Harai tsurikomi ashi in competition

Harai tsurikomi ashi has never been one of my tokuiwaza (favorite/best moves) but it was a favorite of one of my instructors!  Mac McNeese had a legendary osotogari-to-haraiTKashi combo that was just unbelievable!

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Patrick Parker
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Hanegoshi in shiai

Here we have a lovely hanegoshi springing hip throw!

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Patrick Parker
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Ashiguruma in shiai

Ashiguruma is one of my favorite techniques - and this is a spectacular one!

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Patrick Parker
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Yoko otoshi in shiai

Yoko otoshi is a super-uncommon tournament throw.  Check out this beautiful execution!

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Patrick Parker
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Junokata shows us how to learn hip throws

Junokata is a curious exercise - especially to modern eyes and competitive western minds.  But one of the points of value that is probably easiest to see in Junokata are the hipthrows, shoulder throws, and pickups.
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Most judoka will readily admit the impressive skill that is apparent every time tori lifts a stiff uke and balances her right on the edge of the abyss and then slowly places her back on her feet.  This type of exercise is obviously a great way to build the strength, suppleness, and balance that it takes to execute world-class hip throws, shoulder throws, and pickups.
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So check out this video but don't pay too much attention (right now) to anything that looks totally alien and useless.  Instead focus on the slow, controlled lifts that occur just after 1:15, 1:40, 3:40, 4:10, 5:00, and 7:00. 
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Consider how we could use slow lift-and-return type exercises like this to build those qualities of control, strength, flexibility, and balance in ourselves and our partners.

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Patrick Parker
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Tsurigoshi compilation

Just like kosotogake last week, tsurigoshi is another point of curiosity for me.  One of my instructors has told me that tsurigoshi is basically an evolutionary throwback to an earlier age of judo's development - a phylogenetic curiosity that was superseded by better techniques like ogoshi and ukigoshi.
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IDK, It seems to me that a lot of people make good use of tsurigoshi but I'm not sure that they couldn't have just as easily thrown ogoshi in those particular situations.  What do you think?

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Patrick Parker
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Kosotogake compilation

Kosotogake is a curious thing for me.  One of my most beloved judo instructors, Mac McNeese told me not to bother with kosotogake - that it was basically a waste of training time that I should be spending working on kosotogari. 
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I never got the chance to ask him what he meant and why he'd said that because he has since passed away.
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There are certainly people who make the gake move work beautifully.  Anyone have a guess what he was talking about?

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Patrick Parker
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Uchimata compilation

Statistically, uchimata is the most frequently thrown tournament technique in most levels of competition.  I'm not sure why.  Is there something inherently magical about that technique, or has everyone bought into the uchimata-is-magic thinking so they perform better because they have more faith and try it more often?  IDK. 
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It is a majestically beautiful thing when done properly. In this compilation, there is a clear, obvious difference between #1 and all the rest - #1 is just THAT much more skilled (or lucky?) performance!

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Patrick Parker
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How to show progress in a demo

We've been talking about embu lately - how to do a good demo - a demo that does several things, including

• shows that the student knows some things - "Wow! That guy is really good at this!"
• shows that the student is improving - "Wow! That guy is a lot better than last time!"
• creates social validity for the school - "Wow! Mokuren Dojo is really good at this!"
• creates self-confidence in the student - "Wow! I'm really good at this!"

One way that you can do this is to clearly demonstrate longitudinal improvement.  That is, the demo should contain at least some material that is repeated in all demos.  That way, it is easy to see that you are better (or at least different) than you were 6 months ago when you demonstrated this same material.
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You don't want to repeat a LOT of material every time because that is a recipe for boring the joseki to sleep, but you should at least show some repeated material.
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What I'm thinking about for this is to have all rank embu start with koshiki kihon (a short, somewhat casual exercise where you demonstrate 21 falls in about 3 minutes) and the clock exercise (1-2 minutes where you demonstrate moving into and between various groundwork positions).
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By having everyone demonstrate these at every level, it provides a sort of baseline against which improvements will be obvious.



