Start your every class with some light ne waza instead of calisthenics and running.
I got this simple tip from the man who trained under Anton Geesink. He would start the class with ne waza because that way their warm up period would be shorter and they would got to learn much more Judo and ne waza.
They would start with very light pin escapes, sweeps and transitions to prevent injuries.
Than as they warm up they would progress into more serious groundwork.
We started doing this now all the time and the results are great.
- we get to do 25%(30 min) more pure judo per 2 hr class.
- we get to do much more ne waza because as you start your class with ne waza it is hard to stop. It is way more fun than calisthenics.
There is simply more time to add ne waza drills to our regular practice. Even if we want to do lots of standup judo this gives us more time without sacrificing too much of ne waza, because these style of warming up works quicker than calisthenics. It takes only 5-10 min of ne waza to get the heart rate where it needs to be for randori practice. You can always add some streching as needed.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Recommended modernization steps for Judo
- Seize the moment
As Judo changes in the future - we just need to be very open minded.
These are the best times for Judo ever (thanks to growing popularity of MMA and grappling arts) but we got to seize the momentum and not get caught asleep on the old glory. - Absorb BJJ
Instead of rejecting BJJ as just being a copy of Judo we got to adopt everything that is worth adopting from it and pull it back into Judo like Kano did with Kata Guruma, Morote Gari and Western wrestling. WE could even make it better due to the very large "gene" pool of Judo. - Modernize training methods
Accept sports science and sports medicine as official Judo methods. Remove unhealthy, traditionalists methods of training.
Modernize training methods in general. Do not cover the inefficient training methods by using the excuse that it takes forever to get good at Judo. Make learning more efficient. - Eliminate traditionalists snobism
Start treating "diver" and "pick up" throws as first class Judo throws and not as some
European, sportish degradation of traditional Judo. - Reconcile sports and MA side of Judo
Reconcile sports and martials arts Judo. Do not degrade one over another. - Recognize that MMA business is good for Judo
Accept MMA as one of the methods of applying Judo. MMA methods were perfectly good for many of "traditional" judoka. It does not mean that you need to teach MMA mentality to kids - just accept the fact the Pride and UFC are ultimate organized tests for the effectivness of the combat sports. Didn't Kano do this kind of "trials" anyway?
Why did Gracies did UFC, Abu Dhabi, Pride, Vale Tudo - for the same reason Kano sent disciples accross the glode to show in practice how effective his new style is. - Add more ne waza techniques from the MMA world
Adopt new type of techniques such as guard fighting, sweeps, mounting as first class Judo techniques. Again, this stuff works in ground fighting and the BJJ strategy of defending from guard instead of turtle, and moving into mount as a advantageous position is a good one. Just blend this into Judo. - Internationalize Kodokan even more. Loosen the policy about not awarding the very high ranks to non-Japanese. Judo is and it will always be of the Japanese origins, but let it grows as a truly international movement in every sense of the word.
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Uchimata Kuzushi
I know it is going to sound funny, but I will use percentages to best describe the kuzushi for the uchimata.
70% high upwards and forward
30% on the far leg towards the toe
Left hand pulls accross the chest, right hand pulls up and over.
In Randori/Shiai the best thing to do is to minimize need for pulling at all, but make him do it. At least that is my style.
Trick him to push or walk on you with head forwards. (Majority of beginners or strength players are suspectible to this, specially if you make them feel you are resisting, but they are dominating) To exaggarate his leaning I usually slightly lean back on him with my head pushing back to make him feel like I am resisting, while I can keep my hip and legs flexible and ready, and my right leg forward. With having leg forward he thinks I am really resisting, but in reality I am shortening the distance for the attack, and minimizing the needed steps for entry.
From that position when he is upright, and leaning, I just insert my left leg where my right was, insert hip and throw over with strong hand rotation of hip upper body. It goes very smooth.
If I can make him walk on me I wait with my right leg for his deeper step with the left (near) leg, and I rotate in.
