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

Fall Judo Plans

Dr. Dad suspects minor MCL tear.

Since I'm stuck in bed for a few days due to an embarrassing ukemi-related injury, I figured I might as well use the time to think about Judo this Fall. Not just how often I'll be practicing, but what my goals are and where Judo will fit in my life now that I'm heading back to school. Summer is when we try as hard as we can to be the person we've always wanted to be. You know, the person who diets and exercises. The person who takes walks in the park when the mood strikes. The person that keeps in touch with old friends and family. Catch my drift? Those old slogans for "how to live a better life." In my case, this amounts to making every practice, every tournament, and really being there without having a 1,000 other things on my mind. It's a challenge- not like drought or famine or anything- but a challenge nonetheless.

Being a full-time student is a full-time job. A full-time job is also a full-time job, but hear me out. I'm very aware that what I have now, as a devilishly handsome 20-year-old Ivy League student, is the best situation I'll ever have. I don't know what a soul mate or child's laughter will bring, but as far as the amount of work I have to do vs. the amount of time off I get for it, I doubt that ratio will get better with time. What's scary to me is that even though I don't have mortgage to pay, kids to feed, or white picket fences to maintain I still have trouble finding time for Judo in my life. It's definitely not enough for what I want to achieve to go hardcore over the summer and then slack the rest of the year. Definitely not, but that's basically what I've been doing since I came back from my hiatus.

You know how when New Year's is around the corner and your inner monologue starts every other sentence with "This year will be different..."? I'm having that time now, even though I'm one of those cynics that will roll his eyes and say "Why not last year or the year before? You're not going to do it." That's a fair thing to say on my part, but I really hope that this (school) year is the year I can do it. I'm scheduled to teach 2 classes per week and "learn" one class per week at the Columbia Judo Club. That's one more than I did last year, so that should be good. I'm also planning to join the BJJ club (hopefully for a discounted price because their students crash my classes indiscriminately), and find a gym buddy to motivate me to start lifting again. I've planned this so I have people I depend on and people that depend on me to improve my technique and my conditioning. I'll let you guys know if this works out! School also happens.

Here are a list of tournaments I plan on attending in the next couple of months, Senior Men's Brown Belt <66kg for all.

1. September 18th: 45th Annual East Coast Judo Championship - Newark, NJ
2. October 2nd: 2011 Garden State Judo Classic - Wayne, NJ
3. October 9th: Princeton Judo Invitation - Princeton, NJ

It's not annoying always going to NJ for tournaments or anything! Message/comment if I'll be seeing you there. I'll have photos/videos up, so look forward to some real content then.

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

The Final Destination

Not a review of that awful movie series, sorry!

So here we are, at the end of my convoluted series of newaza articles. It's been a fun journey right? After all of the build up and time between posts, my solution is frustratingly predictable: cross-training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). Practicing a groundwork-focused fighting style if your groundwork isn't good enough? Brilliant Ben! Self-deprecation aside, there is some real thought that should go into this... While I refer to the general case of "groundwork-focused fighting style," I specify Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. This is the most logical choice for a judoka seeking focused newaza practice. Why? First of it, due to the rise of Mixed Martial Arts, schools are popping all over the United States and Canada. More importantly, BJJ comes from Judo so it's principles are the most compatible with the way a judoka moves and thinks. Off-balancing, efficiency, leverage, posture, position. The fact that both judokas and BJJ players associate those words with their style points towards this unique relationship and the ease with which one side should be able to train in the others'.

Any person who has spent more than 2 weeks in a dojo has come across the guy who "did some wrestling in high school and was pretty good at it." Even those types who are able to hold their own eventually get a "Fix your posture!" from Sensei, to which they respond "Sorry, I learned not to expose my legs." He'll fix it momentarily then a few minutes later will bend over again, causing frustration for everyone else on the mat (dramatization). What's working against this student are the incongruities between Judo and Freestyle wrestling. Freestyle or folkstyle? I'm not sure what they call it in high school, but cross-training it with Judo is demonstrably more difficult than cross-training BJJ with Judo. The posture is different, there's no gi, the definition of a pin is much more narrow that what constitutes a hold-down in Judo. Doing both isn't impossible (in fact, many top American Judoka wrestled in high school/college), but why not go for the easier transition?

