Never force tori to prove his technique

One of the coolest things about judo is that it is real and honest.  Outcomes are objective instead of subjective and everything is executed to completion, as opposed to pulling punches that might or might not have been effective or simply dancing around the mat with a partner.)

• either you are able to make the other person fall or you can't
• either you can make the other guy submit or you can't
• either you can escape the other guy's hold or you can't

But there is a paradox or a bind that beginners (and even some old-heads) don't ever understand - beginners should never force the other person to prove that they can do the technique and even experts should only do it judiciously.

We work with semi-compliant partners called "ukes" instead of "attackers" or resistant "opponents" for a couple of reasons:

• It is better for students to get many repetitions of poor approximations of a technique than to get very few reps of still-poor approximations because their partner confounded every attempt (which is easy to do to a beginner).
• It is safer for uke to take an appropriate fall at an appropriate time because eventually you will encounter someone who really is able to force you to fall against your will.  When that happens, you will want to have had a lot of falling practice!  Also, when you force tori to prove they can make you fall, you always end up eating more energy when you do hit the ground.

So uke does not confound tori's techniques - especially in nagekomi practice.  Instead, uke helps set up conditions for both a successful throw and a safe fall.

But how far does this compliance go?  At some point, you have to shift toward the "real" and "honest" mentioned earlier, right?

Eventually, after uke and tori have each experienced hundreds or thousands of repetitions of a technique, uke can gradually and judiciously start increasing the resistance - forcing tori to prove that he can take the technique when he wants it.

It is hard to figure this relationship out - especially if we start doing randori or shiai very early.  People get confused and want to prove or force their partner to prove techniques.

• It can help if we clearly delineate how each person is to behave in each type of practice - uchikomi, nagekomi, randori, and shiai.
• It can help if we teach explicitly-defined ukemi for each throw (tell uke exactly how to behave and how to fall when you are doing each particular technique.
• It can help  if we shift our attention from tori to uke.  Make the techniques uke-centric by thinking about them as falling exercises.  That way, tori is not expected to prove that he can do a thing to uke.  Instead he is expected to help uke set up the conditions for a particular fall, and to help support uke like a spotter as uke does that fall a specific way.  So, nagekomi is just a form of ukemi practice.
• It can help to make sure that everyone plays the roles of uke and of tori often.  Don't let the lower ranked students be throwing dummies for the upper ranks or the competitors.  Don't let the old fat guys get totally out of ukemi (though you might have to cut back some).

Once you get ukes and toris working together successfully in this manner for thousands of reps at a time, they can start dialing up the resistance incrementally.



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Patrick Parker
www.mokurendojo.com

10 most successful throwing techniques

According to Uchida, Wilson, & Fujiwara the most popular winning throwing techniques at the All Japan High School Championships for 10 years (1962-1971) included...

1. uchimata
2. seoinage
3. osotogari
4. ouchigari
5. haraigoshi
6. taiotoshi
7. tsurikomigoshi
8. kosotogari
9. harai makikomi
10. osoto otoshi

Make of this what you will.

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Okano vs. Matos 1964 shiai commentary

Things I got from this video...

• I recall one of my teachers (who had actually laid hands on Okano) saying that he had a killer kouchigari that would either outright flatten you (like this), or else would put the fear and respect into you, thus setting up another action.  In this case, the second action was morote seoinage.
• Okano's entry into the shoulder throw seems almost casual - no big deal - I'll just step over here and turn like this, and oh, by the way, you're thrown!  Nothing about Okano's movement here sets off the other guy's danger sense.
• Okano started off several of his matches this year by skipping and hopping around the mat, as if setting the tone for the other player to mimic this action.  Looks like Okano was drawing the other player into more vertical, bouncy motion through a mirror neuron trick.
• Once he accomplished whatever he was doing with the hopping and skipping, Okano settled into a completely different type of foot motion.  Watch Okano's footwork during the steps leading up to the kouchigari.  Okano knew where every footfall was going.  He made no arbitrary steps - rather, he deliberately placed every foot.  Matos, on the other hand (the other foot), was almost spastic, taking tentative steps and quickly reversing them.  He was much less sure of where his feet were at any given time.  His footwork was stuttering.
• Okano, in several of his matches this year, throws that superfast kouchigari.  Watch his sweeping foot.  He leaves it in place, like a bear trap, so there is no entry into kouchi.  When the hapless opponent walks by the already-set foot, Okano pulls the trigger!
• Okano appears to have liked to finish throws squatting over the opponent, almost like ukigatame, instead of falling with the opponent.  This seems to have been one of his main entries into groundwork.