This is my favorite. It is amazingly efficient - you can do many of these in Randori without getting very tired.
Hope this helps, and I hope others who utilize uchimata would chime in.
70% high upwards and forward
30% on the far leg towards the toe
Left hand pulls accross the chest, right hand pulls up and over.
In Randori/Shiai the best thing to do is to minimize need for pulling at all, but make him do it. At least that is my style.
Trick him to push or walk on you with head forwards. (Majority of beginners or strength players are suspectible to this, specially if you make them feel you are resisting, but they are dominating) To exaggarate his leaning I usually slightly lean back on him with my head pushing back to make him feel like I am resisting, while I can keep my hip and legs flexible and ready, and my right leg forward. With having leg forward he thinks I am really resisting, but in reality I am shortening the distance for the attack, and minimizing the needed steps for entry.
From that position when he is upright, and leaning, I just insert my left leg where my right was, insert hip and throw over with strong hand rotation of hip upper body. It goes very smooth.
If I can make him walk on me I wait with my right leg for his deeper step with the left (near) leg, and I rotate in.
This is my favorite. It is amazingly efficient - you can do many of these in Randori without getting very tired.
Hope this helps, and I hope others who utilize uchimata would chime in.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Judo vs. Shotokan Karate
I passionately practiced Shotokan Karate (SK) for a while. The training (overseas) was great, and I loved every moment of it. After I moved to US I looked for a good SK school for a while, but without success. All the schools seemed to teach either TKD, or some other "ninja" like styles with weapons, and funny uniforms.
Not being able to find a decent SK school I started looking for another reputable combat sport/martial art Judo. I found one where the head instructor was a internationally recognized 7-th Dan judoka. I started practicing Judo ...
First big difference (a cultural shock) I felt going from one art into another was:
Class and Learning Strutcture
Judo is far less structured compared to SK. As you start learning Judo you understand that Judo format is a good thing.
There is no standing in a row and practicing perfectly executed techniques "on empty" just for the form sake many, many times.
You grab a partner and you do things many times. At first very sloppy, later you get better.
Learning in Judo is very multi-dimensional, and you can not do it just by practicing on empty. You need many different ways of learning, almost all full contact to truly learn Judo.
Full Contact
In SK you do three types of training: kihon (basic technique learning, usually solo),
kata (form of fighting with imaginery oponent) and kumite (semi-contact or full contact sparring).
In Judo (except for basic Ukemis (falling practice) ) everything is done with the partner.
Judo has its repetitive, technical learning part (uchi komi, nage komi), but even that is still very contact oriented, and it can often be (as you grow in ranks) very intense, and rough.
Randori (free sparring) is one of the central parts of learning in Judo and it is as full contact, as full contact can be. Judoka (judoists) do randori all the time. Everything Judoka learn is really validated in Randori - how well can they apply their skills against the fully resisting, and combative oponent.
(That "validation" principle is the same in every major fighting sport/MA )
Judo kata is very different from the SK kata.
Judo kata is practiced and executed with the partner, and the only similarity with the SK kata is that Judo kata is pre-arranged.
You can argue that it is probably less formal than some SK kata, mostly due to the fact that the form/appereance of the technique is so important in SK where in form is always matched with the immediate effectiveness.
In Judo there is only one (Nage No) kata required for the black belt. It contains many popular throwing techniques, and it takes quite a while to learn it well.
Ranks and Grading
Judo founder Jigoro Kano was the inventor of the modern belt and ranking system. As such it was adopted by SK, and in a very similar form.
The big difference between Judo and SK is a grading criteria. Judoka do not need to know as many techniques for a belt, as he/she would need in SK. The emphasis is on the
quality and applicability of the techniques learned. Judo throws are hard to learn, so it takes a while to learn most of them. For most part it is life long process.
