Japan's two-time Olympic champion Masato Uchishiba crashed out of the world judo championships Wednesday, but there was gold medal joy for compatriot Tomoko Fukumi. Uchishiba lost to Uzbeki opponent Mirali Sharipov on an ippon in their under 66kg, second round contest. Sharipov was then beaten by Russia's Alim Gadanov while France's Benjamin Darbelet also suffered a shock loss, going out in the early stages. In the absence of some of the division's big names, Mongolia's Tsagaanbaatar... Read Full Story
Lee Kyu-Won won the men's under90 kg title at the judo world championships on Saturday, ousting Russian Kirill Denisov by ippon. "It's unbelievable. Of course I wanted to have a medal, but actually I did not expect it to be the gold," said Lee. "I am really delighted that I could win with exactly the technique which I wanted to use." Denisov said of his silver medal showing: "It was not quite enough today. I did not push through to the end which is a shame. I was lacking the very little last... Read Full Story
Japan's two-time Olympic champion Masato Uchishiba crashed out of the world judo championships Wednesday, but there was gold medal joy for compatriot Tomoko Fukumi. Uchishiba lost to Uzbeki opponent Mirali Sharipov on an ippon in their under 66kg, second round contest. Sharipov was then beaten by Russia's Alim Gadanov while France's Benjamin Darbelet also suffered a shock loss, going out in the early stages. In the absence of some of the division's big names, Mongolia's Tsagaanbaatar... Read Full Story
Photo courtesy Elise D. Parker Last night we had our semi-annual family night, kohaku shiai, and promotion ceremony. It was well-attended by students and families and the kids got to show their parents some of what they've been learning. In the shiai we had a total of 30 matches of rooster-tail randori and newaza randori amongst 16 competitors. The winners were: 1st Place: Tanner Humphries (6 wins) 2nd Place: Andrew Kelly (5 wins) 3rd place: Luke Fortinberry (4 wins) Note the demographics of... Read Full Story
I have a handful of announcements for my judo kids and their parents. No class today First, remember there will be no class today (Thursday, October 8, 2009.) It's QuinZilla's birthday, and we'll be at Fox's Pizza Den instead of the dojo. Y'all are welcome to meet us there if you like! Check with Elise or me for time and details. . It's uniform time again The hottest part of the year is over, so our no-uniform classes are coming to an end. The judo kids should wear their judo uniforms and... Read Full Story
Pummelling is a common wrestling drill that has made its way into BJJ and MMA. An interesting practice, besides the games that he mentions in the video, is to practice throws from this pummelling game - finding the grip you need to do the throw that you are working as your hands and feet are moving. This also forces you to learn to let your upper body work for grips somewhat independently while you are attending to synchronizing your feet to the opponent's feet. Roy Dean shows this on his... Read Full Story
Photo courtesy of BekiPeti Power can be defined as the ability to make something move or get something done. One of the fundamental theories of aikido and judo is that people's power is always ebbing and flowing, waxing and waning as we move. The techniques that we do are timed based on the ebb and flow of the opponent's power. . Suwariwaza (kneeling technique) is one way to see this phenomenon in action. For instance, in Ichikata, the first five techniques are suwari, and they vary in their... Read Full Story
Photo courtesy of Kyle Sloan at Windsong Dojo Traditionally the second technique taught in Kodokan Judo (per the Gokyo), hizaguruma is a vital part of the core of judo technique. Following are five hints that have helped me hit hiza more often. Hiza-Osoto combos : Hiza and osotogari are dynamic opposites, so you can do them as a combo in either direction. In other words, make an attempt at osoto and if it is resisted, it makes hiza easier to get. Or you might try hiza and switch to osotogari... Read Full Story
Photo courtesy of Jeremylim Tomiki Sensei apparently had a fundamentally different concept of atemi than we usually think about - not your typical karate strike. Tomiki's atemiwaza was not about using impulse (sudden change in acceleration) to injure the opponent. Tomiki's idea of atemiwaza appears to have been to impact the opponent with your whole body mass during the opponent's footfall with the goal of knocking the opponent off his feet. Tomiki's atemiwaza are throws - not punches or... Read Full Story
One of my faithful readers emailed me a question about tsurikomigoshi (the lifting-pulling hipthrow). Following is a very good demonstration of my favorite variation - sode tsurikomigoshi (the sleeve-lifting hipthrow) and a handful of hints that I think might help with our tsurikomigoshi . Notice that this builds off of a very loose 2-sleeve grip. If you can control the opponent through this grip with this much slack in the system then you can control him pretty much however you grab him... Read Full Story