Here is a video of a guy doing a clock exercise in a little different way than we usually do - but you get the idea of what I'm talking about.



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Patrick Parker
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Ukigatame is a better way of doing things

Our first positional control or hold in judo, ukigatame, is more than just a hold and it is more than just a near-universal transition between tachiwaza and newaza.  Ukigatame is not just a tactic in which you crush uke with your knee on his belly or chest (or neck or back) - ukigatame is an example of a better way of doing all ground controls.
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What I mean is this - a common way of doing groundwork for beginners, especially physically powerful and mentally competitive beginners - is to get the other guy in a hold and use your size and power to lock and crush him into immobility.  Problems with lock&crush groundwork include -

• it is exhausting for tori
• it is abusive toward uke
• it makes standard escape actions (like bridge & roll) easier for uke to do
• it makes transitions harder for tori to do
• it makes submissions like chokes and armbars harder to get to

But ukigatame shows us a different way of doing all our groundwork - a way that dissolves all of these issues associated with lock&crush newaza.

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Ukigatame means "floating hold," and the name suggests hovering over uke close enough to suppress his movement but remaining loose and floaty enough to shift and move over an uncontrolled uke.  Sort of like smothering uke with a heavy bag of shifting sand instead of crushing him with an iron bar.
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When I teach ukigatame it is not a specific position that I tell students to get into.  Rather I tell them that as uke takes a fall, move to stand beside (preferably behind) uke and put a knee and two hands somewhere on uke's body.  After just a little bit of nagekomi (throwing practice), tori finds that this is a great, balanced position to finish throws in, that it smothers uke's motion a little bit and provides tori an instant to get his bearings and decide how (and whether) to proceed to groundwork.
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As uke moves under tori, often the knee will slip off of uke's belly and will be replaced by a little more weight on tori's hands, or by tori's hip or butt, or by a body-surfing munegatame.  Tori only holds ukigatame until uke shows an opportunity for a better holding position or submission technique.
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You could put a knee on uke's belly, take nice grips on uke's belt and lapel, and use your weight and power to crush the ooze out of both ends of him - but that would be missing the point of ukigatame.  You can control uke more effectively with a floating feeling that is more in-line with judo's ideals.



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Patrick Parker
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Udegatame the pressing armbar

A great testimonial and a couple of nice variations on our first armbar - udegatame. Check this out!


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Patrick Parker
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Haraigoshi compilation

Haraigoshi is such a versatile technique that you see it a LOT in judo and in MMA - and unlike some other techniques, it seems to mostly be thrown cleanly.

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Patrick Parker
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Taiotoshi compilation

Taiotoshi is a magnificent tournament throw when properly executed.  Check out this compilation!

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Patrick Parker
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Seiichi Shirai, Kodokan Judo 9th dan

photo from: http://files.4medicine.pl/download.php?cfs_id=1388

Our judo and aikido teacher, Karl Geis, attributed a significant portion of his newaza doctrine to seemingly little-known judo sensei (at least in America) Seiichi Shirai. Geis even called part of his groundwork doctrine, "The Shirai System."
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But there is relatively little online about a Shirai-sensei, so who was this Shirai guy? It turns out that he was one of Kyuzo Mifune's uchideshi, favorite ukes, and later Mifune's nephew-in-law. That clue gives us some research leverage because there IS a lot online and in print about Mifune!
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We can get a glimpse into Shirai-sensei's thinking on judo from these quotes in Draeger's Training Methods book:

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...and from Draeger & Otaki's Judo Formal Techniques book:
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...and from some lessons quoted from the Spring Park Judo Club at Garland TX:
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"...Another of judo’s first generation who trained under founder Jigoro Kano was Seiichi Shirai. He also trained with Mifune and eventually married Mifune's niece. ...a story that Shirai would tell about the importance of repeating a lesson:.The mind is like a tea cup. And if you fill it again and again with green tea, the cup will eventually turn green, absorbing the lesson. “And that’s the way,” Shirai would say, “I would repeat a story, over and over and over again.”...Another lesson ... from Shirai was about gaijyu and naiko. While the outside appearance of people in dealing with each other should be soft and gentle – gaijyu, the mind and the heart inside should be strong like steel – naiko."