Where in SK good demonstration of a technique is very important, and it is very formally treated, in Judo it is competition/sparring ability and
applicability that matters. Very often Sensei will award a belt based on the observation of the student's progress and how well he/she does Judo, and not based on
some 3 hour long testing process. Again, how well one do Judo can be easily observed in the Randori practice because it is all against the resisting, fully combative oponent.
Mentality
SK has attracted lots of intelectuals, people interested in spiritual side of MA, … where Judo is a down and dirty "blood and guts" sport. That does not mean that in Judo one will be dealing with ignorant thugs in Judo. It just mean that philosophy of Judo will be instilled through the chokes, arm bars and throws ...
Speaking of which - sport mentality is extremly strong and present in Judo where in SK it really varies. I personally like "sport" side of Judo.
It keeps things down to earth and "healthy". I am really against any kind of ideology - specially martial arts ideology. That is why I like Judo a lot.
It is very healthy in terms of any kind of brain washing. There is no much voodoo to it. It is all about the hard work, and runners high.
You will find most of the good Judoka to be simple, tough and friendly people. No BS.
If you really want to take yourself seriously, and to have others take you seriously too - Judo is the right way to go. It may not look like that at first, but
more you do it - more you will love it. In SK, you spend infinite amount of time perfecting the form of your Geri(s) (Kicks) and Zuki(s) (Strikes) to make it
look correct. You also do grueling repetitive standing excercises to "harden" your character.
In Judo you will not do one thing to make anything look right, or just for the character purposes. You will spend all your time to make it work right. All the character building comes from the hard work with your training partners.
Injuries
In SK you can get injured. I did - many times. Lose teeth, pulled muscles, broken ribs, ...
In Judo you can get really hurt. Much more severe than in SK. Be careful, learn breakfalls well, and learn proper technique.
It is way easier to get seriously hurt in Judo than in SK.
Finally, I still think that SK is great cardio-vascular exercise, and pretty good for self-defense if you have a good Mawashi Geri, etc and if you work on makiwara.
Judo, on the other hand, is in a completely different dimension.
It is an extremly effective fighting sport closely matched to other fight sports like BJJ, Muai Thai, Wrestling or Boxing and it can be used and applied for no holds barred style of extreme fighting to a very good degree, and it enjoys major respect among other serious fight styles.
Not being able to find a decent SK school I started looking for another reputable combat sport/martial art Judo. I found one where the head instructor was a internationally recognized 7-th Dan judoka. I started practicing Judo ...
First big difference (a cultural shock) I felt going from one art into another was:
Class and Learning Strutcture
Judo is far less structured compared to SK. As you start learning Judo you understand that Judo format is a good thing.
There is no standing in a row and practicing perfectly executed techniques "on empty" just for the form sake many, many times.
You grab a partner and you do things many times. At first very sloppy, later you get better.
Learning in Judo is very multi-dimensional, and you can not do it just by practicing on empty. You need many different ways of learning, almost all full contact to truly learn Judo.
Full Contact
In SK you do three types of training: kihon (basic technique learning, usually solo),
kata (form of fighting with imaginery oponent) and kumite (semi-contact or full contact sparring).
In Judo (except for basic Ukemis (falling practice) ) everything is done with the partner.
Judo has its repetitive, technical learning part (uchi komi, nage komi), but even that is still very contact oriented, and it can often be (as you grow in ranks) very intense, and rough.
Randori (free sparring) is one of the central parts of learning in Judo and it is as full contact, as full contact can be. Judoka (judoists) do randori all the time. Everything Judoka learn is really validated in Randori - how well can they apply their skills against the fully resisting, and combative oponent.
(That "validation" principle is the same in every major fighting sport/MA )
Judo kata is very different from the SK kata.
Judo kata is practiced and executed with the partner, and the only similarity with the SK kata is that Judo kata is pre-arranged.
You can argue that it is probably less formal than some SK kata, mostly due to the fact that the form/appereance of the technique is so important in SK where in form is always matched with the immediate effectiveness.