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Why not stiff-arm in randori or shiai?

Stiff-arming in judo - it is much-maligned especially in randori, but everybody still seems to do it in shiai.  So... if champions stiff-arm and still win, why is it so bad?

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I can think of several reasons right off the bat...

• Stiff-arming reduces your opponent's ability to attack to some degree - but it reduces your ability to attack to an even larger degree.  You are not only holding them away - you are holding yourself out of position.
• Keeping your arms rigid when the opponent is not attacking you burns energy for no gain - so it is maximally inefficient.
• Keeping your arms rigid makes it easier for your opponent to feel your motions - so it telegraphs your intent.
• Your opponent can use your stiff arms for support, preventing you from unbalancing them.
• It is a reflex - and therefore an unthinking, unconscious thing.  Trained, strategic actions that happen without thought can be good (mushin) but instinctual defensive reflexes are often dysfunctional when faced with a thinking, trained opponent.
• Studies have shown that once we exert more than a few pounds of pressure with our gripping muscles, our higher brain functions shut down.  We can't think very good while exerting strongly.
• When you refuse to allow your wrists, elbows, and shoulders to move, you essentially turn off the proprioceptors in those joints, reducing the amount of tactile and kinesthetic information you are getting from the opponent.
• It is against the spirit of judo because 1) it is a reflexive refusal to yield, 2) it is inefficient, and  3)  it is essentially a refusal to learn or allow the other guy to learn.

So, you get into a fight/match with someone that you know to be trained/skilled, and you immediately grab them and lock your arms out, preventing yourself from attacking, telegraphing when you do attack, burning energy at a tremendous rate, and turning off your tactile sensors and your brain...

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Yeah, that sounds like a sound strategy.

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Now, it is sometimes a good idea to stifle the opponent's advance or to create space, but that is pretty much always an instantaneous thing.  You turn the stiff-arms on, then immediately off - and only when the trained, thoughtful, strategic part of your mind tells you it's the right moment.

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So, again... Why do champions do it and still win and then teach stiff-arming as a good thing to do?  Basically just because everyone is doing it and they have figured out how to do it a little bit more strategically or effectively than the other guys.  For the vast majority of judoka in the vast majority of practice and shiai situations, stiff-arming does you more harm than good.

Want to discuss this blog post? 

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Patrick Parker 

www.mokurendojo.com

Judo has become an art of 5 techniques

I got to thinking lately, trying to figure out which throws I've seen thrown successfully in shiai more than once in the last 15 years.  It turned out to be a pretty small set.  Just about the only competition throws I've seen successfully attempted are:

• seoinage
• osotogari
• morotegari
• uchimata
• taiotoshi
• tomoenage

And that's about it.  That's pretty much the technical range of most of the competitors I've seen on any level.  Every so often someone falls for some other action, but the throws in this list represent the vast majority.

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Then the IJF comes along and makes morotegari illegal, so the range is now reduced to a mere handful of techniques.

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Seems relatively easy to me if you only ever have to watch out for about five potential actions from the entire field of competition.  Seems like some expert at some unexpected throw could relatively easily become the Grim Reaper of the judo world. 

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What do y'all think?  Am I way off from reality?  If my perception is close to right then is this situation a good or a bad thing for judo as a whole?

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Patrick Parker

www.mokurendojo.com

Top 2 ways to suck at randori

There are several great ways to absolutely suck at randori, and each one will to some extent slow your progress in the art.  But here are the two absolute best ways to make sure that you will take the longest time possible to become anywhere near proficient.

1. Try to win
2. Try to not lose

Assuming you don't actually want to suck at randori, the first of these is fairly easy to avoid.  You're not doing shiai (a death match) against an opponent in order to obtain a prize.  You are working with a partner toward the goal of both of you getting better.  No big problem there.

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But avoiding the second of these can be tricky.  In randori, you absolutely do not want to be defensive. You need to attack, even if it means you take lots of falls. You do need to retain enough of your senses that you don't endanger your partner needlessly - don't do stupid stuff - but do try to get your techniques working on him.

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How not to suck at randori:

One of the best ways to avoid the two traps above is for both partners in the randori to declare to themselves, "I will be the one to take the next fall."  Then you set out to find out what kind of fall it will be.  Of course, if your partner presents you with such an amazingly blatant opportunity that you just can't stand it, then you have to take the throw - that's part of that mutual benefit thing.  But then he gets up and you say to yourself again, "I will take the next fall."

