Saturday, June 6, 2009

Judo 6-6-09


We started this morning, as always, with the footsweep-to-control exercise. Then we played with a "drag-and-drop" version of kosotogari. The set-up for this kosoto is different from the one I knew - I originally learned the entry from a failed deashi barai, but this one's off-balance is more akin to the one for osotogari. Pat showed how this flavor of kosoto can work on a guy defending heavily against osotogari. We looked at how the "feeler" foot works into this sweep, and how sometimes it turns out being nidan kosotogari (sweeping both feet). I like this kosoto a lot. Feels awkward getting thrown with it. There's something cool about confusing uke by throwing him in a way he's not expecting.


We went over a new throw today: Ouchigari. We practiced this one by "stealing" our partners turn (when we're stepping on his "side"). The sweep was different for me, and a little confusing at first - I kept wanting to sweep his foot upward. Eventually I got the hang of it a little better. I have to remember (as uke) to watch for tori trying to immediately pass my guard when I'm thrown.


For the groundwork portion of the lesson, we went over hadakajime (rear naked choke). The entry was from an attack on a turtled opponent, being careful how you approach him so he can't do something to your legs. I need to keep in mind that the non-choking hand can help the choking arm by interfering with uke's defense so I can sink the choke.


After today's lesson I'm 55% toward the class requirements for green belt. Pat and I talked about whether I felt halfway comfortable with the green belt material. Here's how I'd break it down:


Yellow belt throws: I do feel like I've improved in those since my yellow belt demo.


Yellow belt groundwork: I think I've improved in the mobility cycle, but I actually think I've gone backwards with the escapes. I definitely need review work on those. I think a big part of that is the 6 or 7 week break I had to take earlier this year.


Green belt throws: I think we've only worked on kouchigari, ouchigari, and seoinage one time each, and we haven't looked at ogoshi yet. I feel like I'm at 0% for these!


Green belt groundwork: Here again, it's been so long since we covered the new stuff, I'm not confident at all with these techniques.


Don't get me wrong: I've had a blast developing a better understanding of the earlier material. And I'm not really in a huge hurry to get all this stuff by the time I reach my time requirement. I just like to gauge how I'm doing with the material for how long I've been training. Most of my lack is due to missing classes and just not having enough time to train like I should.

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