In Judo there is only one (Nage No) kata required for the black belt. It contains many popular throwing techniques, and it takes quite a while to learn it well.
Ranks and Grading
Judo founder Jigoro Kano was the inventor of the modern belt and ranking system. As such it was adopted by SK, and in a very similar form.
The big difference between Judo and SK is a grading criteria. Judoka do not need to know as many techniques for a belt, as he/she would need in SK. The emphasis is on the
quality and applicability of the techniques learned. Judo throws are hard to learn, so it takes a while to learn most of them. For most part it is life long process.
Where in SK good demonstration of a technique is very important, and it is very formally treated, in Judo it is competition/sparring ability and
applicability that matters. Very often Sensei will award a belt based on the observation of the student's progress and how well he/she does Judo, and not based on
some 3 hour long testing process. Again, how well one do Judo can be easily observed in the Randori practice because it is all against the resisting, fully combative oponent.
Mentality
SK has attracted lots of intelectuals, people interested in spiritual side of MA, … where Judo is a down and dirty "blood and guts" sport. That does not mean that in Judo one will be dealing with ignorant thugs in Judo. It just mean that philosophy of Judo will be instilled through the chokes, arm bars and throws ...
Speaking of which - sport mentality is extremly strong and present in Judo where in SK it really varies. I personally like "sport" side of Judo.
It keeps things down to earth and "healthy". I am really against any kind of ideology - specially martial arts ideology. That is why I like Judo a lot.
It is very healthy in terms of any kind of brain washing. There is no much voodoo to it. It is all about the hard work, and runners high.
You will find most of the good Judoka to be simple, tough and friendly people. No BS.
If you really want to take yourself seriously, and to have others take you seriously too - Judo is the right way to go. It may not look like that at first, but
more you do it - more you will love it. In SK, you spend infinite amount of time perfecting the form of your Geri(s) (Kicks) and Zuki(s) (Strikes) to make it
look correct. You also do grueling repetitive standing excercises to "harden" your character.
In Judo you will not do one thing to make anything look right, or just for the character purposes. You will spend all your time to make it work right. All the character building comes from the hard work with your training partners.
Injuries
In SK you can get injured. I did - many times. Lose teeth, pulled muscles, broken ribs, ...
In Judo you can get really hurt. Much more severe than in SK. Be careful, learn breakfalls well, and learn proper technique.
It is way easier to get seriously hurt in Judo than in SK.
Finally, I still think that SK is great cardio-vascular exercise, and pretty good for self-defense if you have a good Mawashi Geri, etc and if you work on makiwara.
Judo, on the other hand, is in a completely different dimension.
It is an extremly effective fighting sport closely matched to other fight sports like BJJ, Muai Thai, Wrestling or Boxing and it can be used and applied for no holds barred style of extreme fighting to a very good degree, and it enjoys major respect among other serious fight styles.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Some Judo Newaza Drills
Here are some of the Newaza drills that we practice in our club on the regular basis, and that we found useful both as a technical excercise, and as a warmup/agility drill for the ground work:
Continuous sweeps:
This drill develops stamina, and sweeping skills.
Tori is on his back, Uke is standing, huntched over. Tori grabs the Uke, pulls him down, and sweeps him over to the left by hooking his inner left thigh, and by kicking the right ankle/shin out. They continue this roll without stopping until fatigued.
Hands on Belt:
This drills develops use of legs in the ground game.
Tori is on his back. Uke is on the top, standing. Tori must keep his hands on the belt all the time,
and defend with his legs. Drills starts as Uke tries to secure the osaekomi(pin) from the top position. Uke has only legs to position himself, and to defend pin. When Uke secures the pin they switch positions. This drills is continued until fatigued.
Continuous sweeps:
This drill develops stamina, and sweeping skills.
Tori is on his back, Uke is standing, huntched over. Tori grabs the Uke, pulls him down, and sweeps him over to the left by hooking his inner left thigh, and by kicking the right ankle/shin out. They continue this roll without stopping until fatigued.
