Getting back on the horse.

Well it has been a long time since my last post. At the time I was still training once a week, but I haven't been to any classes for the last month, as I just wanted to rest my shoulder completely and give it a chance to heal properly. The downside of this is that I missed quite a lot, but I suppose you have to take the lesser of two evils. You either carry on training and carry a permanent injury or miss a bit of training and get healed properly.
The time of really improved things a lot. I'm still not 100%, but it is a lot better.
Last week I decided that it was time to get stuck in again and Saturday was my first class back in action. I could feel that I missed a lot and I have a bit of 'ring rust', but I'm sure I'll catch up.
We didn't do any specific techniques. We spent most of the time doing Uchikomi, which was a relief because I really needed it. However, it was Uchikomi and fitness training mixed together and my time away from the mat showed quickly!
The drill was as follows:
We stood in groups of three. Two persons on either side of the mat and one in the middle.
The person in the middle would start by doing five turn-ins for any forward throw on either the person on the left or right, switching to the person on the opposite side of the mat for the next five turn-ins.
We had to do five sets of turn-ins in total.
After that, we had to do five throws, again one forward throw, running to the opposite side of the mat to the second throw, and so on.
Following this we had to do the same for backward throws, first the five sets of five turn-ins and then five throws.
The same sequence was repeated for newaza turnovers as well.
The drill help with practising my technique, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't blowing by the end of it!
We were allowed to have a quick water break and then started with some light tachi-waza randori before moving on to full randori.
With about 15 minutes before the end of the class, the sensei got out the crash mats. It turns out that, while I was away, there was some focus on Ura Nage. Ura Nage is in the 1st Kyu syllabus, so I have never seen it done before. I felt quite confident when I saw the demonstration however, as it is very similar to a suplex in wrestling. I quickly realised what changes I had to make to apply my knowledge of the wrestling throw to it's Judo counterpart and it felt comfortable straight away, so I was quite pleased with it. But I doubt it would be that simple in a proper contest!

All in all, it was good to be back, although I was extremely tired. I know I have my work cut out to catch up again, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Dealing with injury.

It is probably safe to say that almost all Judoka have to deal with injury at some point and, for me, that point is now...

I haven't posted for quite a while and the reason is that I haven't been able to do much training for the last couple of weeks, which is a real frustration!
I'm nursing a shoulder injury that was actually picked up 5/6 month ago. It happened when we did Ude Garami training. The weird thing is that I didn't feel anything during the training session and it was only when I got home that I started to feel pain. It wasn't unbearable though, so I thought it would go away eventually. Over the course of the next week or so, the pain came and went every other day, but I had no discomfort at all when I trained. However, it kept coming back. Just when I thought I got rid of it, it would start to hurt again.
Three weeks ago, I decided to take action and I went to see a physiotherapist. I have been for three sessions now and there is still no improvement. I was advised to take ibuprofen daily and to 'take it easy' with the Judo. My last appointment is this coming Friday, when a final assessment will be done. The early indications from the physiotherapist is that it is early degeneration of the ACJ (acromioclavicular joint). It sounds terrible, but I'm assured that it sounds worse than it is, as it is completely treatable. After my session on Friday, I might have to get a steroid injection. As the ibuprofen seems to be ineffective, the steroid has to be injected directly into the joint, something I am not looking forward to, as I hate needles! But if works, it will be worth it.
Like I said, it is extremely frustrating. I have not been able to attend my Monday night classes, as I am under instruction not to go all out with training and, seeing that Monday nights is 90% randori, it would probably be unwise to attempt it. However, I am still able to attend Saturday mornings, as we mostly work on technique, which I am able to do, but I can't drill it properly, so it feels like I'm falling behind a bit.
I guess I just have to remain positive and hope for the best!

It would be nice to find out - from anyone reading this - what injury (or any other stumbling block) you had to deal with/are dealing with and what you did/are doing in the meantime to keep your Judo going.

