10/25 Judo

Judo was primarily a randori / newaza night. On the feet we did a little Uchi Mata practice before randori. I had more trouble with the Uchi Mata than I should have so I will need to put in a little time on that technique. I prefer the outside Uchi Mata to the inside Uchi Mata. But that is not a good excuse for sloppy technique. I shouldn’t be having trouble with such a basic technique.

Randori was fine, I was not really in the mood for it but I am glad I did it. I had a bunch of different sets but there were only two things that stood out for me. First, one of the other Brown belts has switched to a left sided game. This is great for me because there is a Judo guy on the tournament circut that plays a very strong left sided game. I attempted Yoko Tomo Nage a bunch of times but I didnt really get close on any of them. I need to focus more on the hand movement when I attempt it. I may put in a bunch of right and left sided Yoko Tomo Nage fits. That technique would blend well with my game for BJJ and Judo.

The other stand out was I successfully hit the drop O'Uchi Gari a few different times. I am starting to figure out the technique. For me there are two key points to using it correct.

1 - Understanding when to using it and when to use something else. It is not really a "go to" technique that can be used against everyone. For me it seems to work best against a squared up stance where the person DOES NOT have their arms locked out.

2 - My preference is to hold the lapel on the side I am dropping too and think about driving the point of my elbow directly into the ground while I am dropping. I hold the lapel the entire time to avoid a Hansoko Make. Holding the lapel is probably not as good as let go and grabbing the leg, but it does have the benefit of forcing me to apply the downward pressure through the leg I am attacking. I find when I let go I have a tendency to not apply the pressure correctly which allows Uke to step out of the attack. Lastly, I find I can effective trap the leg by hugging it between my elbow and my body without using my whole arm to grab it. I am not sure if this description makes sense, I hope it does.

Newaza - The Newaza sets were fun, I had a Green belt that was visiting our club. During one of the sets I caught a bent arm lock off the modified trap and roll. When he asked what I did I told him I would show him after class. Ray had me show the technique to the entire class and it went well. Some in the class had a tendency to roll over there sides instead of their shoulders so I tried to emphasize that point while showing the move.