Hands on Belt:
This drills develops use of legs in the ground game.
Tori is on his back. Uke is on the top, standing. Tori must keep his hands on the belt all the time,
and defend with his legs. Drills starts as Uke tries to secure the osaekomi(pin) from the top position. Uke has only legs to position himself, and to defend pin. When Uke secures the pin they switch positions. This drills is continued until fatigued.
Saturday, January 22, 2005
Review of Judo DVD Set by Marc Verillote
I give this set 4 stars out of 5.
What do you get:
Disc 1 - Basic Judo. It presents all the throws, but it is not going into details for all throws (comparing to Cunningham's Ikkyo and Nikyo series ) . It is detailing the most effective competition throws, and it has great drills for these (Uchi Mata, Seoi Nage, Osoto Gari, Kouchi, Ouchi, ...)
Disk 2 - Hundreds of combinations. Again, very strong focus on competition. Very useful set of combos.
Disk 3 - Competitive Judo. You pretty much get a video clinic of a famous French competitive Judo - grips, strategies, tricks, combos. Very useful.
The quality of the production is pretty good. Voice translation in English is ok.
If you are traditionalist Judo guy, you may find this Judo a little bit strange.
If you have been following international, specially European Judo scene - you will
find this DVD set a gold mine. It is pretty much a sports judo clinic delivered through your TV. I used some of the drills (for morote soei n.) in our Judo practice, and I could see immediate results.
Similar to:
Mike Swain's complete Judo DVD set. Mike's production quality is better, and demonstrations are sometimes more forceful, but Marc's competition drills and tricks are way better.
Where did I get these DVDs from:
I got these DVDs from www.budovideos.com for $90. They are kind of pricey, but for serious and aspiring judoka as I consider myself they are kind of a good buy.
What do you get:
Disc 1 - Basic Judo. It presents all the throws, but it is not going into details for all throws (comparing to Cunningham's Ikkyo and Nikyo series ) . It is detailing the most effective competition throws, and it has great drills for these (Uchi Mata, Seoi Nage, Osoto Gari, Kouchi, Ouchi, ...)
Disk 2 - Hundreds of combinations. Again, very strong focus on competition. Very useful set of combos.
Disk 3 - Competitive Judo. You pretty much get a video clinic of a famous French competitive Judo - grips, strategies, tricks, combos. Very useful.
The quality of the production is pretty good. Voice translation in English is ok.
If you are traditionalist Judo guy, you may find this Judo a little bit strange.
If you have been following international, specially European Judo scene - you will
find this DVD set a gold mine. It is pretty much a sports judo clinic delivered through your TV. I used some of the drills (for morote soei n.) in our Judo practice, and I could see immediate results.
Similar to:
Mike Swain's complete Judo DVD set. Mike's production quality is better, and demonstrations are sometimes more forceful, but Marc's competition drills and tricks are way better.
Where did I get these DVDs from:
I got these DVDs from www.budovideos.com for $90. They are kind of pricey, but for serious and aspiring judoka as I consider myself they are kind of a good buy.
Friday, December 10, 2004
Save yourself from injuries in Judo
In my relatively short Judo career I have had an opportunity to
see a great deal of pretty severe injuries.
People would think that it is a given to suffer injuries in Judo because people toss each other over their heads and shoulders. That is not a case!
Experienced and well trained Judoka can throw and be thrown with minimal
chances for injury. In that respect Judo is very safe.
So what makes those injuries come?
Few first-hand case studies:
Elbow Injuries
In of my tournaments my oponent (a junior Pan Am Champ) suffered a very severe injury, and I had a bad fortune to see and hear the injury first hand. He attempted to throw me Osoto Makekomi, I defended by thrusting my hips, he fell on his extended arm, and broke his elbow. I could hear the breaking sound, like the branch had broke.
One of my Russian Sempai from the club, who was actually trained in Sambo attempted sort of
a Osoto Makekomi against the very strong oponent. They fell - his arm got tied up and he also broke his elbow.