Climbing another step

I remember when I started Judo last year, the only thing I could think of was how quickly I could get through the belts. I soon realised that it was completely the wrong mindset and I started just enjoying the process of learning and trying to improve what I've learnt. Soon after that, I completely forgot about belts and ranks and found that I was now actually learning quicker, as I was only focused on improving my Judo, rather than getting to the next level.
However, a couple of weeks ago, my sensei informed me that it was time to grade, so I went home after training and got the syllabus out to start 'learning'. To my surprise, I realised that I already knew 90% of what was required and I realised again that I definitely had the right strategy. By only concentrating on learning and improving, I didn't even know that I was already 90% prepared for my grading!
So last Saturday was D Day. I arrived as normal and we did the normal warm up. There was also some technique work mixed in with the warm up, which helped. I was then called over by my sensei while the rest of the class carried on as normal. Even though I was fully prepared, I still felt nervous, because it is almost like you're sitting an exam. However, to my delight, he picked someone who was just a little bit taller than me, but slightly lighter, to act as uke. That made the throws a lot easier! I did all the required throws, holds and escapes and I was awarded 5th Kyu and a brand new yellow belt. Even though I'm not really that focused on ranking anymore, it still felt nice to make another achievement and another step up the ladder.
When I got home I had a quick glance at the 4th Kyu syllabus and again realised that I already know quite a bit of it, but I left it there. I will stick with my strategy of learning and improving and not thinking about grading until I'm told to by my sensei, as I trust his judgement.

There is a ne waza competition coming up and, although the first category is 3rd Kyu and under, everyone keeps telling me to enter. Like I said before, my wrestling background makes me a bit more competitive on the ground than standing up. I think that is why they think I would do well. The thing is, I'm able to defend attacks/turnovers on the ground, but my knowledge of attacking on the ground is still limited, so I find it difficult to attack and, for that reason, I am hesitant to enter. I don't think I'll win a ne waza fight just because I can defend attacks!

For now, I will just keep on enjoying the learning process and see where it takes me.

Going full circle

I've heard many people say that many techniques in Judo are done in a circular motion. It makes sense, as I've found on many occasions when I would be struggling with something. Either my sensei or a higher graded judoka would show/remind me about the circular movement and when I then try it, it works. A simple example is Tai Otoshi. I'm using this example, as I'm currently drilling it for my upcoming grading. I was having trouble with it, but then I was reminded about the circular motion, where you use uke like a steering wheel. So, if you have a right handed lapel grip, you 'turn the wheel' anticlockwise in order to break uke's balance. This is done by pushing his left shoulder up and pulling his right arm down.
This 'moving in circles' was the main focus of training this Saturday. We started with a simple exercise to kick things off.
You would start, in a standing position, facing uke with a normal lapel/sleeve grip. The object was to turn uke so you would end up where uke was standing, still facing each other. It sounds simple, but most of us made it incredibly difficult for ourselves! When hajime was called, we would immediately take a step back and start pulling uke with straight arms. By doing it that way, you are relying on strength and by relying on strength, you just waste energy. So with that in mind, we were told to close the space and move towards uke, instead of pulling back. Our aim was to move alongside uke and, using our hips, twist uke around. The easiest way to explain it is to picture yourself going for Osoto Otoshi. But instead of dropping uke, you just swivel around, so you are still standing and facing each other, but you have now switched positions.
As I said earlier, this exercise was just to practise the circular movement and using your hips, instead of your arms, to move uke.
After we worked on that exercise for a while, we had to take it a step further. We were to finish the move by executing a throw after you turned uke around. We were given a couple of minutes to come up with a throw and then each person had to demonstrate in front of the whole class. I kept it simple and went with De-Ashi Barai. It worked quite nicely, as you don't really need to do too much after the turn. Just keep your foot in the sweep position and uke's momentum will do the rest. My partner, who is a green belt, went with Maki Komi, which also worked nicely.
We moved on to some randori after that and we were encouraged to try and incorporate what we just worked on. I managed to do do my combination a couple of times and it felt pretty good.

