Official Judo Thread

[BKR]

35. Heh. Long time ago.

Started July of 1980...

 

[ArtemV]

This is what I failed to post in the last page lol, but sweet de ashi barai:

 

[ArtemV]

and this stupendous ko soto gake:

 

[SBC]

I used to be one of these morons. To the untrained eye Judo looks simple.I would just see two people walking around gripping at fabric and then some effortless looking throw that somehow resulted in the match ending. My first week I realized how exceptionally hard Judo was and how even though a throw looks effortless it certainly wasn't.

 

[RJ Green]

judo is a lot like snowboarding in that what you're used to seeing via the media are people who are generally at the absolute pinnacle of the sport. at a certain point, professionals are SO good that the relative ease with which they what they do makes it seem like the sport isn't *that* difficult. like anyone could just huck themselves off house-sized booters and do a quad backflip with enough practice.

then people hop on the board and realize that they can't even stand, let alone steer, let alone ever practice enough to throw corks and shit, and that they're gonna fall down SO much before they feel like they're accomplishing anything.

when randori-ing or rolling with someone, i try to keep that in mind and give them a look that pushes their capabilities without destroying their determination and enjoyment.

so like citrus belt down get nice groomy greens from me. maybe occasional blues.

black belts? moguls. moguls and tree runs.

which i kinda dig. there's nothing wrong with people not wanting to kill themselves. if anything, i like that a big gym (mountain) gives you a large spectrum of abilities (runs) to test yourself. if you can't ride black it's because you refuse to try, but at the same time if you just wanna hop on the board and slide around a few cruisers, that's cool too.

 

[Thycidides]

yea part of my problem in judo was trying to do things beyond my skill level.

For example, in randori using a foot sweep to set up a hip throw on some one heavier and taller is beyond my abilities for the most part. Even though it is presented as a fairly simple sequence.

So instead of doing that I just try to get the person to move around and control the grip. If they get really unbalanced and try to do a throw of their own then I might be able to throw them.

Now that I realize just getting a good grip on some one and controlling their posture is a tiny victory in itself I am more confident.

 

[Thycidides]

Is it a problem that I have a real hard time using grip breaks and instead try to get a better grip? I'm much better at getting a strong grip on my opponents gi than removing his grip from mine.

The people I train with are more used to BJJ and so have really static grips.

 

[QingTian]

Is it a problem that I have a real hard time using grip breaks and instead try to get a better grip? I'm much better at getting a strong grip on my opponents gi than removing his grip from mine.

The people I train with are more used to BJJ and so have really static grips.

While there is a lot of technique in breaking grips, the fact remains that strength differences are part of the equation. You could choose to improve either, or look at ways to deal with the grip without breaking it.

 

[Thycidides]

While there is a lot of technique in breaking grips, the fact remains that strength differences are part of the equation. You could choose to improve either, or look at ways to deal with the grip without breaking it.

Thanks. Most of the time the person just holds on tight and sort of stiff arms me. But when they do that they are not attacking and they still let me get a grip on them which I can use to attack and of balance them.

Its kind of frustrating though.

 

[RJ Green]

you're short enough that you should be able to get sode tsurikomigoshi going. if they're shorter and stiff-arming you they're begging to get footswept, and if they're bigger and stiff-arming you with a high grip they're begging to get hip tossed or flying armbarred.

 

[QingTian]

Thanks. Most of the time the person just holds on tight and sort of stiff arms me. But when they do that they are not attacking and they still let me get a grip on them which I can use to attack and of balance them.

Its kind of frustrating though.

This circles back to your need to focus on a technique. There are ways to deal with stiff arms but each technique will have a slightly different method. The principles are the same, but when learning you need to focus.

 

[BKR]

Is it a problem that I have a real hard time using grip breaks and instead try to get a better grip? I'm much better at getting a strong grip on my opponents gi than removing his grip from mine.

The people I train with are more used to BJJ and so have really static grips.

It can be very tough to break grips, especially a larger/stronger person's grip. Frankly, sometimes it's not possible, so you have to adapt and try to make the best of the situation.

