The Flog!

Despite Dana White’s suggestion of having teammate versus teammate for the semi-finals, in order to have the actual finals with US versus UK, the semi-final match ups had opposing teams fighting.

Frank Lester will fight in the last fight to give him as much time as possible to heal from his latest bout; however, he will fight the man who beat him in his first match, James Wilks. You’ll remember that Wilks kneed Lester in the mouth, resulting in not a few teeth, real and fake, being left in Lester’s mouth guard.

The first semi-final match was between Damarques Johnson and Nick Osipczak. Johnson began with a solid left/right combo to Osipczak’s head, while Osipczak threw a lower leg kick.

Johnson acquired a take down, while in the clinch, doing a sasae tsurikomi ashi (sweeping drawing ankle throw). Standing quickly afterward, the men traded punches with a nice left jab from Johnson. Osipczak tried a soto makikomi, which ended in a take down and Johnson in Osipczak’s guard, then half guard. Johnson applied some ground and pound, while Osipczak elbowed the side of Johnson’s head.

Standing again, they began the best part of the match: With 30 seconds to go, Osipczak rocked Johnson with an uppercut and then immediately followed through with multiple strikes around the octagon. Unbelievably, Johnson managed to come to and fought back, throwing solid shots of his own. He’s certainly tough; I thought he was out on his feet.

Round two had Johnson coming in mouth-breathing and looking done in, but still managing to throw a knee to Osipczak’s chin.

Osipczak tried a take down, which ended badly with Johnson taking his back and then having side mount. Johnson applied elbows, moving from side to half guard and then side again. Johnson tried a Kimura, but gave up and used elbows again.

While in full mount, Johnson wrapped one leg around Osipczak’s waist and did some more ground and pound.  Osipczak turned a bit to the side to protect his face, but exposed the back of his head to Johnson and ended up getting punched several times. Osipczak managed to hang on until the bell.
 
Each time Osipczak was mounted, he tried for juji gatame with good hip movement and leg placement, but never had the arm.
 
Round three had both fighters looking fatigued and moving much slower, but still trading punches. Johnson attempted a flying knee. He then took Osipczak down, with no resistance.

From half guard with Osipczak on the bottom, Johnson did shoulder strikes and elbows and moved to full mount. Osipczak surprisingly managed a reversal and was on top. His strikes were not enough to win the round, though.

Johnson is off to the finals with a unanimous decision. Osipczak had just endured his first defeat.

Post-fight scenes showed Johnson with ice on his left leg and talking about having bitten off a piece of his tongue. He was more interested in getting healthy than thinking about the final.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 (TUF9) is on Spike on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST.

ayjay
June 4, 2009

Episode 1 of The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 came up after the Ultimate Fight Night Live. Luckily, I enjoy watching fights, because this makes for a long night of fights.

Dana White travelled to England for this episode. Sixteen of Britain’s finest MMA guys were fighting for the eight positions which would get them to Las Vegas and The Ultimate Fighter show. The day after White met the guys, they all fought for the eight positions, giving us eight fights in just over an hour. This certainly shows us an immediate and wide range of skillsets and techniques.

A few things occurred to me while watching fight after fight: if your coach is yelling at you to do something or not to something else and you pay no attention, chances are you’ll lose. This happened in at least two matches in which Bisping shouted instructions to his guys and they paid no heed. In the first case, Bisping’s guy was knocked out. (This reminds me of an old Pancrase show in which Frank Shamrock was attempting a manoeuvre and Ken Shamrock shouted instructions to not do that but this, and Frank immediately followed the instructions and won.) Also, if you come in shouting that you’re the “Reidinator”, you really should win, or attempt to. Egomaniacal behaviour is unsightly and irritating at the best of times, but to be on the bottom holding someone in your guard and shouting at him to hit you (as you don’t try to get out from under), well, you’re asking to be hit. He complied with your wishes. In this case, the winner was a guy whom Dana White said was inexperienced and nervous.  He won, though.