Tonight I have class at Reading again. If you read my earlier posts, you would remember that the Monday night classes at Reading is mostly randori and there are mostly higher graded judoka. So by the end of the day, I'm sure I will be absolutely knackered!

Finally, if all goes well, I would have received my yellow belt (5th Kyu) by this time next week!

First competition!

As I mentioned last week, I had my first competition yesterday. What an experience!

I enjoyed it very much and I also realised exactly how much work I had to do on my fitness, let alone my Judo!

I had 3 fights and they were all tough. During my 3rd (last) fight I was absolutely spent. I had no power and I had to dig very deep. I was spotting openings/opportunities, but I just couldn't capitalise. My brain was telling my body what to do, but my body just went: "Sorry mate, I'm having a rest, maybe later". I really need to work on that.

The weigh-in started at 9am, after which the mats were opened up for warm-ups. I was also joined by two other people from my club, so we warmed up together. Out of the three of us, it was only Sean (who received his 4th Kyu a week before) who had any experience of competition, so he explained the procedures to me and Craig.

After the warm ups, the first groups were called out, which included me! Not only that, but I was to fight first! I was an absolute ball of nerves. I told myself to just think of it as randori, but it wasn't...

Fight 1

My opponent was a bit taller than me and very strong, so right from the start I had trouble breaking his balance. It was a tough fight. We both attempted some sweeps and throws, but nothing worked, for either of us. About halfway through the fight, I got a Shido for blocking attacks. I accepted it, but I was also disappointed, as my opponent was doing exactly the same. He attempted another throw, which didn't work, but we did end up on the ground. However, he could not do anything, so we were stood up again. And so the fight came to an end. I lost because of the penalty. Thinking about it afterwards, I was very annoyed with myself, because I wasn't really 'beaten'. It was just the penalty I received. But I couldn't sit and sulk about it, as I had to fight again soon.

Fight 2

Again, my opponent was even taller than the first one. I felt like a little kid! This time, my nerves had settled a bit and my head was a bit clearer. I threw him with what could only be explained as an attempted Morote Seoi Nage, because it was really ugly! However, I ended up on top of him and held him with Mune Gatame. I only managed about 10 seconds, before he trapped my leg. I then moved on to try and apply Ude Garami, but just as I grabbed hold of his arm, the ref called Matte. I still don't know why, because I was right in the middle of attempting it. Back on the feet, we were exchanging some sweep attempts and I ended up almost next to him with his arm across my chest, perfect for Osoto Gari. As soon as I spotted the opportunity I just raked his leg as hard as I could. It worked! I ended up on my knees as well, but he landed flat on his back. My first win and it was an ippon! After we bowed, we shook hands and he said that that was a nice throw. I really appreciated his compliment. But as soon as I stepped of the mat, I realised exactly how tired I was. I was dreading the next fight, but at least it would be the last one.

Fight 3

This time, my opponent was roughly the same size as me. He wasn't particularly strong and he kept giving me openings, but, as I said in the beginning, by that time I just didn't have anything left in the tank. I attempted a couple of throws, Ippon Seoi Nage, Morote Seoi Nage and Harai Goshi to be exact, but I just couldn't do it. I did get a Wazari for one of them though. None of his attempts worked and we ended up on the ground (with me on top) quite a few times. On one occasion I attempted an armbar, but I completely made a hash of it, so it didn't work. The 3 minutes were up and I was declared the winner, as I scored the Wazari. But if I'm honest, I didn't really care, as I just wanted to get off the mat and get my breath back! I was happy with the win though.

So that was all my fights. I lost 1 and won 2. That meant that I got a silver medal!

