Ukemi is not a warmup exercise

Ukemi (falling practice) is not some onerous aside that we have to get through at the beginning of class before we can go on to the real judo.

Ukemi is actually closer to being the main event - the most valuable physical skill and the most beneficial practice form that we do.  It is far more important to get good at mediating impact than learning 20-30 ways to knock someone down or choke or bend an arm.

Accordingly, the ukemi practice at the beginning of class needs to be slow and careful and deliberate and thoughtful.   Avoid jumping into the ukemi to get it over with.  Instead, pay attention and go slow enough that you can get very intimate with every aspect of each falling form.

Whenever you think that you've got a handle on ukemi and it is becoming boring and commonplace, cut your rolling speed in half and all of a sudden a whole new crop of issues will pop up.   In this way you can keep your ukemi practice challenging and productive forever!

What do you teach the day-1 beginner?

I figure pretty much everyone has an opinion on this one...

At your club, what do you like to teach an absolute beginner on their very first day of judo or aikido classes?

A lot of it is probably similar from club-to-club, but I bet there is a lot of variation too, and anywhere there's variation there's the potential for something surprising and excellent!  So I'd love to know how you handle the day-1 beginner.

Come find me on Facebook at my Mokuren Dojo FB group and let me know!

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____________________
Patrick Parker
www.mokurendojo.com

Homework for the Union Judoka

I've been talking for several days about how I think about combos and how I like to train doing combos.  Of course, your mileage might vary.  You might think about them differently or you might prefer to train them differently.

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Pretty much every judoka that has ever lived has gone through the process of learning some combinations.  Some particular combos are so blatantly obvious (like kouchi-ouchi) that they are documented from way back and everybody works on them, and other combos are so novel and interesting and creative (like seoinage-nidan kosotogari - A.K.A. "The Twitch") that when you see someone throw them in a match it makes you want to go out and work on those combos.  Both of these types of combos tend to pass rapidly into the collective memory.  Everybody works on them and everybody tries them in tournaments (but consequently, more people have experience countering them).

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Even though throwing classically known combos can get you busted, it's not bad to work on some of them.  A pretty good list of combos can be found at JudoInfo.  I like this list because it is basically a bunch of three-step combos - it has both setups and follow-ups for lots of techniques.  Some of my favorites include...

• ouchi-kouchi-seoinage (or taiotoshi)
• deashi-ashiguruma-osoto

This weekend I get the privilege of teaching the Fall Seminar at Union University in Jackson, TN.  One of the topics they called for is how to put combos together.  So I figured since these are college folks They would probably enjoy a touch of homework...

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Brown belt Unionites, before this weekend, look over Ohlenkamp's list of classically-known combos and find 1-2 that pique your interest.  Try to pick combos using techniques that are about your level and for simplicity, let's avoid counters and sacrifices.  Then we'll spend some time Saturday PM working through your combos that you picked and trying to figure out how to put them together using the system and method that I've been blogging about for the last few days.

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____________________
Patrick Parker
www.mokurendojo.com

A method for practicing combos in judo

Two days ago I mentioned that you (judo brown belts) need a system for organizing your knowledge re. combos and a method for practicing and internalizing some combos.  Yesterday I gave a few guidelines as a systematic way to think about combos - to sort of limit and focus your study of judo combos.  Today I wanted to talk a bit about my preferred method for practicing judo combos.

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One might, of course, practice combos as nagekomi (trading throws) type practice where one partner does throw-A (which uke resists) then tori does throw-B (and uke falls down).  But the problem with this is it is tiresome and inefficient.  There is just too much wallowing on the ground and getting back up and fixing your gi and taking a breath or two and so on... even with focused partners you might get only 4-5 repetitions per minute.

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You might come up with the idea of doing static uchikomi to increase the reps and decrease the in-between time, and this is also an okay practice, but it has the down side that it can lead you to think and train you to act as if throw-A is a feint - and I've already discussed a potential problem with feints in a previous article.

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So, my favored form of combination practice is a kind of dynamic uchikomi that some of my buddies call "Footsweep to control" and which I call "Running the table."  We usually start this practice with 1-2 small ashiwaza in a cycle. Different folks like different starting cycles but common ones include...

