"Higher Judo: Groundwork" by Moshe Feldenkrais

During the manic phases of what I call “manic-procrastination disorder,” I usually end up misplacing my productive energy into judo stuff. At the end of an hour-long binge, I had was a proud owner of a new judo website and a funky old newaza book called “Higher Judo: Groundwork.” The first print ran in 1952 and it had apparently become quite rare, but luckily enough it had be reprinted in 2010 in paperback. You know me and my obsession with ground work, right?

So, who was Moshe Feldenkrais? Apparently, he was a pretty big deal. A pioneer of judo in France who hung out Jigoro Kano, as well being a scientist of sorts, he was interesting enough on his own to convince me to shell out $17 for his book. This was the last in a series of judo and jujutsu literature, meant for experienced judoka. Though I usually like to read the foreword, the 2010 one speaks more about judo as it relates to the development of the Feldenkrias Method—something I can’t even begin to pretend to care about. 

In terms of judo content, “Higher Judo” contains 300 line drawings (traced from actual photos of Feldenkrais and Mikinosuke Kawaishi) with accompanying commentary. Unlike most instructional books that stick to explaining 1 or 2 pictures at a time, Feldenkrais works to tie together different positions, constantly referring back to earlier pages. This has the advantage of synthesizing the work, but is also makes the 200-page book frustrating to read through. Therefore, it may be better said that “Higher Judo” is meant for brown belt judoka and black belt-level readers.

“Higher Judo” represents one of the first attempts by a judoka to capture “proper” newaza instruction in print. There are definitely other instructionals covering newaza, but it seems that the goal of judo print during the mid-20th century was capture judo through a series of photographs. The line drawings lack color, which is a choice probably made to draw your attention to the text. Even if you are a visual learner, the best photography of the 1952 was not that good, such that the crispness of the line drawings is actually superior from an instructional standpoint.

In the paragraph above, I put quotes around the word “proper” newaza instruction because it seems to be the least standardized part of judo in proportion to how often we have to deal with it. The fact that Feldenkrais, an apparently reknowned grappling expert and contemporary of Kano, poured so much detail into this book is very interesting. I say this because I’ve never seen judo newaza taught in his terms, which reinforces my idea that unlike tachi waza, the judo community have yet to place a standard on the whole of newaza technique. There are a set of techniques required for grading, but the proper application of ju on the ground deserves more attention than it currently gets. The positional nature of newaza lends itself well to didactic instruction, which is exactly how Feldenkrais attempts to teach it. Here is the table of contents:

Example of "Higher Judo" Content

1. Judo Practice…17

2. Uniqueness of Action…42

3. Where We Start and Why…46

4. Principles of Ground Work…53

5. Some Useful Exercises…56

6. Ground Work Tactics…67

7. Starting Ground Word…77

8. Six O’clock Approach…87

9. Right or Left Approach…121

10. Head On Approach…160

11. The Astride Position…181

12. Opponent Facing the Ground…207

Sometimes I think that judoka have this illusion that they’ll open a book by a pre-WWII black belt and find the entire catalogue of modern Brazilian Jiu Jitsu techniques which, quite frankly, is ridiculous. The farther you move from the founding of Judo, the more you can see how the sports have evolved into totally different things—for better or worse. Even if you have no sense of historical accuracy and think that BJJ comes from Japanese Jujutsu, what people are doing in modern competitions does not resemble old school, “true” Gracie Jiu Jitsu (as Relson Gracie will gladly tell you).

Anyway, as a grappler you should not be looking to “Higher Judo” for the answer to your ne waza woes (which can only be solved with more practice). It serves as a historical piece and has a lot of great ideas concerning the general approaches to groundwork and principles that guide them. More importantly, as students who hopefully will spend time amassing experience and knowledge to become teachers someday, “Higher Judo” shows what happens when a smart person really thinks about grappling in-depth, as a science. His work is imperfect, but given the time when it was published is was far ahead of its time in that it recognized problems in instruction and the practical application of classical techniques. If you can get past the foreword and the constant plugs for the Feldenkrais Method, “Higher Judo” can be a great tool for the further development of your judo. 

Link to buy:

http://www.amazon.com/Higher-Judo-Groundwork-Moshe-Feldenkrais/dp/155643927X 

Thanks for stopping by! You're alright.