He'll never tap!

This all seems simple enough, but one should still approach cross-training with caution. Again, I stress the importance of congruency. "Judo" should pair well with "BJJ," but the names are brands that anybody above a certain rank can use as long as they fill out the paperwork. This isn't necessarily me discrediting the 10's of thousands of teachers out there that I haven't met, it's just that there is clearly a difference in the way some choose to interpret the "ju" (gentleness) in "judo" and "jujutsu." If a sensei teaches you to muscle your way through a poorly timed throw, he's teaching you something- just not Judo. If a BJJ teacher tells you breaking closed guard is all about arm strength, he's teaching you something- just not BJJ. I'm not advocating going up to Sensei and challenge him to mortal combat to test his legitimacy. Not only is that rude, but the typical person seeking even intermediate level instruction isn't qualified enough to make that judgement. However, it is appropriate to be wary if your BJJ and Judo instructors are teaching you completely different concepts, when the two are supposed to be closely related.

While I definitely have more to say on this topic, I think I'll get off it for a while. I want to vary the content and style a touch more, but if you have any questions feel free to message me.

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

What is Kosen Judo?

Hey guys, I was in the middle of continuing my newaza segment when I realized that there is an unreasonable amount of ground to cover in just one post. When I read articles on the history of Judo or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu they always amalgamate their shared history into a few short paragraphs. Worse than that, they tend throw in a bunch of terms in italics, as though to say to their reader "Screw you, Google it!" In today's scary world where proper nouns double as verbs and attention spans are short we have to consider the consequences of just saying things without explaining them. In cases where a writer is presenting their interpretation of history as canonical, partial information is as bad as false information. For example, in my original piece I was just going to throw in "Kosen Judo" with a tiny blurb after explaining what it is. Limiting that explanation to a footnote seems to imply that the context it brings to the discussion isn't all that important, when it really is.

I'm sort of doing it here to some of you, but for those who know who Mitsuyo Maeda is look at how he's typically treated in the founding story of BJJ. He almost never gets a proper introduction— Maeda becomes this random figure who teachers the Gracie family how to fight for a while, and then through their own genius the Gracies become really skilled at newaza. One has to ask however, what the hell was Maeda doing in Brazil in the first place? Which of the Gracie kids did he actually teach? All of these details reveal something valuable about the history of the sport. Maeda was one of the Jigoro Kano's delegates sent around the world to promote Judo, which at the time was just starting to replace the name "Kano Jiu Jitsu." What does this say? For one, it says that anybody who claims that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu comes from traditional Japanese Jiu Jitsu is full of it. Not only that, it shows that the techniques and principles of BJJ, in fact, come from Judo! If one reads one of those short histories of BJJ, what tends to happen is this over-glorification of individual fighters. Sure, the Gracie family is full of genius and hard working people, but it is the combination of that and being able to build on a well thought-out system of martial arts that made them successful.

 

But I digress.

What is "Kosen Judo" and why does it matter in my quest of trying to "find" newaza? Trying to avoid anecdotes and provide actual facts, Kosen Judo is "regular" Judo, taught at 5-year "kosen schools," that emphasized ground technique. During the early 20^th century, the technology for mass-produced mats was simply not good enough to project people from the high velocity impact of a committed Judo throw (even today injuries at the beginner level are fairly common). As a result of this, instructors spent most of their time practicing newaza and eventually became really good at it. They were good not only in the sense that they excelled at the skill itself, but they were also able to win competitions against judoka who were taught in the traditional way, forgoing throws completely. Basically, they would pull guard (hikikomi), which means to fall backwards and pull an opponent down between their legs in order to start mat work without being thrown. There was no rule against this until 1925, when Dr. Kano… made a rule against this. One possible explanation, perhaps the most logical, is that Kano had envisioned Judo being a system that used both standing techniques and ground techniques, and didn't want one being taught more than the other purely for success in competition. There are principles of tachi waza that don't have a ground equivalent, and given the amount of though Kano put into the system I'm not surprised that he would be a little miffed that they weren't able to executed in shiai! I would go as far as to say that the concept of BJJ and Olympic style Judo would disappoint him, a lot.  