Two heel hooks ended two different matches. The guys tapped out very quickly. I spoke with Dave about heel hooks: when he’s practicing them, he locks them on and holds the heel securely, but doesn’t apply any pressure. He’s just showing his opponent that it’s there. He then lets go. He never practices heel hooks with a guy new to our class or to martial arts and never lets them get him in a heel hook. New guys tend to have no control and end up hurting us. In order to fight heel hooks, other than being hyper-aware of your body placement, a guy might be able to use his other leg to free the trapped foot or a sweaty guy might be able to roll out of one; if you can’t roll out, tap out. Knees are blasted very easily.

Another thing which occurred to me: Dana White’s language has reached new lows and based on the previews for next week, he uses the same offensive phrase in the next episode.

I sincerely hope that this season of The Ultimate Fighter is less gag-inducing than last season, but I have my doubts. Any bets on how much the guys will be drinking, fighting, destroying the house, etc.? The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 TUF9 is on Wednesdays on Spike.

Click here to go to The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 Episode 2

Click here to go to The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 Episode 3

Click here to go to TUF9 Episode 4

Click here to go to TUF9 Episode 5

Click here to go to TUF9 Episode 6

Click here to go to TUF9 Episode 7

Click here to go to TUF9 Episode 8

Click here to go to TUF9 Episode 9

ayjay

April 2, 2009

Living on a sailboat has its disadvantages: in winter, we’re frozen in most of the time. That means the boat doesn’t move and we have satellite reception. In the last four days, though, we’ve had very warm weather and, as of yesterday, no ice. My main concern was, would I have paid for UFC 96 Jackson versus Jardine, invited friends over, etc., just to have the wind pick up to move the boat and lose the signal? In the hour before the fights, the signal was sporadic. We could only hope that the wind wouldn’t pick up.

First off, Joe Rogan was wearing orange! What’s with that?! I’ve only ever seen him wear brown or, once, black, I think. It threw us all off.

The first fight was between Gray Maynard and Jim Miller, both undefeated in the octagon. Maynard is an all-American wrestler and Miller, a BJJ brown belt, known for his submissions. The fight started with Maynard possibly breaking Miller’s nose and Miller mouth-breathing throughout. They traded punches and Miller attempted takedowns. Just at the bell, Miller walked into a shot, resulting in a huge mouse below the left eye.

Round two had Miller doing lots of leg kicks and Maynard punching only. Miller managed a takedown, but Maynard got up immediately, to continue punching. Miller was bleeding profusely, muttering, frustrated that he couldn’t take Maynard down.

Round three was the same as before, Miller with kicks, Maynard with punches. Then Maynard did something inexplicable: he took Miller down. Why do this when he was winning the standing game? Miller came close to accomplishing a kneebar. Then he was in half-guard, but Maynard kept punching Miller’s face, which was looking raw meat-like. The match finished standing with the guys trading punches again.

Miller’s one tough guy, considering his injuries, but the unanimous decision went to Maynard, who controlled the fight.

Next came Matt Hamill against Mark Munoz, both wrestlers. Hamill has certainly changed since he was in The Ultimate Fighter. There was no groundwork here. He traded punches with Munoz, stuffed Munoz’s takedown attempt, did a little dirty boxing. Munoz had his hands down a lot. Out of the blue, Hamill kicked to Munoz’s head, connecting from the shin to the tips of his toes. Munoz dropped immediately, hitting his head on his own knee and then against the fence. The guy was out for a long time. Knockout of the night. 

Next came the welterweights, Pete Sell and Matt Brown. Sell is one of Matt Serra‘s guys, a BJJ black belt. Brown has about an even number of submissions and knock-outs. The fight started with a kick and two punches from Brown, such that Sell hit the mats and the referee went to stop the fight. This was the strangest part of the evening, because the referee changed his mind and let them continue. For the next minute or so, Brown clobbered Sell from one area of the octagon to the other, waving his hands around, imploring the referee to stop the fight. When the referee finally stopped it, we were all relieved. I think Sell really was out of it from the beginning and the ref’s instincts were right. Brown didn’t give Sell any time to come to his senses, so it was just a prolonging of the agony. Then again, some fighters complain loudly when fights are stopped early, so it’s all subjective.

