborough and was a high ranked blue belt in BJJ before some personal issues got in the way of him training there and subsequently saw him return to Judo, something that he had trained in before as a child.

Having someone like Jadon to train with has helped keep me motivated this year and has filled the gap left by Oli. With his BJJ training Jadon obviously has some very good skills on the ground and can normally submit me at will. A victory for me is being able to survive a three minute roll without tapping, something I have occasionally been able to achieve. On our feet Jadon makes up for his lack of size by using his speed. We have had some excellent randori sessions this year and usually we both manage to throw each other with good technique. Jadon has also written some excellent blog posts for me this year which was particularly welcome when I was too busy with work commitments to keep my blog updated.

Looking forward to next year I hope to get my brown belt early so that I can concentrate on making a start towards getting my black belt. Hopefully I’ll be accompanied by Jadon, who should be getting his brown belt soon as well.

Nate Diaz throwing Gray Maynard

Apparently Nate has had some Judo lesson from Ronda Rousey, the result of which can be seen above.
As for naming the throw, its a mixture of Harai goshi or Harai maki komi. Any other ideas?