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So the goal in randori isn't to get the other guy down no matter what.  Nor is it to keep yourself from having to take falls.  The goal is to get the opportunity to take as much good, varied ukemi practice as possible.

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Wow!  I set out to tell you the two best ways to suck at randori and I ended up telling you how to be the best you can be at randori.

[Photo courtesy of Andrea Vascellari]

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What Patrick Parker sucks at

I don't think it's a good idea to beat yourself up about all of your doubts and shortcomings, but I do think it's a good idea to assess where your particular weaknesses lie from time to time...

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When it comes to aikido, honestly there's not too much that I absolutely suck at (except maybe modesty ;-).  Sure, I have good days and bad days and I have techniques and concepts that I'm better at than others.  But in general I think I have a pretty good handle on what we're supposed to be doing and how to do it.  One thing that I don't really understand is how to get from our current level of pretty-darn-goodness to that aiki ideal of magical awesomeness.  Other than just a couple more decades of practice, I don't know if there is anything we should be doing that we're not doing to facilitate our transcendence from the mundane to the magical.

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In judo I'd have to say that I suck most at competition and competition-style training.  That's just not all that interesting to me, especially with the judo competition rules getting more and more ridiculous every time they fiddle with them.  Frankly I'd rather delve into self-defense, fitness, and personal development aspects of the art than worry about winning any more medals or trophies.  If you think you want to do grappling tournaments then I think you ought to get into BJJ instead of judo because their ruleset actually makes sense.

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But the one thing that I think I really suck at most in the domain of the martial arts is delegation.  I hate to turn the class over to junior instructors.  Even though I know it is necessary for their continued education and growth and for the continuation of the art, it's just one of my personal glitches.  I want to get better at delegating teaching duties when appropriate.

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So, there you have it.  If you're looking for a mystical guru who knows how to guide you to transcend to the magical realm of aiki, I'm not that guru.  If you're looking for a judo champion to coach you on how to be a judo champion, I have no interest in that either. 

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If neither of those sound like what you want to get out of martial arts, then come on down and work out with me and I think you'll have a pretty good time and get some pretty good results.

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮

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What are your club's tokuiwaza?

In judo there is this idea that you learn and practice all the techniques, but you develop a set of favorite or best techniques to focus on - things that tend to work best for you.  These favorite techniques are called tokuiwaza.  We usually think of tokuiwaza as an individual thing based on one practitioner's personality and build, for instance, my tokuiwaza include deashibarai, osotogari, and hizaguruma with perhaps an ashiguruma or koshiguruma in there sometimes.

But I bet the tokuiwaza concept could also apply to communities of players.  People that are coached by the same coaches or who practice in the same context (same city, state, etc...) are likely to have similar sets of things that work for them.  For instance, among my students and myself for the past 15 years or so, it seems like we've probably won the most tournament matches off of kosotogari, osotogari, taniotoshi, and sumigaeshi.

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What would you say are your club's tokuiwaza?  Not the individual players but the club as a whole?

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮

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2010 Kohaku shiai and rank ceremony

This past Saturday we did our kohaku shiai (club tournament) and rank ceremony.  We had 12 kids ranking and 8 were able to make it to the event.  We did 23 matches in three events - newaza randori (kneeling sparring), tachi randori (standing sparring), and rooster tail (flag randori).  The winners were...

• 1st place: Matt (5 wins)
• 2nd place (tie): Nick and Jacob (4 wins each)
• 3rd place: Whit (3 wins)

It was also notable and interesting to see Quin, the smallest and youngest member of the class, pull off two surprise victories.  Everyone excelled in this shiai!

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The promotions of the day were:

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Blue belt:

• Whit – good improvement on ashiwaza (footsweeps) - especially osotogari (big outside reap), needs to work on escapes from holds in groundwork, needs to work on consistency of attitude and leadership skills (showing the others how to act right all the time in class), Whit is great at ukemi (falling) but needs to pay more careful, slow attention to proper falling form in order to keep improving. Needs to work on skills other than pulling guard and turtling up. Whit has become great at throwing koshiguruma (hip turning throw) in randori!

