Judo UK

I have been reseaching into the area of Judo Combinations. I find it better to look for combos than single movements because Uchi more or less sees a single move coming most of the time.

I’m currently looking for the best sources of Judo combos on the net and DVD. I’ve found this short clip on ‘Enchainments’ (French for ‘Combinations’ I believe and it looks like it has some good content in there. The fact that it’s narrated in French probably wont matter as demonstrations should transverse the language gap. Check it out as it looks quite good.

Videos

Also try this one; Some really great slow mo footage and food for thought

Also, check out this website: JudoVision. This one was recommended to me by Ronda Rousey. It’s basically an amalgamation of all the best Judo Vids on the net.

My personal perferences is to be taught by Video and looking about, I can’t seem to find a lot (spot the opportunity if you own an entrepeneural spirit and a video camera!) but there are some ‘okay’ descriptions of combos. Have a look here:

JudoInfo Website

Books

This book Black Belt Judo has some interesting combinations to the rear of the section. I beleive the gentlemen that wrote this book is the same man that owns the JudoInfo website. Check it out. Its a good read.

Another book is Attacking Judo which specifically concentrates on Judo Counters and Combinations. This is definately the next book I am going to buy and absorb!

This list is open to grow and I am hoping to expand it the more I find out. Please feel free to add your links to other great combination resources.

I stumbled upon a gem of a site today. Superjudo.tv is a great teaching tool of Sensei Leo White. He shows pragmatic competition techniques in great detail with many examples and angles within the high quality videos exhibited on the site.
After seeing my first ‘hard’ Kata Guruma at the Welsh Judo Championships, I was intrigued (and at the same time wanted this flashly move in armoury) and wanted to learn more. On my search, I came across this brilliant video on a cross grip Kata Guruma technique. Check it out. In fact, check the whole site out! It’s good and I hope the content keeps coming.

Today, the Welsh National Championships took place in the WIS in Cardiff. A few members of the Caldicot Judo Club and various players from clubs across Wales descended on the event organised by the Welsh Judo Association to battle it out to become the proud Welsh National Champion for 2008. The event that I personally took most interest was the < 81Kg category, which by far was the most packed out of the Male groups. Unfortunately, the Caldicot players most all of their fights (though they fought hard), but there was many exciting matches to remedy my disappointment. I noticed, many of the Welsh squad, male and female were attending the event and it wasn’t hard to see that many of these players dominated the event. My personal favourite was my very first experience of the ‘hard’ Kata Guruma in the < 108Kg category live, which was equally match with the ominous ’Oooo’ that echoed around the arena.

Some tips I picked up from this event were:
Throw and Keep Rolling!: There were some throws that landed Ippons even though the intial technique didn’t go to plan by simply keeping the momentum going by ‘rolling’ on top of your partner. This seemed to bring about Ippons due to the fact hat Uke, even though not initially, ended up on his back.

Be Nice!: You can be disqualified for being too aggressive.  One instance where a match almost ended up almost in the crowd to an over eager pickup which sent both Players though the advertising boards, well outside the match area. Even though it was plain to see that Tori was unnecessarily continued the move and was well aware that he was going out of the arena, Uke’s agressive ‘push’ to get Tori still gripping hands off him was mistaken (in my option) as a punch and thus Uke was disqualified.

Blast that Ne-Waza Technique: If you like Ne-waza then get it in as soon as you or (hopefully) your opponent hits the floor. It seems to me the advantages of this is that:

1. You are attacking Uke when he / she is most venerable;
2. You have a better chance of ‘Matte!’ NOT being called.

Ne-Waza needs to be constant: Keep moving! The judge will only keep you in Ne-Waza if you look like you are doing some and holding their attention… so you better keep moving, trying different things otherwise you’ll get stood up. You will notice that in competition, tachi-waza is preferred by the judges and they won’t keep you on the floor unless you are fighting to stay there.