• left-deashi, right-deashi, turn the corner
• left-deashi, right deashi, left-hiza
• left-deashi, right hiza, right deashi, left hiza

...and the point of the exercise is for tori to run this cycle for as long as possible without falling out or getting his feet confused or losing control of uke.  Tori repeatedly does the kuzushi and tsukuri for each throw in succession, attacking uke's feet on every cycle.

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Once you become good at the basic cycle, you will start seeing places where you can insert other small ashiwaza.  For instance, the place and time for hiza is almost the same as the place and time for kouchi so if you miss a hiza you can do a kouchi, then get back into synch in your basic cycle.  Or as another example, the action on deashi is about the same as the action on kosoto, so if you (or uke) misplace a step you might get kosoto then step right back into your basic cycle.  In this manner you can fairly rapidly work through most of the ashiwaza AND you get tons and tons of reps of moving into and out of these ashiwaza positions.

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Since I have previously asserted that we start our judo instruction with ashiwaza because it teaches the footwork for the other judo throws, pretty soon you will be able to insert the non-ashiwaza kihon (like seoinage and ukigoshi) into the cycle.

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And since I have also previously asserted that most all the throws in judo are minor variants of the 5-10 fundamental throws, Once you can smoothly insert those 5-10 throws into your cycle, you can suddenly insert any throws into your cycle.  So you have a method for efficiently practicing nearly any combo you can come up with.

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But wait, there's more! This game is actually a bit more than just cyclic uchikomi.  You have to remember that uke is active and not a dummy!  Uke is constantly moving and flowing with the foot controls that tori is putting on him as best he can so that the game is prolonged (instead of the game stopping when uke has to fall) but uke is also actively looking for tori to screw up!  Any time tori loses control or has to take an extra step or two between establishing foot control on uke, it is an opportunity for uke to switch roles and become the tori.  

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So, this cycle game is actually a form of limited randori or a gateway to randori.  It is like a footwork-intensive combo-specific randori.

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____________________
Patrick Parker
www.mokurendojo.com

The System - guidelines for combos

I ended yesterday's article about combinations in judo by asserting that by about brown belt, you should already know the techniques that comprise the vast majority of combos as well as all the footwork that comprises all the transitions between techniques in combos. So, all you really need is a system for organizing your knowledge and a method for practicing the ones that interest you.
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The System - Theoretically any two techniques can be chained together into a combo - at least it should be possible to combine any two techniques - but in practical application it turns out that some combos are so crazy as to be nearly impossible.

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There are guidelines that govern how techniques flow together into combos...

• Terminal positions - You can't really imagine doing a yokogake-to-seoinage combo, right?  Some techniques, especially sacrifices and hipthrows, leave you in a position from which it is difficult to recover into another technique.  These techniques are essentially terminal positions so they can be the last technique in a combo but not the first or in the middle.
• Changing directions - Sometimes it works to try something and if it fails, try the same thing again - sometimes.  But that is Einstein's definition of insanity.  It is also against the spirit of judo because we are supposed to be adaptable and flexible so that we can flow around obstructions.  Instead of attacking the same direction twice, combos often change the direction of attack by 90 or 180 degrees.  So you frequently see forward-backward combos and left-right combos (180 degree combos).  Less obvious but often more effective is the 90 degree change, like pulling uke forward (ukiotoshi) then throwing seoinage almost directly to his side, or tsurikomi (pull horizontally to float uke) then otoshi (downward).
• Changing ranges - (from a previous article) Combos generally progress from looser contact at longer range toward tighter contact at closer range. Or they might occur from one technique to another within the same range.  Combos rarely go from tighter to looser contact.
• Chaining techniques to get you in range for your tokui - If your tokui is a very close-range technique (like koshinage or teguruma), then you'll likely want to get good at some of the longer-range techniques as setups. These create pathways toward your tokuiwaza.  On the other hand, if your tokui is a longer-range technique (like deashibarai or kosotogari), then you need to be able to stay at that long range when fighting people who want to get closer.  You need to be able to use kuzushi and medium or close-range attacks to stop the other guy to give you time to step back out to longer range for your tokui.

So, although a chain of throws could theoretically go in any direction through any techniques, in practice these guidelines or rules-of-thumb eliminate part of the set of potential combos, limiting you to the more plausible, more profitable combos.
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Stay tuned for an article on The Method.