Orange belt:

• Zack – good improvement on ashiwaza (footsweeps), needs to work on ground mobility and ukemi (falling), needs to concentrate on trying new skills in randori instead of rushing in with sumo-like pushes.
• Nick – good attitude and attention in practice, needs to work on ground mobility and ukemi (falling). Some work on flexibility in hams and hips will help with this. Nick is a natural leader and has a good influence on the other kids' attitudes.
• Laurie – good improvement on ashiwaza (footsweeps). Great tenacity and intensity on the ground. needs to work on escapes from holds in groundwork. Laurie has taken to the new throws (like koshiguruma) very well.
• Stephen – very agile, explosive, tricky motion in standing randori. Needs to work on escapes from holds in groundwork
• Luke – good attention to instructions - particularly in groundwork, improving at ukemi but needs to work on not clinging to the thrower and dragging them down with him. needs to work on trying more varied skills in randori

Yellow/Orange Belt:

• Knox – Knox has improved greatly at ukemi (falling) but still neds to pay careful attention to proper falling form. He has also started moving faster in the various drills and has shown more competitive spirit in randori. Needs to work on trying more different skills in randori. Needs to work on skills other than pulling guard and turtling up.
• Quin – good groundwork - especially in holding technique and especially against younger players (even if they are larger than him). Quin has made progress in controlling his frustration at losing because of his small size. As he gains a little more age and motor coordination, we will start working on showing him how to use his small size to his advantage against bigger folk.

Yellow Belt:

• Mick – good improvement on ukemi (falling) skills but needs to work on falling without reaching for the ground or clinging to the thrower. 
• Matt – great competitive attitude in randori. Matt still has occasional issues with frustration when he loses, but that is much improved. Needs to work on falling skills, groundwork mobility, and trying more varied skills in standing randori.
• Bailee - Much improvement in falling skills and randori. Needs to work on getting off the ground in falling drills (like okuriashibarai). Bailee is a great addition to our class because she gives our larger players (who usually dominate due to size advantage) a challenge. Continue working on improving ashiwaza (footsweeps) and trying varied skills in randori.
• Jacob - improving falling skills and attention span. Jacob is a great competitor, giving all of the kids around his size a run for their money. Jacob has a great attitude about randori, even when he loses.

Want to know more about how I do kids' ranks in judo?  Check out this article on judo rank for kids or look at my archive of articles about kids' judo.

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮

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Karate vs. Kung Fu

Wim posted this today on his blog, which reminded me of a story.  Seems about 22 years ago I was a hottie!  I had trained in TKD and karate and I worked out all the time.  I had done some competition and had had some successes.

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I was at a tournament in Biloxi - and I was a green belt.  They put me in a ring with a kung fu guy wearing the cool-looking black and white sleeveless kung fu suit with the frog buttons and a gold sash (don't have a clue what that gold sash signifies).  Anyway, I was in the zone and they called go and I took a step in.  My strategy in those days was to control the center of the ring so I'd have more space to move and I could force the opponent to work the edges and maybe take a penalty or two.  Anyway, I stepped in and took control of the center of the ring...

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And dude put a spinning hook kick on my temple and knocked me silly.  Stars and fireworks and everything!  I was astounded because the guys I'd been working out with, both karate and TKD, weren't able to do a good spinning hook until purple or brown belt.  I dragged myself back to the starting line, sure that this was going to be a long, hard time with me getting my butt kicked.

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The referree called go again, and I stepped in and dude threw another spinning hook that whooshed past my face barely missing me as I beat a hasty retreat.  Then I got an idea!  I stepped in, almost to his kick range, and whoosh!  Another spinning hook kick.  I stepped back, and then stepped at him and whoosh!  Another spinning hook.

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It's literally the only technique this nutjob knew how to do!

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Needless to say, after I read this guy's playbook, I came back from being 2 points down and humiliated to win the match by a 10-point spread.  I hammered him with reverse punches in the ribs and kidneys every time that hook kick whooshed past me.  I got a dozen reverse punches in on this guy during the time limit.

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So, all this is not to say that Kung Fu guys suck just because that one did.  I'd say that Wim has some pretty good commentary - especially about versatility over at his blog - go check it out.

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮
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The Champion Buster Legend

Photo courtesy of Wendy Cooper

There are legends and stories that pass through martial arts communities. Some are true and some are lie, but most have a kernel of truth. Most of these legends have a moral, or an ideal that they are supposed to transmit. There are lots of these apocryphal stories that seem to have a life of their own. There is one of these stories that I've been thinking about today. I've heard this throughout the years from different people. I call it The Legend of the Champion Buster.