If I think back about it, that Shido in the first fight will probably haunt me for a very long time, as that was the only difference between silver and gold on the day. But I'm still very happy overall. If I was told that I would get silver before the competition I would have taken it in a heartbeat! Also, it was a good day for my club, as Sean got silver as well and Craig got bronze. So it was 3 medals out of 3 for us!

My wife was very kind and recorded all my fights, so I will look back and see exactly what I did wrong and what I need to work on, other than fitness!!
 

I also have grading coming up soon, so there will be no rest!

Catching up on some gardening, aka sweeps and rakes!

Sweeps and rakes were the order of the day this Saturday.

We worked on combinations, set-ups and transitions, ie. OuchiGari to Kouchi Gari. The idea being that you attempt Ouchi Gari, but Uke counters it by stepping of with the leg you are attacking. This results in Uke's weight being transferred to the leg that he just stepped of with, allowing you to attack the other leg with Kouchi Gari.

It sounds simple and, in theory, it is, but the key is to keep your momentum going and that is what we worked on mostly. If you attempt the first attack and uke counters, the next attack should follow immediately, as the shift in uke's weight is only for a second or two. By the time you start thinking "oh no, I've been countered, what do I do now!", uke has already sorted his balance out and the opportunity is gone! So with that in mind, we just drilled a couple of transitions, concentrating on the transition being as smooth as possible, with no 'stutters' and pauses in between. I did struggle a bit with getting the transitions done smoothly, but it got better towards the end and I think it will improve with more practice.

My first competition is this Sunday! I feel as ready as I can be and I will have one last training session on Saturday morning. There are three other people from my club also going to the competition, so at least I will have some support and guidance. I am really getting excited now!

There was also grading done this Saturday and I want to congratulate Sean, who got his 4th Kyu (Orange belt) and Lizzy, who got her 6th Kyu (Red belt).

My sensei informed me that my grading (for 5th Kyu) will be done after my competition, so I need to be ready!

 

On my next blog entry, I will share the experience of competing for the first time, so stay tuned...

Difference between Judo and Wrestling

You would probably have noticed that I refer to Wrestling quite often. This is because it is the first sport I took part in. I started when I was 7 years old and my last match was at the age of 17, so I was a wrestler for 10 years. In many ways, there are a lot of similarities, but also many differences. So, with that in mind, I've decided to break down the two disciplines and this is the result:

 

Origin:

Judo is a martial art, created by Jigoro Kano in 1882. It is based on the principles of Jujutsu, which was the fighting style of the Samurai. Kano removed the striking and use of weapons for the system originally known as 'Kano Jujutsu'. This was later renamed as Judo (translated to English as 'The gentle way').

The origin of wrestling is a bit trickier to track down, as it is one of the oldest forms of combat. It's origins can be traced back 15,000 years through cave drawings found in France.


Description:
The objective of Judo is to throw, hold down or submit (by strangles or arm locks) your opponent. In competition, the main objective is to score an ippon, which ends the fight. An ippon is scored by throwing your opponent on his/her back with sufficient force, holding/pinning your opponent on the ground for 25 seconds or submitting your opponent. There are also 'lesser' points scored for throws that are not executed perfectly or holds that are held for less than the required 25 seconds. If, by the end of the fight, no ippon was scored, the player with the highest value score wins the fight.

The objective of Wrestling is to throw/take down your opponent and pin (known as a Fall) them. In high level Wrestling, like the Olympics and international tournaments, it is very rare to see matches won by pins. For that reason, there is a detailed scoring system. The points you can get for a throw is 3-5, depending on the execution. If you manage to take down your opponent and gain control on the ground, 1 point is awarded. On the ground you can either get a 'turnover', by rolling your opponent on their shoulders, for which 2 points are awarded, or you can try to pin your opponent. A pin (Fall) is awarded when both an opponent's shoulders are held on the mat simultaneously. The pin is awarded as soon as both shoulders touch the mat. A match consists of 3 rounds of 2 minutes each. If, during a round, a 5 point throw is achieved or one wrestler has 6 points more than the other, the round is over. A match is won by the wrestler winning 2 rounds or pinning his/her opponent.