-Ben

About Atarashiido.com!

The company logo.

A few weeks ago I sent out invites to a Facebook page called “Atarashiido – Judo by Judoka” and I thought it would helpful to provide some context! The idea is to centralize high-quality judo media, driven entirely by reader contributions. There are millions of judoka in the world with interesting stories to share—it’s not just the Kimura’s and the Mifune’s that matter! “Ju” is a concept that can express itself in many different ways, from tournament performance to personal conduct. Unfortunately, meaningful content gets lost among the dribble on forums and YouTube, to the extent that people begin to associate those awful things with judo culture. Ultimately I want to help change the face of judo online, since the Internet is an integral part of the life experience of the modern judo players. The average person will inevitably attempt to supplement their training with online materials.

Search box blocked by control panel
dropdown on JudoForum, 11/24/12.

The natural question at this point is “Aren’t there other judo websites online? Why should I care about this one?” First and foremost is the aesthetic quality of the current batch of judo websites. From coding errors to poor design motifs, they make me less likely to stick around and enjoy the material. Certain forums are so poorly maintained that they are host to malware, which creates a cost-benefit scenario that doesn’t work in their favor. A deliberately simple design will reduce the need for maintenance, as well as allow reader to focus on the content. No clip art, no terrible stock GIFs of the Gokyo, no broken search boxes… just judo.

Next, I’ve found that even the best online judo personalities tend to run out of things say rather quickly. If you’re talented, you’ll be able to master one, maybe two techniques in your lifetime, meaning that it will be impossible to constantly put out high quality material on a wide variety of subjects (like many people attempt to do). Because we’re drawing on the wealth of knowledge of entire community, we will be able to post original and diverse content on a regular basis, something that I have not seen in my many hours of online perusing. The staff will take on an editorial role, to work with contributors to maintain the quality of our website.

I can't even... JudoInfo 11/24/12.

So, how can you help? If you’d like to contribute an article or video, simply e-mail:

contribute@atarashiido.com

If you’d like to volunteer to help code, design, or be an editor, please e-mail:

recruitment@atarashiido.com

Thanks! The website launches on New Year's Day!

-Ben

Our current design.

Batsugun tomorrow! First Judo tournament in two years.

Hey loyal readership,

It's the night before the Hudson Judo Promotional Tournament and I'm feeling a bit of anxiety. On some level, I thought that I had mentally outgrown caring about rank- after all, I've been wearing my brown belt so long that the caked on dirt and blood makes it look black anyway. That said, even if I did care about rank I'm (theoretically) only moving from sankyu to nikyu, so what's the big deal?

I think that part of me, after taking such a "long" break (percentage of lifetime-wise) from Judo, is afraid that I've wasted my potential in regards to becoming a great judoka. Yes, I know that Judo is primarily a form of education that uses physical activity as a way to express it's philosophy, BUT, at least for me (and what seems like a large portion of the modern Judo world), success in shiai has always been a strong desire, if not a driving factor in the practice of Judo. Realistically though, I have a lot of catching up to do. I have very little doubt in my mind that at least a couple of those extremely talented players from my youth is now doing greater things than I am now. That's exactly what they are now: great. Note, that "great" is distinct from "talented" or "prodigious"- rather, through diligent practice they have realized their potential. That's scary to me.

Regardless, (like my ability to do taiotoshi) the dream of one day being in the Olympics or a World Championship has never left me. In spite of how scared the thought of going against people more experienced, bigger (open weight), and taller than I am, I think the best course of action is to just try my best and see where it takes me. I'll write about my experience tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by! You're alright.
-Ben

Basic Tachi Waza Tactics: Posture

This summer I've been cross-training BJJ and I've really enjoyed it! What I appreciate most is that basic deficiencies in ne waza, such as the ones that I tend to demonstrate, are consistently punished by white and purple belts the same. Obviously the method by which one player deals with their opponent's mistake varies among individuals, but you learn very quickly where not to put your arm. The sport as a whole seems easier to grasp at its earlier stages than Judo, since certain positions appear more frequently and persist longer than, say, the split second before your opponent shifts all of his weight to his leading foot. Once upon a time, ne waza was taught to young judoka before tachi waza in part because of this learning curve. Mats also sucked once upon a time, so it depends on which anecdote best fits the narrative.

credit to http://www.multiply.com

Infrequent use of timing-based techniques in shiai like de ashi barai points not to the lack of utility of such techniques, but the difficulty of their mastery. Part of the reason why I think we see so many attempts at "drop" seoi-nage is because the position of tori's body is easy to understand- low. The problem with waza whose body placement is easy to understand is that judoka become complacent with simply placing themselves in such positions and expecting the throw to work, without considering the proper application of kuzushi or the finishing action of the throw (kake). How many times have you seen somebody attempt a tomoe-nage against someone standing still with good posture? I've seen too many to count, and more than half of the botched techniques were done by me!