Regardless of official rule changes, the Kosen style of Judo persisted and didn't change its format for its own tournament, which is why it is relevant to me. They represent what Judo players could accomplish if they spent as much time drilling mat work as they did doing uchikomi. Today Kosen judo, that is schools that have teachers with lineages in Kosen judo, is only practiced in what were the Imperial Universities of Japan. It is wildly impractical for me to travel to Japan and check up on them, but somewhere inside I like to believe that it's this parallel universe to BJJ schools, where the passion and rigor of newaza has not been lost like it has in the United States. That would be great! There are a lot of judoka that are credited as being great on the ground, but often that is the result of them having a strong wrestling background and is not necessarily Judo. I've learned a lot of great things from Greco Roman wrestlers, but it's not Judo. It's not as though I'm a Tae Kwon Do person going "Where's my mat work?" I'm a judoka— Judo, by definition, includes mat work and if I'm not going to Japan to learn it, where will I go? I'll save that for next time. Here's a video from a DVD set on Kosen Judo, bare with the cheesy music.

 Thanks for stopping by, you're alright!

-Ben

Jason, the Boxer

This wasn't supposed to be the next segment, but as I sit here in bed with a sore face and cut up mouth I felt like I had to relay this story to you guys.

To be frank, I'm not a gym person. With the limited amount of time in my schedule, I think my time is better spent training martial arts than just training my body. If I had the time and didn't feel as though Judo practice wasn't already a work out, maybe I would be. There's also something odd about a 5'4" frame supporting a massive frame, but that deals purely with aesthetics. Regardless, after many years of resisting it, I finally went last night to Synergy with my friends. I figured, you know, why not? I might like it.

Walking into this tome of a handful of women in track shorts and sports bras and a lot more men exuding a desire to be more masculine than the man working on the machine next to him, I had mixed feelings. The drive was already made, so I hopped on the most logical machine for a Judoka- the ergometer (or rowing machine). After about a half hour session of that, I decided to do some plyometrics around a medicine ball which kept my cardio going. Eventually, in my quest to avoid actually lifting anything, I came to the punching bags and let loose a couple of roundhouse kicks because that's just what guys do. Big mistake. (Or plot device, whichever you prefer.)

Pretty much out of nowhere a gentleman comes and says "Hey, you've fought before huh? Let me see your stance bro."

Being the pretty cool guy I am, I didn't brush him off and assumed my stance, something I haven't said since I took Karate over a decade ago. Pretty much as soon as got my hands up he shoots a straight right, barehanded with a ring on right into my jaw. He said my stance was all wrong and put in one I could recognize right away. He was a boxer! I was little miffed about being clocked in the chin for no reason, but he quickly apologized. His name was Jason, and for some reason he decided to give me a crash course in boxing for the next 40 or so minutes. Apparently his uncle was a professional boxer and his cousin runs the Gracie Barra school in our town, two claims that I didn't care to verify. What stood before me is a person enthusiastic about teaching, which is just nice to see. This entire gym was watching us spare (watching me get punched in the face several times). I tried not to reveal my martial arts background by grappling, since I wouldn't have learned anything if I did. I took his advice, philosophy, and accidental hits to the face and went home, having not lifted a thing. That said, I don't know if I'll be going back to Synergy!

I think the moral of this short story is, no matter how awkward or random a lesson may be approach it with an open mind. I'm sure as hell not going to become a professional boxer now, but there were definitely snippets of wisdom in our impromptu sparring session. Even if you were taught to do something a different way, play the part of somebody that knows nothing. Afterwards, take the time to think about why that style does what they do, see if it makes sense, and then try to incorporate it into your repertoire.

Thanks for stopping by, you're alright!
-Ben

My Terrible Judo Guy Newaza

Now that I'm back from university I've been practicing at my home dojo which, of course, means I get to see my older brother more often. He got me into Judo when I was little, but he practices BJJ also. Not surprisingly, pretty much every time we roll he berates me for my newaza (lit. "ground technique"). I'll be the first to admit that I totally deserve it! For the decade I was doing Judo before college, I was never challenged to step up my newaza to the same extent I was challenged to step up my tachiwaza (lit. "standing technique"). At this point in my life, as I'm working towards competing at the highest levels I see exactly why this is the case.

