Official Judo Thread

[Bluesbreaker]

they've also clarified that scoring throws where uke and tori land simultaneously don't score for anyone, regardless of who initiated the action

Last time I refereed, I had a 9 year old give me lip because of this. Too bad kid, you fell at the same time as your opponent.

 

[beepee]

So I competed in my first judo tournament after spending the last couple years focusing on BJJ. Yeah I know I suck but advice is welcome.





One thing I don't quite understand is the difference between a throw that counts as ippon and one the counts as wazari.



I'm in the blue gi both matches.

Congratulations on competing, it's takes a lot of guts to get out and do it. RJ green has given you good advice and if you focus on the things he's outlined as you train, you will have more success. I have a few thoughts that I hope help.

1. You did not appear to have a plan of what you wanted to do. Your grip fighting, footwork and general movement did not seem to have a purpose.
2. You seemed very passive, I understand as does everyone that has competed that this can come with nerves. However particularly in the first match you seemed to just follow your opponent and walked onto his throws. You need to develop a plan and work in Randori on implementing it on different players and their body type.
3. Never attempt a sacrifice throw like that. You need to be very very careful with them in competition and as RJ green said, just sitting down with bad grips will just get you pinned.
4. Pick your throws, drill them static, then moving. Drill grip fighting and movement sequences that lead you to these throws. It doesn't have to be a huge amount of throwing sequences or even that varied, but it does have to be second nature to you.
5. More Randori. Once you're familiar with your movent, gripping and throws you need lots and lots of Randori with multiple partners if possible.

In short.....You cannot throw without grips, movement and technique. You cannot develop a plan without combining the 3. You cannot win matches without a plan. Going in to just see how it goes = loss.

 

[Thycidides]

This is helpful thanks.

My problem is that my coaches teach a " move of the week" type curriculum and focus on uchikomi rather than randori. They also don't really teach any kumi kata setups. They instead focus on foot sweeps and show combinations of different ashi waza, but I can tell that's not really a technique I can do well.

I'm not sure whether to try and really focus on the foot sweeps in randori because that is what is taught the most, or if I keep focusing on the sacrifice throws because I can kind of do them.

 

[RJ Green]

ashiwaza is the top of the judo pyramid. good ashiwaza require great posture, kuzushi, and timing. focusing on ashiwaza will improve other aspects of your judo. if you want to develop good judo, commit to doing ashiwaza, and doing it well.

static and moving uchikomi are necessary to develop throw mechanics. there's no point in randori if you're unable to throw effectively. randori isn't about 'wins', and you should view randori as an opportunity to practice uchikomi against resisting partners.

if you're in a 'move of the week' dojo, spend randori hitting that same move. the only throw i've attempted in randori the past two months is harai tsurikomi ashi, and it's gotten wicked.

 

[beepee]

This is helpful thanks.

My problem is that my coaches teach a " move of the week" type curriculum and focus on uchikomi rather than randori. They also don't really teach any kumi kata setups. They instead focus on foot sweeps and show combinations of different ashi waza, but I can tell that's not really a technique I can do well.

I'm not sure whether to try and really focus on the foot sweeps in randori because that is what is taught the most, or if I keep focusing on the sacrifice throws because I can kind of do them.

Ok I'll start by saying I mean no direct disrespect to your coaches. I do not believe that is the correct way to train however. I think if things on the mats are as you say, you know yourself that you will not improve. I will say that if you do nothing else take 3 standing throws you can link, and you can throw off one grip I.e. once you have the grip you do not have to change hand position. Drill them individually and in a chain relentlessly (no move of the week!!!). Practice getting that grip relentlessly. Practice the throws and chain moving relentlessly. Do not deviate. Now Randori for 1 minute on 1 minute off with constant movement. Attack and move non stop during this minute, then rest. Randori like this until you are able to enter matches planning to throw this way and are successful. Do not rely on that sacrifice throw.

