The Flog!

Ippon Seoi Nage is the one arm shoulder throw, which when performed well, looks spectacular, and will give tori the ippon, meaning the full point to win a match.

There are ways in which to prevent the throw, though, and we practiced several exercises to stop the throw.

The first manoeuvre involves blocking tori’s (the giver of the throw) body as he turns in to do the throw. Extend your hand to block his torso. To ensure that your own arm doesn’t get jammed, move to the side as you block.

Second manoeuver: As tori presents his back to do the throw, literally jump out of the throw, moving over his back toward the side he has grasped your arm. He needs to be directly in front of you to accomplish the throw with his back to you, so you are moving out of the way, even though he has your arm.

The third manoeuvre:  As tori presents his back, move out of the way of the throw in the opposite direction, to the side he is not holding your arm. He will still have your other arm, but cannot throw you with ippon seoi nage as, again, he needs to be directly in front of you, with his back to you.

The fourth manoeuvre: As tori begins turning in to you, step strongly forward with your left leg, drop your weight a few inches and simultaneously thrust your left hip out to impact tori’s hip and stop his rotation.  This effectively blocks him from completing his rotation and will put him off balance to his rear, creating an excellent opportunity for follow-up counter throws.

These simple exercises may not always work to stuff the throw, but may give you an out to try something of your own.

ayjay,

May 3, 2010

We had an additional classes during the holidays, taking advantage of the fact that the club was closed. Among the techniques we covered was Ude Hishigi Juji Gatame , the counters to juji, and counters to the counters. Of course, there are many variations of the joint lock and of the counters. This article covers only a few and only for the prone position.

Ude Hishigi Juji Gatame, commonly called Juji Gatame, or even juji, to the irritation of traditional Japanese judoka and the Kodokan, is Cross Arm Lock, a very strong arm lock which can be applied from the ground lying prone (facing up or down), kneeling, or even standing.

A previous article coveredBreaking the Hold in Juji Gatame.  To break the hold, tori must move uke’s arms in order to change the hand grip. There are multiple ways to break the grip so that you can extend uke’s arm and get the joint lock and the tap out.

A counter to the joint lock: Assume you know your opponent is about to try the juji on you. You are prone, on your back. He is in the process of putting his legs on you, but has not yet grabbed your arm securely or placed his leg over your head.

With the arm that he would lock out, grab your other arm above the elbow (on your bicep), and bend that arm, lifting it up above and close to the side of your head. As your partner moves his leg to place it over your face, your arm causes his leg to slide off. Immediately grab that leg and pull it under your head and put your weight on it. His leg is now trapped. Even if he manages to get your arm to attempt the joint lock, he no longer controls your head and the joint lock becomes ineffective as you can now move your head and torso, turning towards him and onto your stomach, escaping the lock.

Another counter is so simple it’s unbelievable. Mike showed this one to me as we practiced the various techniques. You are lying prone again. Your partner is about to try the juji on you. Take the hand which he would grab to do the joint lock and place it flat on your chest UNDER the leg which is on your torso. As he grabs your arm to lock out the joint, your hand is stuck like glue to his leg so that he is lifting not just your hand and arm, but his own leg as well. He might not even realize what is happening as this is such a subtle technique. It may not last for long, just long enough for you to manoeuver into another position and out of danger.

Click here to go to the video of Breaking the Grip in Juji Gatame

ayjay

January 4, 2009

Our classes normally begin with lots of grappling to warm up (not your standard warm-up, for sure). I was watching two guys, one a lightweight, the other significantly bigger, maybe middleweight, as they went from one move to the next.  Lightweights move so quickly, but patience can pay off.  The lightweight had the beginnings of a juji gatame on the other fellow, but couldn’t break the hand hold and gave up immediately, moving on to something else.

When Dave asked if there were anything we wanted to cover after all the grappling, I suggested breaking the grip of your opponent in order to effect the juji. (Chris had had kakure garami applied to him during his match with Dave, so he wanted to cover that: click to see Kakure Garami, our version of kesa garami).

Dave showed two methods to break the opponent’s hand grip: one I can describe; the other, although perfectly effective and easy to execute, is too complicated to explain. It is, however, on the video clip link at the bottom of this article.

The simplest method of breaking your opponent’s hand grip to get a juji gatame:

You are on your back (perpendicular to your opponent) with one or both legs on your opponent, applying as much weight and pressure as you can. Your hips are as close to his shoulder as is possible. You have both arms grasping his near arm and are trying to pull his arm straight. You can’t have a better position for this arm bar; however, your opponent is no fool and has clasped his hands together and is holding on for dear life. What happens is that as you pull his arms, his clasped hands and arms are effectively in a straight line, ninety degrees from yours, and his hands remain together. Try it.