You know the famous Yoshida match when he tried to turn out against the Uchi Mata. He landed on extended arm and broke his elbow.
Knee Injury
One of my instructors attempted to throw this same Russian judoka with Harai Goshi. Kuzushi was probably poor, he twisted his standing leg knee and it broke.
Another one of my instructors was countered by Tani Otoshi. Tani Otoshi did not lift him off the ground and his knee snaped.
Neck/Spine Injury
My Sensei turned out against the hip throw. He landed on his neck/back and broke three of his vertbrae.
My fellow judoka was grappling. He was torqued on his neck, and his vertebrae cracked injuring the spinal nerve. His right side was almost completely uninervated for months.
I would have few more to mention, some of my own but I think few of these will help explain my point, and findings:
It seems to me that these more severe injuries come from:
1. Incomplete or poor breakfalling - turning out against the throw, and landing on the extended arm to avoid loss of a match
2. Neck torquing in grappling
3. Poor kuzushi where body has to generate a strong brute force pull against the completely static oponent
So what I am recommending :
A. Draw a balance between just losing a match, or loosing a match by breaking your elbow.
See what hurts more. I would suggest the first option.
B. Watch for your necks as you grapple. Don't rotate on it, and don't let your uke rotate you on it.
C. Always generate a strong kuzushi, and go with nice low entry when going for Tai Otoshi, Harai Goshi, Ashi Guruma, ... It is way to easy to break the knee, and knee fracture is a pretty debilitating injury.
So much for this time.
Edmon
see a great deal of pretty severe injuries.
People would think that it is a given to suffer injuries in Judo because people toss each other over their heads and shoulders. That is not a case!
Experienced and well trained Judoka can throw and be thrown with minimal
chances for injury. In that respect Judo is very safe.
So what makes those injuries come?
Few first-hand case studies:
Elbow Injuries
In of my tournaments my oponent (a junior Pan Am Champ) suffered a very severe injury, and I had a bad fortune to see and hear the injury first hand. He attempted to throw me Osoto Makekomi, I defended by thrusting my hips, he fell on his extended arm, and broke his elbow. I could hear the breaking sound, like the branch had broke.
One of my Russian Sempai from the club, who was actually trained in Sambo attempted sort of
a Osoto Makekomi against the very strong oponent. They fell - his arm got tied up and he also broke his elbow.
You know the famous Yoshida match when he tried to turn out against the Uchi Mata. He landed on extended arm and broke his elbow.
Knee Injury
One of my instructors attempted to throw this same Russian judoka with Harai Goshi. Kuzushi was probably poor, he twisted his standing leg knee and it broke.
Another one of my instructors was countered by Tani Otoshi. Tani Otoshi did not lift him off the ground and his knee snaped.
Neck/Spine Injury
My Sensei turned out against the hip throw. He landed on his neck/back and broke three of his vertbrae.
My fellow judoka was grappling. He was torqued on his neck, and his vertebrae cracked injuring the spinal nerve. His right side was almost completely uninervated for months.
I would have few more to mention, some of my own but I think few of these will help explain my point, and findings:
It seems to me that these more severe injuries come from:
1. Incomplete or poor breakfalling - turning out against the throw, and landing on the extended arm to avoid loss of a match
2. Neck torquing in grappling
3. Poor kuzushi where body has to generate a strong brute force pull against the completely static oponent
So what I am recommending :
A. Draw a balance between just losing a match, or loosing a match by breaking your elbow.
See what hurts more. I would suggest the first option.
B. Watch for your necks as you grapple. Don't rotate on it, and don't let your uke rotate you on it.
C. Always generate a strong kuzushi, and go with nice low entry when going for Tai Otoshi, Harai Goshi, Ashi Guruma, ... It is way to easy to break the knee, and knee fracture is a pretty debilitating injury.
So much for this time.
Edmon
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