My no. 1 chain is ouchi gari - uchi mata - tai otoshi from I high collar grip. There are some good combinations on Matt d'aquino's (spelling) YouTube channel. Pick one that suits you and explain to your coaches this is what you wish to focus on. Plus remember linear movements and one off attacks will make throwing much more difficult. Other people have different training methods but this is how I coach. I do not like slow passive judo or one off attacks. As you get fitter, faster and better there is more you can do to improve but focus in training is very important imo.

 

[Kbits]

This is helpful thanks.

My problem is that my coaches teach a " move of the week" type curriculum and focus on uchikomi rather than randori. They also don't really teach any kumi kata setups. They instead focus on foot sweeps and show combinations of different ashi waza, but I can tell that's not really a technique I can do well.

I'm not sure whether to try and really focus on the foot sweeps in randori because that is what is taught the most, or if I keep focusing on the sacrifice throws because I can kind of do them.

Are you free to do your own techniques in the uchikomi section, or do you have to do uchikomi for the 'move of the week'?

 

[Kbits]

People bitch that newaza is taught haphazardly in judo (which it mostly is). Decided to do something about that. Spent the last six weeks teaching interlocking attacks and turnovers from turtle. Nice to see some of them actually landing these things in randori.

(Arrows indicate direction of attack; did a bit of a write up on Reddit)

Thinking I will do the following

1. Spend 3-4 week covering ATTACKS from turtle (fatman roll, sit outs, kata guruma, double leg, switches, reguard etc)
2. Then 3-4 weeks covering sweeps / attacks from guard (scissor, hook, butterfly, reverse butterfly)
3. Then 3-4 weeks covering half guard (coming up to dogfight, sweeps, taking the back etc)

Not sure if we should cover half guard or guard first. They've at least seen the guard stuff before (and if show the Fallon roll, it will tee up with turtle turnovers and a few other things) but the half guard game is "clamp legs, wait". Any ideas?

 

[Kbits]

Last time I refereed, I had a 9 year old give me lip because of this. Too bad kid, you fell at the same time as your opponent.

What the actual fuck? A 9 year old got lippy?

It's a shame our refs don't get to carry the smack-smack sticks like the old boys in Japan

 

[Bluesbreaker]

What the actual fuck? A 9 year old got lippy?

It's a shame our refs don't get to carry the smack-smack sticks like the old boys in Japan

A student at a prominent, bald, South African. His older brother has done the same thing to me.

 

[Kbits]

No good deed goes unpunished. Given that they *still* haven't sent through the coaching certs we all finished a year ago...It's gonna be super interesting to see if the insurance pays for anything knee related.

Really, really, really struggling to see the benefit of being a member of the org. It's surely not grading to shodan....as you may recall, they blocked two of ours last year....guys who should probably be 2nd dans by now.

PS:

http://www.kataaro.com/products/transition-rank-belt-deluxe__492191.aspx

 

[Thycidides]

Are you free to do your own techniques in the uchikomi section, or do you have to do uchikomi for the 'move of the week'?

I can pick which move to do during the uchikomi warm up, but then the majority of the class is spent doing uchikomi for the move of the week with the occasional fully committed throw.


This is the type of judo I have been learning for the past year or so.


However this is still new to me as I was first taught to be more of a seionage player similar to koga.

And of course I train BJJ as well and my coaches for that (one of whom is also a judo black belt )say to pull guard and work sacrifice throws. They both suggest I be more of a counter fighter which does work for me in BJJ.

Anyway I get the impression standard grips are low percentage. Is that true?

 

[SRN]

Guys I have a question about grips, noob here.

Monday I was in practice and a 6th dan and a brown belt decided to help me out. Among many tips they told me to use only 3 fingers to hold the colar (not using the thumb and index), I started doing that even though it felt very odd. Tuesday night my sensei was my partner while we were doing O Soto Gari and he immediately told me not to grip like that because I could either break my thumb or hurt someone's eyes.

I had my lifting hand somewhat like this. So how exactly am I supposed to do?

 

[Russky]

Use three fingers but do not stick other two out.

 

[BKR]

Here is another video from several months ago. I posted so you can see if ive made any improvements.

