Last night our rank group worked on all orange belt ground work. One or two things were new to me, but I felt comfortable with most of it.
For the whole class lesson, we worked on an armbar setup from uke being in turtle.
I rolled twice:
First, with a tall yellow belt. I was feeling really good last night, and felt like I was just "on". In retrospect, I felt like I was a swarm of bees attacking him as he was drowning. I was just having a good night, flowing well from one attack to the next, maintaining good position, etc. I got two good sweeps, and a nice, effortless kata gatame choke - which I credit to the Ryan Hall video on arm triangles I watched over the weekend!
My next roll was with a black belt. I didn't feel as "on" then. I did get a good choke when he started from turtle. But he was alternately letting me play, and dominating.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Judo, 8/5/15
Judo tonight was pretty good...
For the first part of class, I had to demo all the yellow belt material (throws, counters, combos, sweeps & other misc mat work, pins, chokes, arm bars, and escapes) for one of the senior black belts, for him to report back to the head instructor on my performance. So I felt a little pressure. My buddy who's closer to my size wasn't there tonight (my throws look beautiful on him) so I had to demo on a tall, lanky guy. So I don't feel like my performance tonight was my best. Monday may have been my best. In any case, I got through all the material with only a few pointers from our coach, and feel like it was adequate for a yellow belt demo. Not my best, but maybe 75-80% of my best to date, for those techniques.
For the whole class lesson we worked on deashi harai, moving forward and back. I feel like I'm getting my deashi groove back finally. Those went well.
Finally, we did hop randori. I went 2 rounds:
First round with tall lanky guy. We did ok, he's a cool guy and always fun to work with. We both got some smooth throws in.
Second round with the strong yellow belt I was apparently trying to keep my distance from last week. This time I did seoi otoshi right out of the gate, dropping to where he was standing, and yeah, it was much easier. He's a super guy as well, and I always learn something from losing to him. I did get an okay gedan ate on him tonight.
I find maybe the thing I'm struggling with most, with my return to judo, is getting used to the idea that people come in lots of shapes and sizes, haha! I've found that doing aikido with different sized folks doesn't seem as disparate as doing judo with a variety of body types. Aikido calls for an adjustment here or there when you have to go under a short uke's arm or something, but my mind short circuits when I go from tall, lanky uke, to short n' stout uke.
I'm curious what our coach for tonight had to say to sensei about my pseudo-demo, but I'm not anxious over it. I did my best, it was what it was, and is now in the past. Wish I would have done a little better, but I'm not ashamed either.
Ah well; Kano said the way to get better at judo is to keep going to class. Onward!
For the first part of class, I had to demo all the yellow belt material (throws, counters, combos, sweeps & other misc mat work, pins, chokes, arm bars, and escapes) for one of the senior black belts, for him to report back to the head instructor on my performance. So I felt a little pressure. My buddy who's closer to my size wasn't there tonight (my throws look beautiful on him) so I had to demo on a tall, lanky guy. So I don't feel like my performance tonight was my best. Monday may have been my best. In any case, I got through all the material with only a few pointers from our coach, and feel like it was adequate for a yellow belt demo. Not my best, but maybe 75-80% of my best to date, for those techniques.
For the whole class lesson we worked on deashi harai, moving forward and back. I feel like I'm getting my deashi groove back finally. Those went well.
Finally, we did hop randori. I went 2 rounds:
First round with tall lanky guy. We did ok, he's a cool guy and always fun to work with. We both got some smooth throws in.
Second round with the strong yellow belt I was apparently trying to keep my distance from last week. This time I did seoi otoshi right out of the gate, dropping to where he was standing, and yeah, it was much easier. He's a super guy as well, and I always learn something from losing to him. I did get an okay gedan ate on him tonight.
I find maybe the thing I'm struggling with most, with my return to judo, is getting used to the idea that people come in lots of shapes and sizes, haha! I've found that doing aikido with different sized folks doesn't seem as disparate as doing judo with a variety of body types. Aikido calls for an adjustment here or there when you have to go under a short uke's arm or something, but my mind short circuits when I go from tall, lanky uke, to short n' stout uke.
I'm curious what our coach for tonight had to say to sensei about my pseudo-demo, but I'm not anxious over it. I did my best, it was what it was, and is now in the past. Wish I would have done a little better, but I'm not ashamed either.