Kendall Grove and Jason Day, from the undercard, came next. Day had nice techniques and Rogan mentioned that he looked much better than his previous match, but Grove got him to the ground and that was it: ground and pound and the match was over.

The heavyweights were on with Gabriel Gonzaga and Steve Carwin. Gonzaga is best known for dropping Mirko Cro Cop with a huge kick. Carwin came into the fight undefeated at 10-0, with none of his fights going a full round. My concern there was whether he had the stamina to go three rounds. I shouldn’t have worried about it, because Carwin made a name for himself last night: Gonzaga had him in full mount, but Carwin managed to stand up (Gonzaga was 257 lbs.). Gonzaga then threw a punch, which connected, but Carwin counter-punched, just a short right punch, no hips, and Gonzaga went down. Knock out.

The undercard again: Tamdan McCrory versus Ryan Madigan, welterweights. McCrory had control on the ground, moving from one position to another, easily passing guard and going wherever he wanted. He planted lots of elbows and eventually went to double elbows, resulting in referee stoppage. Interestingly, we covered holding your opponent down using your chest and body placement just Friday night. All McCrory’s moves from side mount to full and in-between were exactly as we’d done the previous night.

The main event of the night, Quinton Jackson versus Keith Jardine came next. Both these guys are characters: Jackson stared at Jardine to psych him out and Jardine grinned into Jackson’s face. Pretty funny. They are both heavy hitters, with Jackson being exceptional at clinch takedowns and clinch strikes, and Jardine having high connects with leg kicks, and body shots (92%!). Jardine had some inside leg kicks and a nice uppercut. In the latter half of the first round, Jackson connected with some good punches and a couple of kicks.

Round two had both kicking again, and then Jackson dropped Jardine. Jardine managed to come to standing, but was taken down again. They were in a clinch at the fence, but the referee broke them apart. Jardine looked as though he were out of it for a while, but came back to apply lots of shots, such that Jackson was in trouble by the end of the round.

The final round had Jackson doing another takedown, but the men got up immediately. Jardine scored with solid leg kicks. Just before the bell, Jackson dropped Jardine, the last thing the judges saw in the match. Unanimous decision in Jackson’s favour. Fight of the night.

The remainder of the fights were from the undercard: Brandon Vera against Mike Patt and then Tim Boetsch versus Jason Brilz.

Vera vs. Patt: Brandon Vera was in control from the start, switching from left to right stances, connecting with virtually all his kicks and punches. Mike Patt took several minutes to accomplish anything, but he didn’t give up. Round two had Vera attacking Patt’s lead leg such that eventually the leg gave out and the referee stopped the match.

When Tim Boetsch and Jason Brilz started fighting, the announcers talked at length about Boetsch and his jeet kune do and his strengths. Brilz was sort of an afterthought, that is, until he found his rhythm. Then the men traded punches, Brilz took Boetsch to the ground, knee on neck (we like that) and was in total control. When they stood up and were at the fence, Brilz still holding Boetsch, Brilz kneed the back of Boetsch’s legs. In the third round, Brilz took Boetsch down again, immediately went to side control, applied some knees to Boetsch’s side and then elbows and forearms to the head, and the full mount again. Unanimous decision in Brilz’s favour.

There were no cool submissions last night, but Miller sure tried. McCrory had lots of opportunities in his match against Madigan, but mostly just jumped from one position to another applying elbows – in control, yes, but where are those armbars or chokes? The main event was the fight of the night for a change (in my opinion) and the fighters put forth all they could. Our satellite signal held. We had a good time with friends and family watching UFC 96 Jackson versus Jardine. What more could you ask for?

ayjay

March 7, 2009

When I was first learning judo, not only was I older and shorter than every other adult in the class, I had never done anything remotely like this before. I studied lots of judo books and paid close attention in class, asked lots of questions, practiced everything we were shown and still could not do many things. I became frustrated when I couldn’t accomplish a technique easily, or as easily as others in the class.