What you need to do is break the straight line. This can be accomplished in a few ways, the easiest being to let go of his arm with one of yours (making sure your other arm keeps his solidly hooked); then use your free arm to reach for his far arm and pull his arm strongly towards you.  Next, place both of your legs, slightly crossed, at about the far tricep to ensure he doesn’t move his far arm back into the old position. Now his arms are no longer in a straight line, his hands are not grasped anywhere near as securely as before and his arm cannot move back to the previous position.

In addition to pulling your own arms toward your chest to attempt to break his grip, you can fall to your side (generally towards his head). This also breaks the straight line aspect of the hand hold. Once his hands are loose, you can pull his arm away and straighten it for the juji, moving from your side to the standard juji position. When pulling the arm straight, ensure that you have his thumb pointed to the sky.  If he has his thumb pointed to the side, you are fighting his bicep, one of the strongest muscles in his arm. Turning the thumb to the sky, causes the forearm muscles to work, smaller and weaker muscles. Click to see the basic Ude Hishigi Juji Gatame technique.

In order to break the hold in juji gatame, you need not be stronger than your opponent, but to apply simple strategies to enable his hands to separate.

Click here to go to the Breaking the Grip in Juji Gatame video

ayjay

February 16, 2009

Ude Garami – Entangled Arm Lock is called several other names depending on which martial art you are familiar with. Judo uses the same term for the three basic positions. Here is a video of Traditional Ude Garami. In each arm position, the aim is to place torque on the shoulder or elbow joint and achieve a tap out from the submission.

In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, ude garami is called a Kimura (named after a famous judoka who used this version to great success) if the arm is placed behind the opponent’s body when he sits up. In the traditional video, Dave shows a version of the Kimura at the very end, when he changes his body position, sitting his legs through in a manner similar to Kesa Gatame, causing Mike’s shoulder to come off the floor as the technique is being applied.

Another, somewhat unusual, version of ude garami can be seen in this video which shows Mike being held in a side triangle choke (sankaku jime) position: ude garami from jigoku jime.

During one of our classes Dave demonstrated why ude garami is less successful from full mount than from side control. Side control enables you to place far more body weight on your opponent. It also protects you from your opponent by placing most of your body away from him. If you are in full mount, uke has the ability to arch his back, negating the torque that is being applied on the shoulder, and possibly even bucking you off. Also, in full mount, it is possible for uke to manoeuvre his head between tori’s arms, rendering the ude garami attempt completely harmless.

Full mount also leaves a gap between your chests: this gap doesn’t exist in side control. Any time there is space between you and your opponent, there is the possibility of his escaping from your hold. In fact, side control enables you to drop most of your body weight on your opponent’s upper chest and shoulders. Few people can escape from holds when their shoulders are being held down, which is why kesa gatame is so effective as a groundhold.

ayjay

March 6, 2010

The juji gatame, ude hishigi juji gatame formally, is an armbar in which you as tori use your legs to control uke while you hyper-extend his elbow into an armbar. The juji can be accomplished from a variety of positions, from the ground, from standing, etc. In the case of this fight, the positions were classic with Hardy on his back on the floor and GSP at about 90 degrees from Hardy and on his back as well. The object is to apply pressure to the elbow, extending it to the point that you achieve a tap out. In order to get the arm bar, the pressure must be applied to the elbow and the arm must be straightened out completely. When we teach this technique, we talk about pointing the thumb to the sky. That position works for the most part, but there are some versions of juji in which that statement doesn’t apply. Tori must be aware of where uke’s elbow is and turn the arm such that the elbow is the joint that is having the torque placed to it. The elbow has to be against your body, the thumb away from your body. In GSP’s attempt at the juji gatame, Hardy managed to move his arm so that he could bend it.  GSP did not control Hardy’s upper body or his arm, so that eventually Hardy turned over and got free. 

Initially GSP had his left leg over Hardy’s face and the right leg over Hardy’s upper torso. GSP had Hardy’s right arm extended to the right maintaining grips on Hardy’s wrist and hand. This is the first screen shot of the position: 

juji1 - GSP attempts Juji Gatame on Dan Hardy - UFC 111

In the photo above, GSP has Hardy’s arm in the correct position, but the leg on Hardy’s face should be extended and be pushing down, squashing his face. But even more importantly, GSP should be squeezing his legs together around Hardy’s arm while pushing down with both legs.  Closing the gap between the knees immobilizes the arm so that uke cannot move his arm from the juji position. Pushing down on the face and torso enables tori’s control over uke’s shoulder and upper body. Squeezing the legs together is the most crucial element, though.