Ah well; Kano said the way to get better at judo is to keep going to class. Onward!
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Judo, 8/3/15
For our rank group, we went through all yellow belt throws, combos, and counters. Mine were all feeling really good. The ippon seoi nage to osoto gari combo felt a little awkward when done statically, but it works great when uke "floats around" to defend the ippon seoi nage.
For the whole class lesson we did more seoi otoshi, and then a wrong-sided variation. Note: sometimes the wrong sided one works better with only a 90 degree (or so) turn.
Next we did standing randori. I went three rounds.
First round: against a white belt roughly my size. We normally work together well, and are roughly equally skilled.
Second round: Short bulldozer yellow belt that dominated me on the ground last week wanted more. So he made sure to partner up with me this time. We were only supposed to be doing standing randori, but he was insisting on newaza when we went to the ground. I went with it. This time I had him playing defense a lot more than last time. I did tap to being crushed once, but I got an arm bar on him, recovered guard twice, and did a right nice job of playing defense with an open guard this time, if I do say so myself. I've always gravitated to a closed guard if I can get it, but I'm learning I need to adjust my tactics for different types of partners. At one point, I even shoved him away with my feet, far enough to allow me to do a "technical get up", which I never thought I'd use in randori!
Third round: against another heavy weight yellow belt, but a more technical one. He stayed pretty far away from me and kept leaning in. Normally, I'd go for a hip or shoulder throw if my opponent is leaning in, but in this case, I was scared I'd just pull him on top of me. After talking with him later, I realized I was trying to do all my techniques while staying away from him, too. Next time I'm gonna try harder to take his space with my throws. I did get his back once, but this guy is un-choke-able. He just stood up and I went for a ride.
Good fun, hard work!
For the whole class lesson we did more seoi otoshi, and then a wrong-sided variation. Note: sometimes the wrong sided one works better with only a 90 degree (or so) turn.
Next we did standing randori. I went three rounds.
First round: against a white belt roughly my size. We normally work together well, and are roughly equally skilled.
Second round: Short bulldozer yellow belt that dominated me on the ground last week wanted more. So he made sure to partner up with me this time. We were only supposed to be doing standing randori, but he was insisting on newaza when we went to the ground. I went with it. This time I had him playing defense a lot more than last time. I did tap to being crushed once, but I got an arm bar on him, recovered guard twice, and did a right nice job of playing defense with an open guard this time, if I do say so myself. I've always gravitated to a closed guard if I can get it, but I'm learning I need to adjust my tactics for different types of partners. At one point, I even shoved him away with my feet, far enough to allow me to do a "technical get up", which I never thought I'd use in randori!
Third round: against another heavy weight yellow belt, but a more technical one. He stayed pretty far away from me and kept leaning in. Normally, I'd go for a hip or shoulder throw if my opponent is leaning in, but in this case, I was scared I'd just pull him on top of me. After talking with him later, I realized I was trying to do all my techniques while staying away from him, too. Next time I'm gonna try harder to take his space with my throws. I did get his back once, but this guy is un-choke-able. He just stood up and I went for a ride.
Good fun, hard work!
Monday, August 3, 2015
Karate Homework, 8/2/15
Last night I decided to start focusing more on the testing material, until I test later this month. To that end, here's what I did:
Stance progression: 10 times each side
Heian Shodan: Three times
Heian Nidan (all of it): Three times
Yellow belt hand technique demo: three times
Yellow belt kicking demo: three times
Yellow belt three-step sparring: once, with my imaginary friend
Orange belt hand technique demo: three times
Orange belt kicking demo: one time, but I'm confused and have reached out to my teacher for clarification.
Stance progression: 10 times each side
Heian Shodan: Three times
Heian Nidan (all of it): Three times
Yellow belt hand technique demo: three times
Yellow belt kicking demo: three times
Yellow belt three-step sparring: once, with my imaginary friend
Orange belt hand technique demo: three times
Orange belt kicking demo: one time, but I'm confused and have reached out to my teacher for clarification.
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Karate, 8/1/15
After stretching and going through kihon, we took another look at my heian shodan. Here are the tweaks my instructor suggested this time:
- My wrist is bent on my rising blocks. I need to straighten it out.
