Skip to main content

Toqui Waza and Dr. Seuss

By
In Judo, there is a concept of Toqui Waza - one's best or favorite technique. On the surface, it might seem that a person's Toqui Waza (TW, because I am lazy) is the technique that they practice the most or use the most in Randori. Maybe it is an arbitrary favorite just like one's favorite color or ice cream flavor. But this is definitely not the case. The truth is, for most people, your TW, finds you and not the other way around. At the end of the day, your TW will be the throw(s) that you are able to best enter and execute properly under the widest variety of conditions.

To look at this in depth, we need to first think of how silly of a notion it seems to reveal your Toqui Waza to others - especially those that might compete against you. If I know that Uchiamata is your TW then, in theory, I should always be looking for your Uchimata and work on my counters to it - like Uchimata Sukashi, Te Guruma, Tani Otoshi, etc. Even if you don't formally announce this throw, if I see you practicing it, and using it a lot of the time, I know to expect it. Yet, at the same time, a lot of good Judoka have continuously used their TW to garner ippons for years, and although not every ippon was won by their TW, they still managed a significant number of wins from them, why?


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Catch-all Post for April

By
So I haven't posted anything in six weeks, and yet I still hope I have some loyal readers left. April has proven to be a busy month for me - I am about to switch jobs, and I took a two-week vacation as well. April was also a great month in Judo for me, as my Son passed his Yellow belt test. He also executed a picture perfect ippon seoinage in a 'Mock Shiai'. My wife, who seldom comes to practice, was very impressed. Although he'll be playing some baseball over the next few weeks, he will be coming back to Judo soon, and is excited about working towards his orange belt. The other day, we were at a family get-together, and one of his cousins was bullying him a bit, hitting him a couple of times. Mitch stepped in and was about to throw the kid with O-Uchi Gari just as my wife, the kids' mom, and I intervened. At first, I scolded him. But when I realized he was defending himself, I apologized, and told him that if that happens again, throw the kid, pin him and call for
4 comments
Read more

1000 Words

By
They say that a picture is worth a 1000 words. The picture above (albeit a little blurry - I need a new phone) is of my brand new black belt.   Nearly 26 years ago, I registered for a college Karate class to fulfill my Physical Education requirement. The class didn't get enough people to register, and the Assistant AD asked if I'd try Judo instead, and the rest is history. I want to start off by thanking my 3 senseis - who helped train and educate me, and help me love this sport/art - Maureen Braziel, Shiro Oishi, and Katsuo Watanabe. I also want to thank the dozens of dojomates over the years. My teammates at Polytechnic U, my afternoon class dojo mates at Oishi's (where seemingly I was only one of a few non-law enforcement officers), and my family for more than the last decade at Watanabe's including all of the WCC students who have passed through our doors. I want to thank all of my virtual judo buddies - from the Judo Forum, Facebook, and Reddit,
Post a Comment
Read more

2019 Paris GS Round Up and bits from Viszer's Q and A

By
The Paris Grand Slam was held last weekend, and as the first Grand Slam event of the year, it didn't disappoint (at least for the people who won medals), and as an added bonus, IJF President Marius Vizer hosted a twitter Q and A. Because we're talking about Paris, and France, we need to start with the French Team - or should I say the French Women. According to an article on the IJF site, this is the First time since 1971 that a French male Judoka hasn't gotten a podium spot at the Paris GS. But you know who did get a Podium spot - Clarisse Abegnounou. The hometown star won her fifth Paris GS title in spectacularly dramatic fashion - by beating Tina Trestenjak of Slovenia 3 minutes deep into Golden Score, and throwing out her shoulder in the process (you can watch her moment of glory in the video below) I also want to give a shout out to both Devin Waldenburg (-60) and Ebony Drysdale Daley (-70) who became the first Jamaicans to compete in an IJF World Tour event
Post a Comment
Read more