As I became more involved in the classes and realized my abilities, I learned to compensate for size differences such as height, weight, and body mass.  Traditional judo throws are taught a certain way; however, if you are five foot two, how can you be expected to hoist that six foot guy onto your shoulders to do kata guruma? If you have arthritis in your fingers, how can you do those chokes which involve grasping the lapels and collars? If you have short legs, how can you do a figure-of-four around your opponent’s torso for do jime (body choke)? If your opponent is barrel-chested, how do you accomplish tate shiho gatame (full mount position) without being tossed to the side?

We all must show proficiency in techniques in order to attain our belts in judo; however, in randori, whether tachi waza or ne waza (standing or ground techniques), when fighting with another person, there are no rules as to which technique you may use. That is when you employ those techniques which suit your body type, body mass, height and weight.

I tend to dwell on those judo techniques which I do well and alter the way I do those techniques which don’t come naturally or, for whatever reason, are difficult to do. For example, my throwing Dave with kata guruma (shoulder throw or fireman’s carry): we do a version in which I have one knee on the ground the whole time. I don’t stand up; I wouldn’t be able to anyway. Rob is so strong that kata guruma is child’s play to him, so it suits him completely.

If you are very tall, throwing a short person with forward throws, such as seoi nage or o goshi, may be extremely difficult; getting low enough to be under uke’s center of gravity may be uncomfortable or impossible. Backward throws may suit far better, such as, o soto gari (major outer reaping), o soto guruma (major outer wheel) and many others. Foot techniques are ideal for those among us with big flippers.

The arthritis means that I can’t choke people with the gi, but hadaka jime (naked choke) and others are fair game.

That short-legged fellow who can’t do the figure-of-four in order to do do jime dwells on his abilities: he’s very strong and agile and despite his short legs has developed little manoeuvres and holds (ankle locks, for instance) when grappling that more than compensate for the techniques which he cannot do and make him extremely dangerous.

Dealing with that barrel-chested guy when applying tate shiho gatame (vertical four quarters lock or hold, also called North-South position) involves posting an arm or leg, even though that may be considered unorthodox. When grappling a guy whose body mass is bigger than yours, you have to modify your moves.

Applying ashi gatame (leg arm lock) may be difficult for the long-legged to apply to someone who has short, stocky arms, but ude garami (entangled arm lock) works just fine. 

Since everyone is different, we must work with the individual to determine which judo techniques best suit him or her. That may involve changing the technique drastically from the traditional judo, but the purpose is to apply the technique, win with it, and to enjoy the class along the way. Perhaps that is one reason we like our classes so much: we can study and alter a technique until we can get it to work in a certain situation against a particular person or position. There are limited rules to follow and almost unlimited variations which can be applied.

ayjay

February 17, 2009

I hope everyone got to see UFC 94 – St-Pierre versus Penn 2 last night: we saw probably the best UFC night that I can remember. Wow, there are some talented guys out there. This time around, no one seemed injured or lethargic and no one backtracked in order to avoid connection. The fights were evenly matched, too.

Nate Diaz versus Clay Guida- Here we had a brown belt BJJ guy (Diaz) with an eight inch reach advantage against a champion wrestler who loves takedowns.

Guida was amazing in round 1: He controlled the stand-up, managed a te guruma (hand wheel) to take Diaz down and applied a neck crush (Full Nelson) which looked deadly.

Round 2 had Diaz finding his reach and connecting, but Guida still dominated, holding Diaz around the torso. Guida attempted another te guruma. Diaz took Guida down with harai goshi a couple of times, but Guida did not let go of his hold.

Round 3 had Diaz doing a little showboating (annoying) and he connected with far more punches, did another harai goshi for a takedown, but Guida stayed attached. Guida, himself, managed a couple of takedowns.