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____________________
Patrick Parker
www.mokurendojo.com

You already know all possible combos

So, I was talking in the last post about the necessity of winnowing the vast amount of material in the domain of judo down to a core of material that is manageable not only within a human lifetime, but within a few months.  I also mentioned the necessity to organize and practice this material efficiently and wisely so that (for instance) you don't needlessly multiply the material you have to practice.

There are only a very few types of motion that act as transitions between techniques in combos. Your feet move as in ...

• Footsweep to control
• Turn the corner
• Step on the line or in the hole (with foot facing uke or facing away)

So, we teach all kihon in the form of combos, using those common motions - not because that's the most direct, practical way to get to each throws, but rather because it teaches the transitory footwork right from the beginning.

We also start everything from deashi - because it is what is common amongst all combos...

• Deashi
• Deashi-kosoto
• Deashi-hiza
• Deashi-osoto
• Deashi-ukigoshi
• Deashi-ogoshi
• Deashi-kouchi
• Deashi-kouchi-ouchi
• Deashi-kouchi-(seoinage or seoiotoshi)

So, since just about any throw in judo is a minor variation of these nine techniques, and because you can prefix or postfix any throw in judo with deashi, by the time you get these nine throws down, you already know the prerequisites  for all possible judo combos.

You could almost say that by brown belt you already know all possible judo combos - you just don't know that you know them.  All you need re. combos is a system for organizing your thoughts about combination of techniques and a method for practicing and internalizing the ones that strike your fancy.

What do you spend your time on?

We only have so much time in our lives, and only a fraction of that can go toward getting better at judo.  So, what do you spend your time on?

If you figure that the Kodokan guys said that there are about 40 throws in judo and if we estimate that it takes about a month of classes to get pretty good at each throw, then it'll take us several years just to get good at all the throws.

But then, what happens when you start adding in combinations?  If you treat each combo as a technique then you can guess that it will take a month to get pretty good at it.  All of a sudden you're looking at an infinite amount of time to get competent at 40 throws plus several combos of those 40 throws.

So, what do you spend your time on?

I first approached this problem by defining what I consider to be a minimal set of representative throws - a kihon.  I say there are about six or eight techniques that are representative of the rest of judo.  Just about every other throw is a minor variation of one of these ideas.  Also, if you watch a bunch of competition videos or do a bunch of randori, i think you'll see that 80 some-odd percent of the throws come from this set of 6-8 techniques.

So now we spend most of our time on these kihon and all of a sudden we're down from 40 months to 6-8 months to become decently competent at most of judo. But still, if you only pay attention to a half-dozen techniques, there are more than 700 potential combinations! 

Judo is certainly something we want to be able to practice for the rest of our lives, but who wants to spend the next 60 years systematically working through combinations? 

We need a way to work some combos and become competent and effective in real-time.

We need to apply Kano's "Maximally efficient use of effort" ideal not only technically but strategically to how we go about learning judo.  We need to work on maximally efficient doctrine and pedagogy.

Stay tuned for some of my ideas about how to do this...

The connective tissue of combinations

In our bodies we have connective tissue.  This is the bone and ligament and fascia and tendon that keeps everything hooked together and contained and looking human-shaped.

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In judo, deashibarai (and/or kosotogari) is the connective tissue for combinations, because...

• anytime you are in a grappling situation (close enough to touch) you are likely to be able to reach deashibarai/kosotogari
• anytime you try a deashi/kosoto and it fails, it leaves you in synch with the other guy (better off than you were)
• you can do a deashi-anything combo
• you can do an anything-deashi combo
• this means that you can pretty much insert deashi in the middle of an anything-anything combo as a productive bridge between thing-1 and thing-2.  Or in other words, deashi allows you to connect any two techniques in either order into a combo.

For these reasons, just like our judo pretty much starts and ends with deashi, our study of combinations starts and ends with deashi.

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____________________
Patrick Parker
www.mokurendojo.com

Union U. Fall seminar topics

One of the topics that the Union Judo guys were saying that they wanted me to cover in our Fall seminar in a week or so is more advanced tachiwaza - like for Brown belts. Gotta keep feeding those budding club leaders and instructors.