I have been studying grips from since about Christmas. There is a theory that grips are most important technique you can learn in Judo because it is the best way to dominate a fight and will ultimately get your opponent:

1. Where you want him to throw or;
2. At least disable him / her from preforming a technique on you

It’s definitely worth knowing gripping strategies for Judo as they will enhance your game. Check out this book called Grips (Judo Masterclass Techniques) compiled by Neil Adams. It’s not a comprehensive glossary on grips as there are so many combinations but it will definitely worth a purchase as it encloses many grip strategies and describe how to lead into related Te-Waza techniques from them.

It covers the standard grip, double lapel grip and Russian style, over-the-back grips. Also covered is how to remove a grip and examples of illegal grips (handy to know to avoid those Shidos!). Check it out!

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Today, at the grading in Cardiff WIS, I was graded to 6th Kyu (Green Belt) level! Two fights, the first fight was lost to a stupid sacrifice throw on a guy that was a few stone heavier than myself. Not great! The second went better and won by Ippon with Tani Otoshi. What I found was I rushed into the first fight, rashly trying to create opportunities which ultimately off balanced myself and thus I lost.

The second I found myself capitalising on the mistakes made by Uke, which is an important lesson, especially at the lower grades of Judo. As we are still very raw in our techniques we ultimately end up throwing ourselves! So my advice is dominate grips, keep balance and don’t overstretch yourself too much. Wait for the opponent to make his / her mistakes and capitalise.

Watching the higher grades, it is apparent that this technique will not work due to the fact that your opponent will make less mistakes; it will be you on your back! For all you people that want to see my final fight here it is! It’s not much technique wise, but it win none the less!

P.S. Excuse the commentary at the end…

In my last post, I talked about the how that upper body strength is the main part of the throw. In this post I will take you through the whole motion.

Grips

Left Hand – My preference to grips is to stand in classical style but with my left hand holding at the elbow (I’m right handed just in case you wondered – so left foot forward). Your left hand can hold on to the sleeve but personally I fell that I have more control on the elbow, plus, in theory, I can off balance the opponent more when I come to progress through the move.

Right Hand - I still haven’t found my style in regards to this yet, but the way that I am practising now is the right hand high on the lapel. I have seen this throw with the right hand around the neck also. There are always variations to these moves but for this example I will keep my hand on the lapel.

The Throw

Firstly, I must say this move is easier whilst you are on the move. When you are static and attempt this I always find myself in a bad position (and ultimately on my back!), so I alway try to throw in the direction we Uke and I are moving. The momentum helps, in off-balancing and in the effort required.

The Feet Positioning – I will pull the Uke towards me and upwards (upwards always the hardest part to this) and aim to get Uke on his /her toes. I will then pivot around on my right foot, plant my left foot outside of Uke’s left foot, then shoot the right leg past the Uke’s right foot. The placement of your right foot should be far enough so that the back of your knee of the right leg in underneath the front of the knee of Uke’s right leg. This said, I have seen examples of player doing less of a ’straddle’ and having there right foot and stop the Uke’s right leg from moving at the ankle.

The Pull – At the same as moving my feet, and turning my back to the Uke, I would pull my left hand forward, with the blade of my hand facing the ceiling and ‘punch’ my right hand through Uke’s head… without actually punching of course!

The Completion – I would then complete the throw by powering the upper power through; the best way to describe it is to touch my left knee with my forehead, keeping the Uke close to me the whole time, wheeling him over my right leg. Trying to touch the floor with your right hand whilst holding Uke. Also, you can off balance Uke even further by popping your right knee back on to Uke’s right knee (depending where you leg is placed), which should, if done correctly, dislodge his leg from the floor.

There! Instant Ippon! It terms of perfecting this move, remember upper body strength and practice it on the move. If you have any other tips, please feel to add them here!

Check this video by Mark Swain for more tips on Tai Otoshi:

A very important lesson learnt from some Ne-Waza training today was transitions or transitioning; moving from one move to another. The tip was given when I was struggling to apply an armbar technique on Uke. After the practice, Uke told me that I should be more fluild in my techniques and if I was finding one technique hard to apply, then move to the next. It helps avoid stalemate situations (e.g. hammering home an armbar on a Uke that won’t budge when you try to yank his arm free) and keeps Uke thinking. Good tip!