For a little guy, Guida is tough, persistent and talented. Guida, by split decision.

In the Karo Parisyan versus Dong Hyun Kim fight, we had two top judokas competing. We expected to see lots of throws and perhaps some submission attempts. Parisyan did attempt an armbar which he seemed to have on for a long time, but Kim managed to get out, even with the armbar on. Parisyan also threw Kim with an harai goshi in the second round and got side control. There were lots of kicks and punches, mostly by Kim. One punch came to Parisyan’s face while Kim was on his back – very strong and impressive.

Kim had lots of techniques which were surprising from a judoka, but then we heard that he is a top MMA guy in Korea. He was lots of fun to watch.

In round three, Parisyan had Kim in his guard and kicked Kim in the face, causing him to lose a point.

Parisyan won the match by split decision, but Kim was great, and the winner, in my humble opinion.

Stephan Bonnar versus Jon Jones: Jones is a twenty-one year old, with only his third night of professional fights, against Bonnar, who is 31 and very experienced. Most of Jones’s fights had ended by knock-out, so I was unsure of his cardio should this go the full three rounds. In round one, Jones kicked, used knees, took Bonnar down with sasae tsurikomi ashi, did a frightening suplex, a spinning back elbow, knocking Bonnar down, and a knee to the chin. Whew.

Round 2 had Jones doing a spinning back kick, ending in his being in Bonnar’s half-guard, but still in control. There were some great throws.

Round 3 had Bonnar applying some nice punches. Jones ended up in Bonnar’s guard again, but applied some knees to Bonnar’s body. As expected round 3 was slower on both guys’ parts, with neither winning the round.

Jones by unanimous decision. This guy has potential and was thrilling to watch early on in the fight.

The co-fight of the night starred Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva, both undefeated at 13-0.  Machida’s fighting style is different from most: he is a karate guy, stands quite tall, slightly angling his upper torso backward. He tends to walk backward and when the time is right, comes in for the quick punch or kick. His opponents end up following him around the ring. Unlike a fight we saw last year in which the back peddler was avoiding contact completely, Machida really does go after the other guy, but in his own fashion. Silva is a striker and ground and pound guy, with nine of his thirteen fights ending in the first round. This should prove to be fun.

Silva, as expected, followed Machida around the octagon. Machida would step in and kick, back up, step in and punch, back up, and more of the same. He was in control and Silva accomplished virtually nothing. At the end of the round, Machida took Silva down with a nice sweep. While Silva was on his back, Machida jumped forward into the guard and threw a punch at Silva’s head. Silva’s head had nowhere to go. He was out. KO of the night at 4:59 of the round.

The other co-fight of the night was Georges St-Pierre versus B. J. Penn. GSP is famous for his takedowns, managing 75% of his attempts and Penn is known for landing 61% of his lead jabs, as well as being incredibly flexible. GSP is a karate guy, with BJJ and wrestling thrown into the mix; Penn is a world champion jiu jitsu guy.  I have been looking forward to this fight.

Dave and Mike thought GSP would win by KO in round 1 and Malcolm suggested round four. I have no luck with this sort of thing, so didn’t guess.

Round one had the guys in the clinch up against the fence with knees applied by both. GSP tried take downs, but Penn avoided them nicely. GSP dominated the round.

Round two started with both men punching and connecting. GSP took Penn down and while in his guard, applied elbows, two big punches while in the half-guard and then got side control. He then struck knees to the body and punches to the head. Penn suffered a cut under the left eye.

Round three had GSP’s striking, Penn’s nose bleeding, GSP’s taking Penn down, moving from half guard to full guard, basically going wherever he wanted and doing whatever he wanted. He threw elbows and punches. Penn tried to get up and then tried to take GSP down, but really, GSP controlled everything.

Round four was more of the same: GSP did not let up, punched and elbowed Penn so many times. I want to count them just to see how many were applied. It was astounding. Since Penn moved his head and then moved his legs, the referee didn’t stop the fight, but someone should have. Penn’s corner should have thrown in the towel. During the break, the doctor came to look at Penn and asked if he knew where he was. Penn’s brother said the fight was over.