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Well, here is what I consider to be the core issues in tachiwaza in our syllabus...

White-to-Green

• 9 fundamentals (deashi, kosoto, hiza, osoto, ukigoshi, ouchi, kouchi, ogoshi, seoi)

Brown-to-Shodan

• 3 ashiwaza (okuri, haraiTKashi, ashiguruma)
• 3 koshiwaza(TKgoshi, haraigoshi, hanegoshi)
• 3 tewaza(ukiotoshi, taiotoshi, sumiotoshi)
• 3 pick-ups(morotegari, sukuinage, teguruma) - these have been historically de-emphasized and are again out of fashion, but I think it's important to keep them in the game.  But with that said, I don't plan to cover these much at all at our Fall seminar.

Nidan

• 3 back sacrifices(tomoe, sumigaeshi, urranage)

Sandan

• 3 side sacrifices (yokootoshi, yokoguruma, yokowakare)

Sure, someone's first comment is bound to be, "You didn't list the most important throw (my favorite throw)" - like sasae TK ashi or uchimata or oguruma.  I don't consider those to be central throws but rather minor variants of other throws.  In any case, I plan to work primarily with the brown belts on the ashiwaza, tewaza, and koshiwaza listed above.

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We will also be having some awesomeness for the lower ranks, some discussion with the brown belts about how to put combos together, and some choking/self-defense awesomeness for everyone.

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____________________
Patrick Parker
www.mokurendojo.com

Principles of aikido as spectra

Another way to think about variation between practitioners of an art like aikido...

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Kata techniques are intended to be formal examples, or instantiations of principles.  If, for instance, we say that we have 4 principles:

• control ma-ai
• evade off-line
• synchronize
• enter and control space

Any one of these four principles, if applied perfectly by some hypothetical master, would completely invalidate any hand-to-hand attack.  In much kata - particularly fundamental kata - we would like to express all four principles to as great an extent as possible.  

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But in certain applications some principles do not make sense.  For instance, controlling ma-ai may not make sense or even be possible in suwari or in ushirowaza. In more "advanced" kata like the Koryu no kata, we often see some principles discarded in order to spotlight others.

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So, you can sort of view each of the principles or guidelines or rules-of-thumb or practice preferences as a spectrum, like I wrote about in the last article.  In the example above, you can imagine a particular technique expressing ma-ai control to a degree between 0 and 100%, evasion between 0 and 100% and so on.

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This sort of idea about the expression of principles in technique becomes more valid and intuitive in randori.  In any given encounter, the tori is able to choose to use any of several tools (maai, taisabaki, entering, ...) to some degree, so onlookers will see tori expressing some of these principles more than others.  In some performances of kata, some performers will rely more on ma-ai and taisabaki (for instance), while other practitioners doing the same kata techniques the same way will express more synchronization and irimi.

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If tori stays safe and uke ends up on the ground under control because tori controlled ma-ai - is that better or worse than uke ending up grounded and controlled through the use of irimi?

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If a kata description in every kata book in the world says that a technique must be done via irimi, but some certain practitioner (because of body build or psychological make-up or whatever) does the same technique via synchronization, does that make it an invalid expression of aikido?

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____________________
Patrick Parker
www.mokurendojo.com

Spectra in aikido kata

A masterful painter could use any of a number of tools to paint a painting.  He might use several types of brush, or he could cut a reed and chew up the end and paint with it.  He could paint with a feather or with a metal spatula.  Part of the reason that the painter is a master is because he understands the use of all these tools and he understands the consequences of each tool - the effect it will create.  Part of the reason that such a painting would constitute fine art is because it is the product of the choice of an artist who is exercising artistic choice or license.

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Martial arts are the same way.  I frequently hear people talk about the "right way" or "wrong way" to do a kata but I more often see variation as a mater of artistic license.

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Imagine, for instance, a spectrum with large, soft, flowing motion at one end and direct, fast, forceful execution at the other end.  One practitioner might usually do a particular kata closer to one end while another practitioner does the same kata closer to the other end of the spectrum.  Which is right and which is wrong.

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It appears to me that this particular scale (soft/flowing/roundabout vs. forceful/immediate/direct) is a particularly useful one for categorizing different martial artists' performance.