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The premise is that there is this unassuming judo instructor teaching a handful of people in some backwater locale. The instructor hasn't competed in years, if ever, and nobody in particular has really ever heard of him.

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Well, along comes the young, hot, strong, national-level competitor. The type of guy who is used to being alpha-male at his own dojo and every other dojo the rolls into. The young champion is invariably "in town visiting relatives" or something to that effect, and drops into the instructor's dojo figuring to show the local yokels what "real judo" looks like.

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After getting suited-up and taping up all his fingers and doing some vigorous warm-up exercises where everyone can see him and be impressed, he walks out to do randori with the instructor...

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...and the unknown instructor demolishes the champion - smashes him while seeming to hardly move - humiliates the young champion without ever exerting himself, all the time doing "classical judo" instead of "competition judo".

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I've definitely seen judo players that fit that young champion archetype, and I often feel like the unknown judo instructor teaching a handful of people in some backwater locale, although I am definitely NOT claiming to be a champion buster.

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I don't know what brought that story to mind, but I though I'd share it and see how many folks have heard this legend or one like it. What do y'all think of those two archetypes? Have y'all ever met the champion buster? Ever laid hands on him in randori?

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮

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How to win a judo match

Good fundamental judo knowledge.

For kids younger than about teenage, we do not allow chokes or armbars, so there are 3 ways to win for them; ippon, pin, or DQ.

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮

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Suggested great books on aikido, judo, and strategy.
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Never do an escape in judo!

Photo courtesy of Parrhesiates

Just don't do it!

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You see, the concept of escaping simply implies shifting from a condition where they have an advantage to a place where nobody has an advantage... Settling for merely breaking a hold... just getting him off of you. These end with both players in a sort of a distasteful neutral state with an indeterminate advantage.

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Never try to merely escape. Always reverse the opponent's hold-down! Turn the tables on them. Take back the advantage and initiative and position that is rightly yours and don't let him have a chance! Smother them every time they try to get an advantage.

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Don't ever escape, reverse!

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Suggested great books on aikido, judo, and strategy.

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Taiotoshi - mine or his?

Time for some specific examples of some of the otoshi-guruma ideas I've been talking about for the last couple of weeks. This is a video of an outstanding taiotoshi. Not only is this player superbly proficient, but this video makes the otoshi footdrop timing perfectly clear on every throw. Watch the slow motion segments, and you'll see that every throw happens right after a little footfall. Tori is catching uke right as his front foot comes down, and is keeping uke moving downward.

This brings up an age-old question that students nearly always eventually ask. I'll leave you with this question... "In taiotoshi (body drop), whose body is doing the dropping - mine or his?"

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282
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Don't step forward

Photo courtesy of Amerigoland

A year or two ago, an instructor who has been doing judo for a long, long time gave my class a rule of thumb to watch for in judo randori and shiai. I was surprised because I'd never noticed this particular phenomenon before. What he said was:

• Larger players don't like to move forward. They tend to hang back and pull because when they advance they are more easily loaded up on top of hip throws and shoulder throws.
• Smaller players don't like to move backward because they get overwhelmed by the advancing larger guy.

As I said, I hadn't noticed, but I've watched for it since then and haven't really found enough evidence to support it as a rule or to refute it. I agree that I personally, as a larger-than-average player, like to hang back and wait, but that may just be me.

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Have you guys noticed any patterns like this in randori or shiai?

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Helpful handful: How to make judo rules

It seems like there is a constant stream of new rules, adjustments, and re-interpretations to old rules in judo. I agree with Strange's and especially with Chad's comments in the previous post regarding Judo rules. Sure, you have to have some rules to constrain the contestants to decent play of the game we're playing, but there comes a point where there are so many rules that nobody understands them or can even cite them all.

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Here's a quick and easy way to solve a lot of the problems with the judo ruleset – affix a clause to every rule that gives the reason for that rule's existence. For instance, the rule in question yesterday would read something like, “A player may not “first” grab the trouser leg(s) then attack, because _____,” and then fill in the blank with whatever reason they had to institute that rule. This would have several benefits:

• It is human nature to comply with a rule to a greater extent when a reason (even a poor reason) is given.
• Given a good, reasonable justification for a new rule, people would be less likely to gripe about the new rule
• It would be easier to tell when a new rule is spurious because the lack of reasoning would be more obvious. You'd get statements like, “A player may not “first” grab the trouser leg(s) then attack, because that would give BJJ guys an advantage over judoka if we allowed pants-grabbing.”
• Knowing the intent behind the rules, it would be easier for judges to make calls more in line with the spirit of judo, rather than simply enforcing the letter of the law.
• Adding this “because-clause” to every rule would increase the workload for the rules lawyers, thus providing a disincentive toward further constant rules twiddling. Having to give a reason for every rule would likely lead to a smaller number of more consistent rules.