- I'm still fighting old muscle memory when it comes to my hip direction during blocks. Need more work on that.
- My back stance is still all jacked up! I don't know why it's so elusive to me, but I'll keep at it.
Earlier this week, my instructor said he wanted me to test for yellow belt later this month. During class yesterday, he suggested I test for orange on the same night. I'm pretty confident in the yellow belt material, but nervous about the orange belt stuff.
He showed me the 3-step sparring stuff I'll need for yellow belt, and the basics demo I need for Orange. In a couple of weeks, he'll show me the 3-step I need for orange. He also showed me the rest of heian nidan. I really like the kata but the second half is totally new to me.
I have a lot of work to do in the next couple of weeks!
Karate Homework, 7/31/15
Stance progression: 10 times each side
Rising block: 10 times each side, front stance
Down block: 10 times each side, front stance
Front kicks: 10 times each side, front stance
Side kicks: 10 times each side, holding wall
Back kicks: 10 times each side, holding wall
Roundhouse kick (over back of a chair): 10 times each side, holding wall
Heian Shodan: Three times
Heian Nidan (First half): Three times
Yellow belt hand technique demo: three times
Yellow belt kicking demo: three times
Rising block: 10 times each side, front stance
Down block: 10 times each side, front stance
Front kicks: 10 times each side, front stance
Side kicks: 10 times each side, holding wall
Back kicks: 10 times each side, holding wall
Roundhouse kick (over back of a chair): 10 times each side, holding wall
Heian Shodan: Three times
Heian Nidan (First half): Three times
Yellow belt hand technique demo: three times
Yellow belt kicking demo: three times
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Judo, 7/29/15
Tonight was all about juji gatame!
First we drilled the typical one, from bottom guard, then the typical one from the top, from mount.
Next we worked on a few ways to get the arm from the top when bottom guy doesn't extend it for you. First was a "climbing juji", using your knees to get his arms out. Then, doing the same thing, but doing things like figure-four-ing the arm you're attacking, picking bottom guy up on his side by his arm, sitting on his ribs, and doing a bicep crush when he won't let you get the arm loose.
Finally, we looked at how to slip out of an arm bar if you can pull it off quickly enough (grab your own lapel, shove their bottom leg under your leg and trap it, put their top leg behind your head, then turn into them). Has to be really fast. I tried it in randori later, but my opponent got the bicep crush on me anyway.
I rolled three times:
1. With one of the large yellow belts. Again, he dominated, but I'm determined to learn to deal with him.
2. A brown belt about my size. Sometimes I do okay against him, but tonight he was a little more aggressive. No big deal, I wasn't ashamed of my performance.
3. Against a 3rd dan. I think I surprised him a couple times. Once I escaped his arm bar attempt and turned it into a sweep. I also had him in open guard and nearly turned it into a triangle, but time ran out. He was obviously letting me play, which I appreciated.
First we drilled the typical one, from bottom guard, then the typical one from the top, from mount.
Next we worked on a few ways to get the arm from the top when bottom guy doesn't extend it for you. First was a "climbing juji", using your knees to get his arms out. Then, doing the same thing, but doing things like figure-four-ing the arm you're attacking, picking bottom guy up on his side by his arm, sitting on his ribs, and doing a bicep crush when he won't let you get the arm loose.
Finally, we looked at how to slip out of an arm bar if you can pull it off quickly enough (grab your own lapel, shove their bottom leg under your leg and trap it, put their top leg behind your head, then turn into them). Has to be really fast. I tried it in randori later, but my opponent got the bicep crush on me anyway.
I rolled three times:
1. With one of the large yellow belts. Again, he dominated, but I'm determined to learn to deal with him.
2. A brown belt about my size. Sometimes I do okay against him, but tonight he was a little more aggressive. No big deal, I wasn't ashamed of my performance.