I'm going to be frank with you.

1.) Your general posture and movement need a lot of improvement. You shuffle your feet (it's called ayumi ashi in judo-ese), you are flat on your feet, you are bent over (head down) quite a bit.
2.) You are stiff and look scared to death, really. Even though the other guy in the video was obviously being kind and waltzing around with you.

So, you need to work on your posture and movement. Keep one foot in front. If you are primarily a righty, keep your right foot forward, opposite for lefty, and match that with your sleeve and lapel grip (RH sleeve and lapel for righty, opposite for lefty). Righties do their turning throws counterclockwise, lefties opposite. Once you pick a side, then practice moving using tsugi ashi. You can do that solo and with a partner. Move back and forth, sideways, and in circles.

Next, you will want to work on simple throwing drills, starting with the posture and movement you have been working on. You will need a cooperative uke who knows what he/she is doing. Use a crash pad if necessary.

That is a bare outline and starting point for you.

 

[BKR]

Guys I have a question about grips, noob here.

Monday I was in practice and a 6th dan and a brown belt decided to help me out. Among many tips they told me to use only 3 fingers to hold the colar (not using the thumb and index), I started doing that even though it felt very odd. Tuesday night my sensei was my partner while we were doing O Soto Gari and he immediately told me not to grip like that because I could either break my thumb or hurt someone's eyes.

I had my lifting hand somewhat like this. So how exactly am I supposed to do?

What Russky wrote...

Try to avoid a death-grip as well. Think of those 3 fingers as a sort of a hook into the lapel. You can clamp the grip down once you have entered the throw.

 

[BKR]

What should I do to improve leg coordination? And should I try to improve that or just focus on grip fighting etc? Ive often thought weight lifting would benefit me, leg press etc

Agility exercises with cones, agility ladder would be a good place to start.

Learn where to put your hands, and work on a simple ai-yotsu grip sequence to get sleeve control. You can drill those with movement as well.

Then you do what is called a GMT sequence (grip-move-throw). It gets more complicated from there, because you are doing multiple things simultaneously, move, ashi waza, grip, throw, in a constantly changing mix.

I see your main problem as very poorly developed fundamentals (judo), and overall lack of ABC's (agility, balance, coordination, speed). You can work on ABC's (this is general athletic ability) outside of Judo/BJJ classes, and you probably should.

 

[BKR]

and the stupid ass leg grab returns, Khubetsov should have known about the 3 shido rule, as he was on his second, and that a leg grab (which he unfortunately did) resulted in a shido too, but it is so bs. I wish they would add a rule that allows some techniques required to leg grab. Like this:

It's a close call between incidental contact and purposeful in this one. I'm in a coachs' group over on FB, and at least one A level ref thought it was incidental.

However, that particular technique was done in the past by blocking the leg with the hand/arm. Looks like Khubetsov probably just misjudged where he put his hand (a little too low).

 

[BKR]

What do you guys think of kata? Waste of time or is it valuable?

Anyway I ended up joining a second judo club because I was so frustrated with my lack of progress and I started weight training. But one thing that is frustrating is the instructors at both clubs seem to emphasis learning a bunch of different throws rather than learning one or two.

If you mean formal kata,it's OK as a small part of judo training. Like less than 5%. It also depends on how well your teacher actually understands kata

The formal kata (I'd guess you would be doing Nage no Kata) are essentially closed type drills. So they are a training method primarily. The randori no kata in particular.

I know you have not read my other posts yet (late to the party for me).

 

[BKR]

How do you guys like to finish this?

I don't use it, personally, and I don't teach it. Anybody who just lays there though, it could well work. It's designed to finish with a pin, which is what the demonstrator does.

 

[BKR]

Going to my dojo in a few minutes

I'm thinking about doing kata as well. I think that might help me understand what I need to do but I'm not sure how the actual kata training is.

Not sure what you mean by "understand what I need to do" ?

Kata, if taught well, is OK to do as a small percentage of your training time. Unless you want to specialize in kata competition, but most beginners/novices are not going to do that.