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It also appears to me that students should be taught variations of the fundamental techniques close to each end of the spectrum.  That way, as they gain more experience they will be able to better make that artistic choice of an appropriate variation in the middle.

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It appears to me that most instructors tend to pick their own favorite place on that scale and teach all techniques near that point on the scale.  For instance, we constantly hear that "right" vs "wrong" discussion when we encounter practitioners who are operating at a different point on the scale.

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It appears to me that this tendency is more pronounced at the more fundamental end of the syllabus.  For instance, in aikido, we could teach good, competent releases and Junana at both ends of the spectrum, but we frequently hear things like "That's not the right way to do oshitaoshi." or "That oshitaoshi should be more direct (or more roundabout)."

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I think I hear less griping about right vs wrong regarding more "advanced" material, like the Koryu no kata, as if that material is supposed to be subject to greater artistic license.  But that's kind of funny, because there's nothing all that amazing about any of the Koryu no kata material that would prevent a green belt from being able to do it...

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Anyway, just running through some thoughts regarding spectra in aikido kata.  I think the bottom line of this is, I've thought about this for a while and I'm leaning toward teaching relative beginners both the direct/forceful and the indirect/flowing variations of releases and junana and then trusting them as competent artists (around brown belt or so) to begin sorting that choice out for themselves.

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____________________
Patrick Parker
www.mokurendojo.com

Psy-ki-do - Visualization rehearsals

In aikido and judo, most all of the kata are partner exercises that require a real partner to work with.  So, what do you do when you don't have a kata partner available when you want to get in some practice?

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One possibility is visualization exercises - sort of like meditating and going through the kata sequence in your mind.  This sort of rehearsal has been shown to be very helpful in all sports.

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Here are a few hints on how to get the most out of your visualization rehearsals...

• First, write out a script for your visualization.  A good way to begin is to divide the kata movement into three steps (like kuzushi, tsukuri, kake) and then write out a numbered list of what is happening in each step.
• Make your descriptions highly sensory.  Describe in great detail what you are seeing and feeling, how the mat feels under your feet, what your breathing is doing, if your hand is slik with sweat, etc...  It can also help to write out what's going on with your emotions - if your first step is a surprise/fear reaction or your final control is calming instead of letting your anger and indignation wash over you and make you want to punish the attacker...  Don't forget to include in your script the cues that uke is giving you that you are reacting to, like "Uh oh! I see uke moving toward me  and crossing closer than ma-ai..." or "Now I can feel uke pulling away from me..."
• Now, get in a quiet, comfortable place where you can concentrate, and read through your script, trying to visualize each step in as much sensory detail as possible.  Try to evoke the emotions associated with each step.  Once you get the visualization in place, examine it from every angle.  You might even rewind and re-run the step like reviewing a film a few times.  Don't forget to run through your visualization from the point of view of bothe roles (uke and tori) - you will need separate uke and tori scripts.
• When you get good at the 3-step visualization, break one of the steps into three so that you have a higher-resolution visualization.  For example, you might re-write your script with 5 steps - kuzushi, beginning tsukuri, middle tsukuri, end tsukuri, kake.  Then spend some time in that visualization before you break one of those five steps into three to get still-higher resolution.
• When you do get a partner to practice with, pay attention to how well your real kata practice fits your visualization.  Allow your kata practice to inform your next visualization session by remembering more sensory details.  Over time, pay attention to the positive emotions that you experience when you have a good day of real kata practice - when everything works right - and make sure to insert those emotions into your visualization instead of the negative emotions that happen when your real kata practice goes awry.

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____________________
Patrick Parker
www.mokurendojo.com

How kotegaeshi works

Someone posed me a question yesterday along the lines of, "There are so many different variations of kotegaeshi that I've seen, what is the central principle that lets you call all of these kotegaeshi?"  Here's my understanding of kotegaeshi...

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First some background.  The technical center of Tomiki's teaching system is Junana Hon Kata (the seventeen fundamental forms).  This set of techniques is divided into 4 parts - atemiwaza, hijiwaza, tekubiwaza, and ukiwaza.  Kotegaeshi is a tekubiwaza (wrist technique).