Anyway, if you're not familiar with italicized Japanese terms above that's fine. Their meaning is not the point of the article, nor is it something that I have the intellect to articulate properly at my current level. Regardless, in my experience of teaching, as well as through watching my BJJ friends struggle immensely with tachi waza (standing technique), I have come to realize that it is absolutely impossible to understand standing Judo technique without first being taught the basics of movement and posture. While not comprehensive, here is the first of a series of articles that can help new players avoid being thrown due to lack of fundamentals, as opposed to their opponents working to create an opportunity for the skillful application of waza.

I. Poor Posture 

credit http://www.themat.com

I've seen it so many times from people transitioning from other grappling arts and it is a fairly difficult habit to break. Judo culture tends to type cast wrestlers with this habit, when it reality there is no sane stand-up system that teaches poor posture to its students. I'm no nuclear astro biomechanical engineer, but a little birdie once told me that a stable posture is one in which a person's center of gravity (i.e. crotch), falls in the middle of their base of support which, in the context of standing, is the space of any limb touching the ground. Notice that I say "stable," not "proper."

One of the reasons this concept can be difficult to teach beginners with a bit of background in grappling is that they believe "proper posture" means standing up straight, which it does not. The question "If I stand up like that, won't I be vulnerable to a double leg?" is asked so much because the concern is justified. Not all stable postures are created equal, as can be seen in the difference between the effectiveness of a hand stand and a basic right-handed stance in a fight. If it is not clear one is much more likely to fall over with the same amount of force, due to varying degrees of "conditional stability." As martial artists ultimately interested in the application of ju or "yielding/gentleness," the positions most favorable are those which allow for quick adjustment to any force applied to us, as well as not providing an easy means through which our opponent can take us off balance. In other words, a posture which is not easily be broken, but allows for the freedom of movement to readjust the center of gravity if it has or will be shifted.

Head Position
Due to the curious way that humans evolved, we have big heads. As one of the three points farthest away from the center of gravity, the other two points being the feet, as well as the only one unaffected by friction, the head potentially has the greatest effect on balance. Luckily, its vertebral range of motion is limited to a few degrees in every direction except the forward. That said, a head looking down at the floor provides a combined mass, including the cervical curve, of about 15 pounds which is more than enough to drastically increase the effectiveness of any throw requiring a forward pull or, more simply, the effectiveness of somebody pulling an opponent straight down in an attempt to engage in ne waza. To be short, the general rule is "keep your head up."

Besides increasing the opponent's ability to complete a throw, keeping a low head is also a great way to allow the other person to advance their grips. Without the head with a hard pull downward there is a clear path to grabbing the belt which provides the impetus for a multitude of high percentage techniques, especially sumi gaeshi and its variations. This is the case on the ground too, where allowing easy access to the back and neck can result in threatening chokes like a guillotine/mae hadaka jime, or Okano's variation on okuri eri jime, seen below.

Spinal Curvature
If I haven't beaten this point to death, being bent over isn't necessarily "bad." In the extreme cases where there is a 90 degree angle between the legs and the torso however, it is "bad Judo." What that means is that it is an overly defensive posture, with no intent to attack. What's most frustrating to me is to see two people take that exact same pose- at that point, there is no longer any reason to continue the fight standing because neither person is in any danger of being thrown. So assuming that this situation does not involve two wussies and instead involves two active participants, each person ideally wants to be bending from their waist, not their spine. One, making this a habit in both life and Judo is a long-term set up for scoliosis. Two, most, if not all, forward throws like morote seoi nage (which happens to be one of the only two throws I consistently do well) benefit from the extra space provided by a curved back. It's also no coincidence that it is difficult to keep the head up if the spine is curved. Therefore, in standing you must always "Keep your back straight!"