3. Against a 3rd dan. I think I surprised him a couple times. Once I escaped his arm bar attempt and turned it into a sweep. I also had him in open guard and nearly turned it into a triangle, but time ran out. He was obviously letting me play, which I appreciated.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Karate Homework, 7/28/15
Stance progression: 10 times each side
Punches: 10 times each side, horse stance
Backfists: 10 times each side, horse stance
Backfists with step: 10 times each side, horse stance
Rising block: 10 times each side, horse stance
Down block: 10 times each side, front stance
Inside block: 10 times each side, front stance
Outside block: 10 times each side, horse stance
Knife hand block: 10 times each side, back stance
Front kicks: 10 times each side, front stance
Side kicks: 10 times each side, holding wall
Back kicks: 10 times each side, holding wall
Roundhouse kick (over back of a chair): 10 times each side, holding wall
Heian Shodan: Three times
Heian Nidan (First half): Three times
Yellow belt hand technique demo: three times
Yellow belt kicking demo: three times
Notes:
Punches: 10 times each side, horse stance
Backfists: 10 times each side, horse stance
Backfists with step: 10 times each side, horse stance
Rising block: 10 times each side, horse stance
Down block: 10 times each side, front stance
Inside block: 10 times each side, front stance
Outside block: 10 times each side, horse stance
Knife hand block: 10 times each side, back stance
Front kicks: 10 times each side, front stance
Side kicks: 10 times each side, holding wall
Back kicks: 10 times each side, holding wall
Roundhouse kick (over back of a chair): 10 times each side, holding wall
Heian Shodan: Three times
Heian Nidan (First half): Three times
Yellow belt hand technique demo: three times
Yellow belt kicking demo: three times
Notes:
- I feel like I'm "getting" back stance better today.
- Both my hips are killing me from side and roundhouse kicks - they're not used to that range of motion.
Judo, 7/27/15
Last night my rank group worked on all yellow belt material. It was good to run through the whole set of material pretty quickly. Again, I'm feeling pretty good about this set of stuff.
For the class drills we worked a couple of triangle entries (lapel grab and arm control), then the cross body arm lock, and the leg-grabbing sweep version of that. Wrapped up with the flower sweep. My triangles and flower sweep started to feel better this time.
I had a couple rounds of ground randori. My partner was another guy with a wrestling background, so he gave me a lot of trouble. He was light and spry, and it was tough to get him in guard. Once I did, I could dominate, but it only happened once. Also had better luck with survival and escapes due to his lighter weight.
Standing randori was with the same guy. I had a decent kouchi-to-ouchi combo, and a good ogoshi counter. I also pulled of a very pretty deashi, which I normally don't get during randori.
For the class drills we worked a couple of triangle entries (lapel grab and arm control), then the cross body arm lock, and the leg-grabbing sweep version of that. Wrapped up with the flower sweep. My triangles and flower sweep started to feel better this time.
I had a couple rounds of ground randori. My partner was another guy with a wrestling background, so he gave me a lot of trouble. He was light and spry, and it was tough to get him in guard. Once I did, I could dominate, but it only happened once. Also had better luck with survival and escapes due to his lighter weight.
Standing randori was with the same guy. I had a decent kouchi-to-ouchi combo, and a good ogoshi counter. I also pulled of a very pretty deashi, which I normally don't get during randori.
Karate Homework, 7/26/15
Stance progression: 10 times each side
Hip rotation: 10 times each side
Punches: 10 times each side, horse stance
Backfists: 5 times each side, horse stance
Backfists with step: 5 times each side, horse stance
Rising block: 10 times each side, horse stance
Down block: 10 times each side, front stance
Front kicks: 10 times each side, front stance
Side kicks: 10 times each side, holding wall
Back kicks: 10 times each side, holding wall
Heian Shodan: Twice
Heian Nidan (First half): Once
Yellow belt hand technique demo: three times
Yellow belt kicking demo: three times
My main focus this time was on correcting my back stance; keeping my torso upright instead of leaning back.
Hip rotation: 10 times each side
Punches: 10 times each side, horse stance
Backfists: 5 times each side, horse stance
Backfists with step: 5 times each side, horse stance
Rising block: 10 times each side, horse stance
Down block: 10 times each side, front stance
Front kicks: 10 times each side, front stance
Side kicks: 10 times each side, holding wall
Back kicks: 10 times each side, holding wall
Heian Shodan: Twice
Heian Nidan (First half): Once
Yellow belt hand technique demo: three times
Yellow belt kicking demo: three times
My main focus this time was on correcting my back stance; keeping my torso upright instead of leaning back.
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