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In all of these techniques, tori is trying to establish connection to and control of the movement of uke's center of mass.  In the atemiwaza, this is done by making a connection directly to uke's centerline and applying a spinelock so that tori can move uke's center.  In the hijiwaza, tori is connected to and moving around uke's elbow (but still trying to get to uke's center).  In tekubiwaza, tori is hooked to uke's forearm and is moving around (still trying to get to uke's center).  In the ukiwaza, tori is hooked to uke's hand (still trying to get to his center).

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So in each successive part of the kata there are more degrees of freedom between tori and uke's center.  More technical skill is required to control the slack between the partners.

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In kotegaeshi (all forms of it), tori is connected to uke's wrist/forearm and is moving around through space around uke's wrist.  Tori has the same difficulty here that he has in all the techniques - controlling the slack between uke's and tori's centers.  If tori just pushes on uke's arm any old way, uke has slack in his wrist and elbow and shoulder and spine that he can use to spoil the technique.

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So, tori turns uke's wrist (or follows it as it turns) until it is at the end of its range of motion.  This takes the slack out of it like twisting a towel makes it stiffer.  This allows tori to push or pull uke down.

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Another way to look at it.  If you watch uke walking relaxedly and smoothly across the mat, you will notice that all of his joints are moving smoothly, opening and closing in a finely coordinated way to allow smooth, balanced motion.  But if you flex uke's wrist and turn his forearm until all the slack is out of his forearm, elbow, and shoulder (even if you don't push the joints to pain) then uke can no longer walk smoothly.  He has a hitch in his gait caused by the restriction on one side of his body.

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Usually uke can compensate for this restriction over a distance by distorting his posture and sort of limping along.  Often you will see him lift his opposite hip to try to get some more control of the assymetry, and this results in a really noticeable limp.  But what happens when uke is sailing along all joints working fine and then BAM! all of a sudden there is no motion in one side of his body and one leg is suddenly shorter?

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I usually think about kotegaeshi as a technique for removing all the slack from one side of uke's body at the moment of a footfall.  When this happens, uke usually reflexes into a severe offbalance and perhaps even a fall.  Even if uke doesn't fall immediately it is usually easy to push him down with your next step.

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So I think you're on the wrong track if you are trying to look at the superficial commonalities (whether you are flexing or turning more, the direction, whether you are pushing or pulling or doing guruma or otoshi).  What is common among all these techniques is...

1. move in synch with uke
2. watch for a footfall
3. on that footfall, take all slack out of one side of uke
4. push/pull uke to the ground however you have to to get him down

(N.B. The same recipe works great for kotehineri too)

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Now there are instances of kotegaeshi that don't exactly fit this recipe, but this is how I usually think about making that technique work and I have gotten good mileage out of this.

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____________________
Patrick Parker
www.mokurendojo.com

Uke's Sword of Damocles

Cicero once told a story about King Dionysus forcing a fool named Damocles to sit in his throne with a sword suspended above him by a single hair.  The (literal) suspense was so great that Damocles finally begged to be relieved of the throne.  The "Sword of Damocles" has come to be a warning about the constant fear and anxiety that hangs over people that assume a position of power.

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In aikido, shomenate is the Sword of Damocles.  Tori would much rather end up behind uke but in this first technique, tori makes a critical mistake and steps to a position directly in front of uke almost toe-to-toe and between uke's arms!  Tori has given uke the Holy Grail so far as positional power goes, but along with that power comes the threat of shomenate.

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In Southern U.S. (redneck) culture we call this concept "The Hammer" instead of The Sword of Damocles.  The Hammer is your one great backup plan or technique that you are holding in reserve in case the rest of your plans go awry.  As tori you would prefer to step behind uke, but every so often you can't or you just don't so you end up toe-to-toe and between uke's arms - so you let The Hammer drop - and more often than not, shomenate will extract you from this terrible position.

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We often talk about how all of our aikido system is built around shomenate and the consequences of shomenate.  That is true, but another way of thinking about it is that shomenate is such a great backup plan that it gives us the psychological freedom to explore the rest of the aikido system.  Since we know that we have a good chance of extracting ourselves from just about the worst mistake we can make by using shomenate, we can safely relax and work on the other techniques.

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Shomenate is tori's Hammer and uke's Sword of Damocles.

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____________________
Patrick Parker
www.mokurendojo.com