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Shirai doing randori with Mifune begins at about 3 minutes into this video.



And here's Mifune-sensei demonstrating kata with Shirai-sensei




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So, what parts of our judo doctrine at Mokuren Dojo appear to have come down through the years from Shirai?

• Throw into ground control. Throws should transition directly, immediately, and naturally to ground control.
• 2-hands on a point and shrimp-bridge - Tear holes in the opponent's ground control and balance by getting 2-hands on 1 point on the opponent and blindly shrimping and bridging.
• Use pointy elbows and knees to fill the holes created by shrimping and bridging. Also use pointy elbows and knees as part of udeosae-type hold-downs
• Meatgrinder - our basic lessons about turning turtles and taking backs that we call "The Meatgrinder" have been attributed to Shirai.

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Patrick Parker

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Katatejime from ukigatame

Here's a fun-looking tidbit that I stumbled upon.  Since we start our choking instruction with katatejime from ukigatame, this looks like it would fit right in. Maybe a class on attacking either this or katagatame from ukigatame.



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Patrick Parker
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Okuriashibarai compilation

For the past several months I've been posting technique compilation videos on Saturdays and I've been following the order of the Gokyo no waza.  This week we are halfway through the 2nd kyo and the technique is okuriashibarai.  Problem with compiling video of ashiwaza ippons is when conditions are imperfect (i.e. tournament) all the ashiwaza sorta look alike so it's hard to distinguish okuriashibarai from deashibarai from kosotogari.
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So, here's an ashiwaza compilation that is bound to have an okuriashibarai in there if you look hard enough.

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Patrick Parker
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(Sode) Tsurikomigoshi compilation

Tsurikomigoshi, and particularly the "sode" or sleeve-ends version, is one of the throws that mezmerizes me the most.  For me watching competitors perform this throw (especially in slow motion) is like staring into a fire.

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Patrick Parker
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Koshiguruma compilation

My favorite hip technique is koshiguruma because the version that I throw most does not require as much turn-in as any of the other hip throws so I can get into position and pull the trigger pretty quickly as compared to any of the other hip throws.

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Patrick Parker
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Ten kata of judo

The first and foremost school of Judo in Japan, Kodokan, sprang from two ancient schools of jujutsu - Kito Ryu and Tenjin Shinyo Ryu.  These ancient forms were largely kata arts because it was thought to be too dangerous to utilize the techniques of the art in free-practice, randori, or sparring.
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The kata of Kito and Tenjin Shinyo filtered down into their offspring, Kodokan Judo, and supplemented by a handful of new kata, became the official seven forms of Judo.
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But over the years other masters have put together various kata that have had some marginal use in the Judo world.
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Here are perhaps the most popular ten of the many kata of Judo.

1. Nagenokata (The Forms of Throwing)
2. Katamenokata (The Forms of Holding)
3. Kimenokata (The forms of Decision)
4. Kodokan Goshin Jutsu (Self-Defense Practices) by a committee led by Kenji Tomiki
5. Junokata (Forms of Gentleness)
6. Koshikinokata (Ancient Forms) derived from Kitoryu
7. Itsutsunokata (Five forms) derived from Tenjin Shinyo Ryu
8. Nagewaza Ura no Kata A.K.A. Gonosen no Kata (Forms of Counter-throwing) by Kyuzo Mifune
9. Gonokata (Forms of Hardness) an abandoned essay by Jigoro Kano
10. Nanatsu no Kata (Seven Forms - A.K.A. Form of Waves) by Tokio Hirano 

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Kouchigari compilation

Kouchigari is not my best technique but it was one of my most favorite teacher's most favorite throw though and I'm still working on it!  Here's to John Usher!

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Patrick Parker
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