Tuesday 27 October 2015

A need for more technique

'It is a necessity for Judoka to analyse not only their own movements to become better,
but also the movements and strategies of their opponents.'
Doug Berninger (2015)

It's been a few weeks since I did a blog, between work being busy and social events ive not had much time to myself.  Today's blog is due to frustration and disappointment.   This is not based at any one individual, but at a geographical area within Judo... Judoka within the North West.

This weekend I was dour area Dan grading.  We had a good turnout of 1st Kyu Jodoka (14 people) and a good mix of sizes (69-94kg).  A large group of these Judoka knew each other as they trained together at 2 clubs (Me and my training partner also trained with them over the summer, a friendly and dedicated group if guys).   Observing me doing the sheets was one of the area squad coaches and a very well respected 7th Dan (I think. LoL).  There was around 34 fights in total with 7 Judoka getting their line up, but only 1 of these being successful.  From the start 1 thing was apparent, the technical ability of the Judoka was... well... DIABOLICAL!  Throughout the whole of the 1st Kyu sheet I had both coaches muttering about the lack of kuzushi, ashi-waza, rotation and overall technique.  Both coaches said that 1 thing was obvious... We need to go back to the basics.  There are lots of clubs that run randori nights, and that's not a bad thing as we all like to have a good fight.  But there is a NEEDS for more technical nights within the area. 

At our club we focus on this quite a lot and try to get our Judoka to understand the reason why we do thing the way we do.  Our view is - 'If you can't do the basics right... how do you expect to do the more advanced techniques?'  Getting back to basic drills and repetitive uchikomi will help with muscle memory, as Neil Adams once said - 'Practice doesn't make perfect... it makes permanent!'  When you get on the tatami and take hold of Uki you want to be able to act and react as if it was second nature.

Following the 1st Kyu sheet was done (only 1 player got his 1st Dan in their line-up) it was time for the Dan grades to get on the tatami.  It was at that point that the action started.  My training partner was meant to be on a coaching course but it had been cancelled, so he decided to come to the grading and try get a few points towards his 2nd Dan.  This was only his 2nd competitive time on the tatami in about 2 years... but he hadn't lost a beat!  Within the 1st fight if the Dan grades the 2 coaches with me were smiled and both commented - 'At last, some technique.', 'More ashi-waza in this first fight than the entire morning!'.  As the Dan grades continued it was easy to spot the difference in the ability of the 2 groups both on a technical level, and a competitive level.  My training partner went on to produce some amazing techniques and win his 5 fights (Ippon number 5 in the picture) on the day to get his 2nd Dan... As his training partner for about 15 years I'm taking 1/2 the credit for this :D

Well that's my rant over.  I'm a huge believer in underpinning knowledge - What, why and how are you doing something.  Until next time people, keep throwing!


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