There are of course techniques for breaking a grip, and you should learn them eventually. But as someone pointed out already, strength differences are a real thing, and play in to that.

I've done Judo with 2 or 3 plumbers in my time, and let me tell you, trying to break their grip is just about impossible...same goes for just about anybody who does skilled labor.

There are also ways you can re-position your hands and adjust your posture/angles if you cannot break a dominant grip.

 

[BKR]

Thanks. Most of the time the person just holds on tight and sort of stiff arms me. But when they do that they are not attacking and they still let me get a grip on them which I can use to attack and of balance them.

Its kind of frustrating though.

Right, that's pretty common, LOL, the old "everybody stiff-arms me" situation.

First off, you try to control their sleeve and keep it in your half of the space between you. The more general idea is that your opponent has one hand on you, and you have two hands on him.

It's commonly called "sleeve control".

 

[RJ Green]

I've done Judo with 2 or 3 plumbers in my time, and let me tell you, trying to break their grip is just about impossible...same goes for just about anybody who does skilled labor.

MRW people spend the whole round of randori trying to break my grip:

 

[QingTian]

Right, that's pretty common, LOL, the old "everybody stiff-arms me" situation.

First off, you try to control their sleeve and keep it in your half of the space between you. The more general idea is that your opponent has one hand on you, and you have two hands on him.

It's commonly called "sleeve control".

I call it "T-ball Judo". If you need someone lined up for you to throw, you've got bigger problems than his grip. I don't think beginners should be told to use these tactics, any more than they should abuse power grips, sacrifice throws, or drag downs.

 

[Thycidides]

This is all useful information.

MRW people spend the whole round of randori trying to break my grip:

Would you say that is stalling and kind of wasting time? Or is this just part of the game and to be embraced?

The other day I told someone to try and throw me rather than spend 2 min holding my gi in a death grip after the round was over.

 

[RJ Green]

so, imho there are two kinds of randori: rep randori, and shiai randori.

for rep randori, you're workshopping or repping your tokuiwaza. you trade off being uke with your partner. you focus on free movement as uke while tori focuses on setups and timing. when the throw comes you just take the fall. the BJJ corollary would be flow rolling.

for shiai randori, you're going at it competition-style.

now, shiai randori is your best look, but it's shitty practice - usually, the more dominant person will consistently have the upper hand, while uke will spend most of the time defending. as an uke, yeah, you get better stuffing throws, but unless you're outclassing uke to begin with you're not gonna make much progress.

a good analogy is how we practice armorball here in murica - you can't do live, padded practice all the time. you've gotta spend time running routes (uchikomi), and you want to be able to scrimmage without killing each other, otherwise you're gonna end up with a bunch of stuffed plays and injured players.

whenever i randori with a less-skilled person i tend to be very playful and considerate. i could just fucking maul most people, but they wouldn't learn anything. i wouldn't just GIVE them a throw on a half-assed attempt, but i'm also not just completely shutting their shit down.

when i get to randori with a good black belt, that's when the gloves come off. even then, some people are looking to rep stuff. in that case, you wanna give good resistance but you don't want to waste the whole round playing defense.

so as far as progression, when i want to workshop a throw i'll try to use timing and positioning rather than outright strength and speed. i'll rep it with a few rounds of lesser ranks, then go balls-out against someone shiai style. even then, i'm not just looking for *any* throw i can find, but specifically working my grips and entries for the throw i'm trying to improve. it really helps your game in that regard - much better to whole-ass one unfamiliar throw than half-ass your tokuiwaza for gym wins.

does that make sense? i babble...

 

[Thycidides]

Yes I understand.


I think right now though i should focus on my tokuiwaza since i am still kind of a noob. So for me that means i try for Seionage and sometimes Osoto Gari. Also since I'm kind of small and a noob no one is easy for me to throw. Everyone is a challenge.

 

[The Karate Man]

It's been a minute since I've shown my face. Life has been whooping my ass. Just won a amateur title in boxing, looking at a mma fight mayyyybe on Nov 3rd. My Judo is rustyyyy.

 

[ArtemV]

Yo, where are the medal matches? I have only seen repechage and semi finals; no medal matches - even in the 'final block' video.