If you look closely at the video (you can see it better than with just the few photos we’ve included), you can see Hardy’s arm twist and turn between GSP’s legs, allowing him the range of motion to resist the arm bar attempt and ultimately escape.

juji2 - GSP attempts Juji Gatame on Dan Hardy - UFC 111

By the 18 second mark above, Hardy has begun to turn onto his side and his arm has moved, his elbow slightly bent such that GSP cannot apply the arm bar – the elbow is pointing sideways here, so Hardy can actually bend his arm to relieve the pressure.
At the 17 second mark below, Hardy is fully on his side and GSP is straining to achieve the submission, to no avail. 

juji3 GSP attempting a Juji Gatame on Dan Hardy - UFC111

At the 16 second mark below, the grimace on GSP’s face shows his effort, applying all his strength. It was in vain, though, because Hardy managed to move onto his side, having lifted GSP’s hips right off the floor. If GSP were in control of the arm bar, Hardy would still be on his back, and GSP would lift his OWN hips to further hyper-extend the elbow. Hardy’s elbow is away from GSP and his thumb is now pointed toward the floor instead of the ceiling, enabling him to use the larger bicep to bend his arm. 

juji4 GSP attempting a Juji Gatame on Dan Hardy - UFC111

juji5 GSP attempting a Juji Gatame on Dan Hardy - UFC111

One second later, at the 15 second mark above, GSP’s left foot is completely under Hardy; Hardy is turned onto his side and is moving his arm away from GSP. Georges spent all his effort on Hardy’s arm, but had not managed to stabilize the arm. 

juji6 GSP attempting a Juji Gatame on Dan Hardy - UFC111

By the 14 second mark above, Hardy was on his knees and about to escape from GSP’s grasp completely.  Had he squeezed his knees together at the beginning of the arm bar attempt, we believe Hardy’s arm would have been immobilized and the submission would have been successful.

Click here to link to our videos on juji gatame - traditional version, and our modified judo4MMA version of juji gatame.

ayjay,

April 4, 2010

Those of you who have read our biographies, real and fake, found elsewhere on this website, will know that Dave, Chris, Mike and I have been at judo for years. I am the novice at just under seventeen years; Chris and Dave joined our old judo club over twenty-one years ago. Mike joined the club a couple of years after Dave and Chris. Our personalities are quite different from one another. What we have in common is learning, and working at, judo.  

Dave learns techniques by watching them. He then practices them until they become muscle memory. I envy this ability. I have to practice, read, read some more, and practice many more times before the techniques become ingrained. Judo lends itself to both ways of learning, whether the techniques are throws, joint locks, ground holds, or chokes. The common denominator in both methods of learning is the practicing. In order to have a throw happen fluidly and spontaneously, or a ground technique easily contribute to a win, you have to do the technique many, many times.

We have some of our MMA no gi videos on YouTube. Some of the comments have stated that no one would ever do that technique or put himself in the position where this technique could be applied. The purpose of the videos and learning any technique is to have that technique, whatever it is, available to you when you are in a match, in your club or in a tournament. After practicing something, a difficult throw or choke, over and over, next when you are next fighting someone, that throw, that choke, whatever, is available to you without thought or hesitation. You’ve already done it in practice dozens (hundreds?) of times; you don’t have to think about it – it’s just there. 

A perfect example of this is kakato jime, with judogi, and without .  (Check out our own version of this choke for something a little different! kakure kakato jime) Looking at this statically, you might consider this an impossible position to get in: your opponent wouldn’t let this ever happen to him. In fact, we had a comment asking what stops uke from getting up to his knees. Granted Dave is showing the choke and his uke is letting the choke be applied. In reality, last Sunday, Dave was doing groundwork with Mike and managed to get a tap out using this very choke. He said they rolled around and around with Dave’s fighting to finish with juji gatame, and suddenly, the opportunity presented itself. Mike was fighting the arm grip and forgot about Dave’s legs. Dave had his legs in the correct position, and he was then in perfect kakato jime position.  Dave didn’t have to think about what to do with Mike’s arm, with his own legs; he knew instinctively what to do.

When learning throws, the white belts learn the basics. All other belts, though, do the same throws. They are refined and applied in conjunction with other throws, but they are the same throws. The difference between the white belts and experienced judoka is the practicing and refining, understanding what your body is doing, or needs to do, what uke’s body needs to do, in order to accomplish a beautiful throw. After having thrown your fellow judoka hundreds and thousands of times with throws and variations of those throws, the throws become available to you when you need them. Those foot sweeps are a surprise both to you and your opponent, they happen so easily; the kneeling ippon seoi nage is successful because you are under uke so quickly that he has nowhere to go but over your back. None of this would have been possible without the practice sessions.

Practicing techniques day after day, week after week, is hard work. The white belts sometimes complain that they have already learned that technique. Those of us who have been around a while know that judo is a lifetime’s learning, with always more to learn, another technique to practice and refine. Having a technique which is unusual, such as the kakato jime, or the kneeling seoi nage, or one of my favourites, yoko wakare, come to you as you are  fighting in randori or ne waza, is a great feeling, a moment of perfection, that “Wow!” moment, which makes all those practice sessions worthwhile and helps to explain why we come back to practice yet again.