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Why not grab the pants leg in judo!?

So, the Powers That Be have issued a new set of rules for judo competition (again). I got this in the mail this morning. Among other inane fluctuations in the rules...

A player may NOT "first" grab the trouser leg(s) then attack, but may grab the trousers to assist in finishing an attack that has already been initiated. Grabbing the trousers first, results in an immediate Mate and (shido). Grabbing the pants in the midst of an ongoing attack or even simultaneously in order to finish the attack should not be stopped or penalized. Grabbing (Grasping) the leg (not pants) – arm-hook or hand-hook (as in Morote-gari and Kibisu-gaeshi) without grabbing the trousers/pants is still legal. These actions should not be stopped or penalized and any subsequent action should be scored.

Why would they make this rule? They have standards for the pants that they are growing more and more fanatical about enforcing, and those standards only exist to povide a gripping surface along the entire length of the leg...

The trousers, free of any markings except for c3 and c7, shall be long enough to cover the legs and shall at the maximum reach the ankle joint and at the minimum 5cm above the ankle joint. A space of 10 to 15cm shall exist between the trouser leg and the leg (bandages included) along the entire length of the trouser leg. (IJF Referree rules Part 3, section e).

I rather like grabbing a thigh or knee and jacking the guy up with tsurigoshi or ashiguruma on the other leg... Then there's this lovely, evil variant of uranage check it out here.

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Reward the behavior you want to see

Photo courtesy of Elise D. Parker

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Last night I had a breakthrough triumph at kids' judo class. Let me tell you about a frustration that I've had for several weeks. When you have beginner children of diverse ages and sizes, and nobody has much skill to offset a size or age disadvantage, positional newaza randori tends to be lopsided and it ends instantly. In other words, I call, "GO" and one child smashes the other one and I call "STOP" and no learning has gone on and noone has gotten any experience.

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Well, last night I figured out how to modify the rules to fix that. I reviewed with them 4 positions (kesagatame, munegatame, ushirokesagatame, and tateshihogatame) and declared that in order to win a match, they must hold all four of those positions for 3 seconds each. That way, if you get a crusher that only knows one hold, then he is forced to give the other kid a chance to practice movement and escapes as he tries to transition to the other three holds.

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It worked like a charm! The matches lasted longer and everyone got more experience with a wider variety of holds and everyone learned. Funny how that happens when you change the rules to reward the behavior that you want to see. I think I have found (perhaps with small rules tweaks) our new default randori ruleset for kids.

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Fantastic kosotogari

While I was searching for a kouchigari video for yesterday's Helpful handful post, I came across this clip when I mis-typed my search. This is one of the finest kosotogari that I've ever seen in a shiai. It was so sudden that tori actually busted his own nose on uke on the way down!



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Helpful handful: kouchigari

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WOW! What a fantastic kouchigari!  He knocked that joker clean out!

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My yellow belt students begin working on the inside (uchi) footsweeps, including ouchigari and kouchigari, in preparation for green belt. Kouchigari is not really my tokuiwaza, Usher-san is much better at this one and catches me with it often in randori. Here are some of the things I keep in mind when I practice kouchigari.

• Get in synch with the other guy It is difficult to learn this thing and darn-near impossible to get it in randori unless you can get your feet moving in synch with the other guy's feet.
• Put a feeler under the elbow on the side you want to sweep. I use an open, cupped palm under uke's elbow. This feeler lets you know when this side of his body is dropping. It also slightly slows down the descent of his moving foot, helping you to skate his foot
• Step as close to your standing foot as you can with your moving foot - if you can replace your standing foot, that's even better. Make sure that the new standing foot is pointed the direction of your sweep.
• Step in behind uke's descending foot and stride forward to sweep instead of sweeping sideways. At the end, just before the foot lands, hook it back toward you a little.
• This throw often places you between uke's legs in the guard, so begin working your way toward the side position on the way down. Both players have to learn how to keep knees out of groins as they fall.

 

 

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