Joe Rogan blamed part of the decimation of B. J. Penn on his fighting outside his comfortable and natural weight, that he is a natural 155-er and shouldn’t be fighting at welterweight; however, Penn has fought everywhere from lightweight to heavyweight before and tends to go to whatever weight class he wants to win in. He wanted the belt and he wanted to vanquish his previous loss against St-Pierre. No one forced him to do anything.

Georges St-Pierre looked fantastic in this fight, in excellent shape physically, and in complete and utter control.  UFC 94 – S-Pierre versus Penn 2 was certainly worth the money. Fight of the Night.

ayjay

February 1, 2009

I’m really looking forward to some exciting matches in the next few weeks:

Denis Kang has been added to the UFC and will fight in UFC 93 this weekend. His background in MMA is mostly BJJ (black belt) and boxing. He has a fantastically strong history in Japan and Korea, having gone twenty-three fights undefeated. He trained with Georges St-Pierre in Montreal for a large part of 2008, so he should be in top shape. Kang is fighting Alan Belcher, a muay thai and BJJ guy. Both guys have had three losses in their last eleven fights, but Kang has won so many fights prior to the last two years, it will be interesting to see if he can get back up there, to the exalted heights of the best MMA fighters.

Fedor Emelianenko is fighting Andrei Arlovski in the next Affliction fight on January 24. Fedor has an astounding record in his professional career: 28 wins, one loss and one no contest. He currently has twenty-five wins in a row. I hope Arlovski is in the best fighting shape of his career. Arlovski is 14-5-0 right now, with nine wins in his last eleven fights.  His two losses were to Tim Sylvia, whom Emelianenko slaughtered in the last Affliction fight night.

Fedor’s background is sambo, judo and boxing, with his winning five of his last six fights by armbar. Arlovski is another sambo specialist, with training in kickboxing, BJJ, wrestling, and especially, boxing. It should be a good match.

On January 31, B. J. Penn is fighting GSP in UFC 94. The show is already sold out. Both guys are so talented that this fight has the potential to be the match of the year. Much as I don’t like monopolies, one of the advantages of having a monopoly, is to get what you want, in this case, having the ability to get the best guys to fight for you, so UFC has two great fighters here. Penn’s fight history is 13-4-1 with three losses in his last eleven fights. GSP’s stats are 17-2-0 with one loss in his last eleven fights. GSP is such a well-rounded MMA fighter and Penn is one of the best on the ground, that it promises to be an  exciting match.

These are just a few of the matches that are on in the next 2 1/2 weeks.  Too bad I don’t have a stake in Pay-Per-View.

ayjay

January 14, 2009

Over the last several weeks this topic has been ruminating in the back of my brain, partially because of a comment on judoforum after someone had accessed our brand new website.  This person who was a black belt in judo reacted in a somewhat negative way to our site: he stated that instead of showing judo going to MMA, it should be the other way around, i.e. MMA going to judo. This, of course, is not practical, or reasonable: mixed martial artists are by definition combining skills from multiple martial arts.  They would not go from many to one, unless that one (in this case, judo) were the martial art they started from.

Our club has always had an amalgam of other martial arts: Our previous sempai and sensei had interests ranging from wrestling to aikido. Chris Miller, whom you can see in a number of our videos, practiced kendo for several years. A few years ago, Chris’s wife, Hyekyong, was a member of our class. Her background is in hapkido. Dave practiced the jo for many years and is picking it up again.  We had a Korean fellow in our class for a few months who taught us the basics of taekwondo. We’ve all been to jiu jitsu clubs. Perhaps because of our exposure to these other disciplines, we are more apt to discard the judogi and apply our skills to mixed martial arts.

That does not mean that we have abandoned traditional judo. In fact, to advance in our club, no matter the judoka’s previous experience, he or she must follow the curriculum. If people are keen to learn judo and obtain the higher belts, then they must come to the requisite number of classes and be tested for each belt in succession.