Conclusion
Which one of these guys is "winning?"

Thanks for stopping by! You're alright.
-Ben

First Encounter with a Wrestler

Going to a university with limited resources has afforded me the opportunity to casually interact with other grapplers, namely BJJ players and Varsity wrestlers. It might not seem like a big deal, but in the "real world" most time spent on the mat is with people of the same style. Cross-training takes extra time and money, not mention complete respect for the other art and acknowledgment of the shortcomings of one’s one (what a crazy concept, right?). The space/time (not space-time) allocation at Dodge is really tight, so my Judo class starts right after a BJJ class and regularly we run into wrestlers who are curious about the funny white suits. In other words, we get to talk and bounce ideas off of each other without having to take a trip to a foreign dojo or gym. Before this, my experience with other grapplers was at Judo tournaments, where practitioners of a different style were pointed out immediately as though they had just walked into the wrong neighborhood.

When martial artists interact with each other the question of "who's better?" is inevitably raised. As disciplined and mature as people pretend to be about the issue, the fact that Shooto, UFC, and Pancrase attracted so many people shows that people are curious. UFC and other smaller MMA organizations have a disproportionate representation of BJJ and Muay Thai fighters nowadays, but I'll leave the possible causes and implications of that for another post. I think the draw to competitions like this comes simply from people being taught that what they are learning works. No right-minded Sensei or Coach would ever tell their student "Hey man, what I've been teaching you for the past 10 years of your life isn't practical or effective," so over time we all at least sip the Kool-Aid and believe we've got the right answer for how to deal with a strike (for example). Seeing a different style make the same claim challenges what Coach Master Chief Sensei-sama always said, and the natural reaction to want to prove the other style wrong.

Anyway, the matching of Judo vs. folk style wrestling eventually caught up with me. I was challenged by one of my fraternity brothers to a match— he actually descends from a line of collegiate wrestlers. Other brothers were placing bets on the match, face-off pictures were taken, and we all had a good laugh. This match never happened, but I eventually got around to rolling with a friend (a Varsity Wrestler) after finals were over. To clarify here are the rules we used:

• No time limit
• No-Gi
• Best 2 out of 3 matches
• Start standing
• Match ends by 30 second pin or submission
• No striking

I didn't just go around challenging people of other styles to grudge matches, so this was actually my first time rolling with a purebred Wrestler and I'll tell you, it was an experience! I lost by pin the first go and I won the last two by submission, all in all lasting about 10 minutes. By the end of it I was completely exhausted and he seemed fine, which was unnerving. The biggest difference between us besides his 30 pound advantage was that he was much better conditioned than I was. I practice Judo regularly, but I wasn't nearly as quick, explosive, or powerful as he was. Like a twat, I bet him lunch that I'd win all three times so I was paying for my overconfidence!

Over our $20-capped lunch I asked him what his training consisted of and it sounded more like a lifestyle than anything. The team works out early in the morning, wrestles and drills technique, eats together, drinks together... you get the picture. To be honest, I was kind of jealous of this when I started to think of the 3-4 hours a week I spend on Judo. On some level it's understandable since Varsity implies that they commit a big part of their college experience towards wrestling, while Judo at Columbia is only a club sport. So, I took a second and fantasized about what it would be like to be part of a Varsity Judo program. It seemed magical and wonderful, and then I realized that that level of commitment already exists… in Japan. I came across this video:

I don't mean to imply that Americans don't work hard at Judo and never produce strong competitors, because they do. It is, however, a fact that Japan takes home more Olympic gold medal than the United States in spite of its smaller population. This may be my Yankee pride talking, but I refuse to believe that it's due to some fiercely guarded Judo-related secret that the Japanese are keeping from us. Just like my friend was better conditioned than me because he practiced more often than I did, I think that the Japanese are more successful at Judo because they do it more. On pure inspection, it seems like the average American dojo doesn't practice for more than 2-3 hours at a time whereas the various big schools in Japan practice… a lot more time than that. They train more people to a higher level and thus have a higher chance of producing successful international competitors. I don't expect the US to suddenly adopt the Japanese treatment of Judo, but I definitely think there needs to be a change in its infrastructure. My theories on how to improve this, I'll write about next time!

Thanks for stopping by, you're alright!

Ben