In the heart of every modern Judoka there exists the desire to do at one of the following: 1) to be successful in competition 2) to contribute to the success of another person in competition. To cater to different tastes/philosophies there are a handful of tournaments that break away from the IJF's rules, but let's be honest here- the only tournaments that really matter are the ones sanctioned by the IJF. One of the most notable achievements a judoka can have under their belt (so to speak) is to go to the Olympics, and there is absolutely no way to get there that would allow one to circumvent the IJF (for more details about how spots will be allocated for the 2012 Olympics click here). Even if it was possible, the rules at the Olympics are always set in place by the IJF with maybe a couple of minor modifications.

For my non-Judo readers, the big deal with all of this is that for a multitude of reasons, the IJF's rules favor victory by use of throws rather than by submission or pin. That is not to say that people only win by throwing, but the fact that shortly after engaging in newaza (I guess you could call it "wrestling") competitors are stood up to start the fight standing again. Furthermore, a lot of take-downs that have a higher percentage of starting groundwork than ending the point by a throw were banned recently. My main problem with this is that it disadvantages those who have as much of a methodical, patient approach to groundwork as they do to standing technique. The whole turtle-posture to run out the clock as soon as someone hits the mat is probably one of the most disappointing things to see from a high level combatant (well, that and pulling guard from standing).

In spite of what Judo may be popularly perceived as, groundwork is just as big a part of what Judo was intended to be as throwing is. If you look at, say, Sambo or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the principles governing their ground techniques are Judo in origin since both Vasili Oshchepkov and Carlos Gracie were taught DIRECTLY by Judoka. Undoubtedly, the rules of a sport's highest competition will dictate what is taught at its lower levels. Because of this, the emphasis in most Judo schools (including my own) is on throwing rather than mat work. To what extent should teachers spend time teaching the traditions of Judo, versus what will work in competitions?

Right now in my Judo journey (which is really more a life journey) I'm trying to improve my mat work. It seems simple enough, but I've basically made the claim that my own dojo does not provide an environment where my newaza will develop to the same extent my tachiwaza has. In my next segment I'll discuss possible solutions and my take on the various mysteries and myths surrounding Judo and its ground technique. I leave you with a counter argument against Judo players being bad at newaza.

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

Judo is not Food

On Blogspot, there's a little tab that says "Stats" where you can see how many hits you get over any given time frame. The numbers on this number are sad! I got more hits per day on my retired cooking blog than I've gotten over the past month on this one. Someone actually had the gall to e-mail me and tell me to "Stop writing about boring Karate stuff and write about food again! xoxo" While the xoxo provided me with some temporary comfort, I asked "Who does this person think they are?" Their comment seems to imply that I should stop writing about something I care about so I can amuse more people. That's a bit presumptuous isn't it? I don't have an obligation to entertain the masses with this, nor should people feel as though they should be entertained by this. However, I've heard this comment before... why?

My theory is that people like things that make them feel smart. Food blogs are the most popular non-celebrity gossip blogs because everybody eats- you can make something with chicken and a spice and every comment basically reads "Wow I eat chicken too! Why didn't I think of that?" There's a familiarity that people crave because they don't want to feel completely ignorant. (Yes, this is insulting.) But it's why you see some bullshit study on the Yahoo! News feed, like "Eat this! Not that!" pretty much every day. People eat that shit up (pun). I read food blogs too, I'm not saying not to. The problem comes in when people chastise publications that have no relevance to them, as though not putting those cliched articles is a failure of internet media.

I'll relate this apprehension towards unfamiliar things to a real-life example. Two of my very good friends are "athletes" in the sense that play can play 5 or so sports on the D4 high school level. I spent most of my life doing Judo, so I'm even worse that they are. However, when they go out and play football or basketball I join in for the fun of it. It's been this way for the past 7-8 years and I thought it would be fun for a change to take them into a Judo class so they could see what I've been up to the majority of my life. They literally looked at me and said "Hey man, I don't want to even try something I know I'm going to be bad at." To me, that shows a lack of open-mindedness and just a shitty attitude towards trying new things. It could also be a lack of testicles, who knows.

So here's my schtick: Judo is not food. Some people will just never be interested in what I write about, but there are people who are and their opinions matter just as much. Just bare with its existence- if you don't want to read it, don't.

Thanks for stopping by, you're alright! (sarcastic)
-Ben