 

 

Equipment:

The Judo uniform, known as a Gi, is made up of a heavy weave jacket and trousers, tied with a belt, known as an Obi. The belt colour also represents the grading of the Judoka. In competition, one Judoka would wear a white belt, while the other wears a blue belt. In bigger, high level competitions, one Judoka would wear a white gi, while the other wears a blue gi. Both would wear black belts.

The Wrestling uniform is a one-piece, tight fitting, coloured lycra uniform. The colours of the uniform is either blue or red. In competition, one wrestler would wear a blue uniform, while the other wears red. You also have shoes, which are lightweight and cover the ankles.

 

 

Terminology:

All Judo techniques have Japanese names. Judoka have to learn the Japanese words, not only for the techniques, but also the calls/instructions made by the referee in competition.

In Wrestling, the main language is English.

There are many techniques that are used in both Judo and Wrestling, especially throws. For instance, ippon seoi nage (one arm shoulder throw) is known in Wrestling as a Flying Mare, O Goshi (major hip throw) is known in Wrestling as, you guessed it, a Hip Throw and Koshi Guruma is known in Wrestling as a Head Lock. There are many more, but I won't list them all here!

As a side note, you would probably have noticed that I'm referring to 'fights' in Judo and 'matches' in Wrestling. This is because we were always taught that, in wrestling, you NEVER refer to it as a fight. However, I am not sure if this a general philosophy in Wrestling or just in South Africa (where I grew up).

 

Grading:

There is no grading system in wrestling. All competitions are held in weight classes, with no distinction in the experience level of the competitors. In junior categories, there are also age groups in addition to weight classes. Because of this, it is very rare to see novice wrestlers winning matches early on in their careers. Personally, I can't even remember how many matches I took part in before I got my first win!

In Judo, you have an elaborate grading system. The grades are split between Kyu and Dan grades. It is the goal of every Judoka to achieve a Dan grade. The Kyu grade represent how much you have learnt so far. There are 6 Kyu grades and you achieve these grades in descending order. Each Kyu grade is represented by a coloured belt. 6th (red), 5th (yellow), 4th (orange), 3rd (green), 2nd (blue) and 1st (brown). The coloured belt system, however, was actually started in Europe.

The Dan grade shows that you have attained a level of competency. Dan grades are all represented by a black belt and are achieved in ascending order, ie 1st - 5th Dan. 6th-8th Dan is represented by red and white panelled belt and 9th-10th Dan by a red belt. However, in competition, a black belt is used for all Dan levels.

In competition, categories are separated by weight and also by grade (this only applies to Kyu graded Judoka). The categories, in general, are novice - 3rd Kyu and 2nd - 1st Kyu.


Use in Mixed Martial Arts:
MMA fighters with a wrestling base tend to be very successful. They are well balanced, with a strong base and good control on the ground. The only MMA organisation I follow is the UFC, and most of the UFC champions have all been wrestlers before they started competing in MMA.
There have also been a few people with a Judo background who have been successful. Karo Parisyan,  his cousin, Manny Gamburian, Hector Lombard and also Ronda Rousey, an Olympic bronze medallist. In my opinion, the main reason why wrestlers are more successful in MMA than judoka is the fact that, in Judo, most techniques, especially throws, require a grip on the opponent's gi. However, in MMA, there is no gi, so you have to adjust most of your techniques, whereas, for the wrestler, there is no difference.

 

Well, there you have it! Obviously I know more about Wrestling than Judo, as I've only been doing Judo for 7 months, but these, to my knowledge, are the main differences between Judo and Wrestling.

In my opinion, both are excellent sports, especially for kids and you can do both for serious competition or just as a way to keep fit and healthy.