If the class members are not interested in traditional judo on a particular day, we are fine with that as well. We teach and re-teach some traditional judo always, though. Breakfalls are crucial. Many people have come into our dojo saying they know breakfalls and that is definitely not the case. Throws and other techniques are taught the traditional way; however, non-traditional methods are also taught.

If a judo club teaches mostly sport judo, then the traditional judo is essential. The judoka who participate in tournaments must all have the same backgrounds in order to compete in the matches. Other than one person in our wee club, we do not compete. We get together to have fun, learn new techniques and practice old ones.

We rarely bow before the dojo or call Dave, “Sensei”, although we used to do both in our old club at Dalewood. I suspect this comes from two years in the Mouse Room. We have no set rules about judogi. If someone wants to come to class and has no gi or a white jiu jitsu top and black pants or any other variation, we’re OK with that. I’m sure that comment will grate on all those in judo-land who are fanatics about white gis (you know who you are). The point of our club is not to wear a certain garment, but to learn and participate. Eventually people serious about working on judo obtain judogi because they are hardy clothes and appropriate for judo techniques. We can show respect to Dave without bowing and calling him, “Sensei”. We can show respect to the dojo without bowing in and out. We do bow before randori or ne waza matches, though.

I’m not certain why North Americans and Europeans feel a need to be so Japanese and so traditional in their attitude in judo.  Judo really has not been around very long – 127 years – and yet we treat it and Jigoro Kano with a reverence that’s stifling. If judo is to continue, we must broaden our approach, let other ideas in, basically evolve the martial art. We can take the best of judo and use it in other areas, other disciplines. Traditional boxing is going the way of the dinosaur, being incorporated into mixed martial arts. I think that judo is far more complex than boxing and has far more to offer mixed martial artists; however, judo clubs must loosen the rules a bit. Even the English language adds new words continually; although some are stupid (e.g. “meh”), others embrace changing technologies and workplace situations (e.g. “upskill” – to learn new skills).

You know the old definition of tradition without change? It’s constipation. Change without tradition is not any better. It’s diarrhea. We are proposing to meld traditional judo into a non-traditional sport, that of mixed martial arts, using the best of both.

ayjay

January 6, 2008

Ground holds look relatively simple: one guy is on the bottom, another on the top, and the guy on top holds an arm or squashes a chest or some other body part.  In reality, they are complex placements of tori’s body on uke’s. If one or more of the placements is wrong, the ground hold doesn’t hold. An example: if tori is holding uke with kesa gatame (scarf hold), with or without a gi, and doesn’t have the arm just so - tightly above the elbow – uke can bend his arm and get it free, the first step to an escape.

The little things are vital during application of chokes. While applying okuri eri jime, for instance, if you don’t have your thumb deeply inside the collar – to the back of uke’s neck, even – the choke may not come on, or will take longer and more effort on your part to apply. 

Arm bars are very difficult to learn for the novice. In juji gatame, the thumb has to be up, your hips have to be almost on his shoulder; you try to bring your knees together, and so on. If some of the individual elements are missing, the arm bar may not work or take too long to work, and in a match, time is limited.

And so, we work on the little aspects of the technique in order to perfect it and make it part of the student’s arsenal.

We may study a technique dozens of times over a year. Partly that has to do with new people, but as senior members of our club, we still practice the techniques we’ve been using for years. Every once in a while, there’s something new that someone has figured out, some little element which makes the technique better. This applies to everything in traditional judo or MMA judo, right down to the breakfalls.

We are not sport judo people and only one member of our club attends (and wins at) tournaments. We like the learning and the practicing. There’s lots to learn.

Click here to go to It’s The Little Things – Pt 1

Click here to go to It’s The Little Things – Pt 1 Addendum

Click here to go to It’s The Little Things – Pt 2 Addendum

Click here to go to It’s The Little Things – Pt 3

ayjay

December 12, 2008