17/11/2008 - Judo

Class #9

Warwick Judo (Judo), Iain Cunningham, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 17/11/2008

We had another meeting of the Warwick Uni BJJ group on Sunday, where I had a chance to go through the wrestler's sit out again, along with the variation where they wrap round your chest. Mads also demonstrated an option for when your partner is moving round to side control: not quite sure I understood it, but main principles seemed to be getting your body in the opposite direction.

You start from guard with them about to pass, where they have a grip on your same side leg. Grab that arm with your same side hand, then as they move around for side control, move your body away, so you sort of end up underneath north-south, but with a hold of their arm. With your other hand, grip their belt, bridge up with your legs and roll on top. I'm guessing timing is essential here, but looked interesting from what I saw (came about as Rosie has been having trouble with a specific position when she's sparring, and this was Mads' solution).

I didn't head to the judo straight after, as firstly my toe is still a bit dodgy from last week, and I also knew I was going to the Monday session the next day anyway. Session tonight was purely tachiwaza, so no groundwork whatsoever: on the one hand a shame, but on the other, throws are the reason I wanted to cross-train a bit of judo in the first place.

The initial two throws were apparently off the old dan grade syllabus, both attacking the foot. You have the usual collar and elbow grip with your hands on their jacket. Step in, twisting your palms up and raising your opponent by bringing your arms high. Unusually, your foot doesn’t make a sweeping motion, however, but more of a block. You're aiming to catch their foot as they step forward, putting the sole of your foot in the way against their instep, then pulling them over it using your jacket grips.

The second throw was similar, but slightly more complex. Again you're looking to step forward and pull up, then catch their foot with your sole, but this time it is more of a sweeping motion with the foot. As they step forward, you bring your sole onto their instep and swing your leg right over, twisting them down to the ground as you do so. Timing was more difficult on this one, and I'm not entirely sure I was doing it right: still put my partner on the ground, but a bit sloppy on my part.

I can't remember what they were called, but it was something with 'harai' in the name. Iain took the opportunity at this point to make a note on Japanese, in that anything with –arai in it means sweep. That could be harai, barai or garai, but they all mean the same thing: the first letter depends on the preceding word (if I understood Iain correctly).

Final throw was a counter to the o-goshi hip throw. They step in to pop you up on their hip. You maintain your grip on their collar, shifting the arm that was holding their elbow onto their belt. Raise up, then twist downward to plonk them on the floor. You can also use your knee, pushing it out, which will help if you find yourself with a larger partner.

In randori, I still need to relax and stop stiff-arming with a bent-over posture. I should also be more pro-active, but then that's always going to be a difficult habit to develop as I'm so used to (and happy) being passive from BJJ. What throws I did go for were sloppy, so need to make sure if I start a throw, I should follow through, committing to the technique.