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Do one thing, and do it well

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I was pretty tired last night, and my wife was getting on me to forgo judo for my honey-do list. But then I realized that I promised to be more committed to practicing (especially with the impending baby and all) and I decided to go.

For the first time in a long time, 90% of the people there were even matches - all brown belts, all within +/- 2 inches of me in height and within +/- 1 weight class (i.e. 15-20 lbs). While I threw and was thrown, I did manage a couple of good things:

  1. My O-Uchi Gari Technique is improving, becoming more fluid and more effective, and I used it successfully several times last night
  2. My Uchimata is improving too, and I threw someone with a really nice Ken-Ken Uchimata.
All of this, is due, in part to my continued use of my favorite combination - O-Uchi into Uchimata or Uchimata into O-Uchi. I use this a lot, because I tend to fight in Kenka Yotsu. Of course, by now, all of my dojo mates know this, and some can take advantage of it, but as my technique improves - both in the mechanics of the throws, as well as in the number of entries and the timing - I hit it with more efficiency.

Sensei suggested that I work on my timing and continue improving the way I move on the mat. I also mentioned to him that I feel like a one-combination kind of guy, and he suggested that he would work with me on incorporating Hiza Guruma into my repetoire.

Still I am glad that this combination technique is becoming more mature. In addition to adding one or two more combos, I need to continue to improve this combination too.

While Sensei Watanabe has been working with me a lot on some of my techniques, I would have to say that some of my alternative gripping and entry ideas have come from the book -' Ashiwaza II' - by Mike Swain. I will hopefully be getting a book review up in the near future.
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Andy said…
As it happens, I received my copy of Ashiwaza II from Amazon yesterday. I haven't had a chance to really look at it yet, but reading the first couple of pages, I had the same reaction as when I got the seoi-nage book in the same series. I felt inspired to read more and learn more about the techniques inside, and I had the feeling it was a book I would enjoy re-reading over the years.

I think this had a lot to do not only with the caliber of the authors as judo players, but with the larger context and background information that they provide -- not just mechanical descriptions of moves.
9/25/2007
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