Judo

The topic comes up frequently about rules in Judo regarding Newaza… the fact that referees will stand you up after 5 seconds or so.

Although I think this should be extended to 20-30 seconds - I certainly don’t want major changes to this rule… if you want to do matwork, you can do all you want in wrestling, BJJ, or even in the Judo club during randori.

The most common mistake made in Ouchigari is Tori’s persistence in swinging his whole body in the direction of the throw.  If doing a right-sided Ouchigari, for example, it’s all too common for Tori to insert his right leg to hook, and then arch his body to uke’s left rear.  This is always a mistake.

One of the most common problems I see in Judo technique is poor usage or placement of Tori’s dominant hand/arm. To give an example that everyone should be familiar with - in the classical version of a right-sided Osotogari - where should Tori’s right forearm go?

Perhaps I’m just slow, or maybe Google has been adding features faster than I’ve been keeping up with them, but I recently noticed that they even have a special Blog search feature…

I recently needed to purchase another black belt - mine is getting ragged on the edges, and it seems more and more difficult these days to find a belt.

We had an interesting class last night… Neil was showing a turnover from the hands & knees position… a Daki Wakare variation…

I was recently tending to an all-day miniature exhibit of Judo at the local Buddhist Temple’s Obon Festival… and one of the things I like to put up is a large screen T.V. with Judo videos that play constantly.

So needless to say, I got to watch a lot of Judo in the 8 hours that I was standing around, answering any questions about Judo.  I spent quite a bit of time with a video of the 2004 All Japan Championships, and I discovered an extreme interest in determining who was winning the gripping fight.

This weekend the Encino Judo Club was engaged in giving the annual Judo exhibition at the Buddhist Church during their Obon Festival.  A fun time was had by all - and the local paper actually showed a photo of Judo this year. (Usually its a photo of some Japanese lady in traditional garb for Japanese dance)

On a martial art forum, the assertion has come up that Judo contains the same sort of “internal” skills that are common in Chinese Kungfu or Japanese Aikido (among others.)

Hadaka Jime is one of the interesting chokes where modern practice doesn’t necessarily follow tradition. In virtually all of the older Judo texts, Hadaka Jime is taught as a ‘pain compliance’ type of choke - the pressure being directly on the trachea, and trust me, it’s painful.