There are many excuses that can be made for not stepping up and competing, but if the player in blue gets down to business, so can most people! Very inspiring.
Month: December 2007
Tabata Attempt #1
So, in reference to my original post on the subject of Tabata training…:
It was the gym tonight, and I tried out the routine mentioned in the above post (20/10 interval training on a treadmill, with the incline set high to keep the speed down, so jumping on and off can be done without severe injury).
In total, 12 minutes including the warm-up. Certainly a killer! I could probably have bumped up the speed a little bit, but I didn’t want to risk taking a tumble when still getting used to the system. And it did feel a little strange to be jumping to straddle the treadmill every 20 seconds.
But it felt right. To be specific, it felt like I was being pushed as in Judo Randori or Shiai. Very equivalent: Bursts of doing something, then a rest period.
After that, some cable-pulley work and some very experimental squats with a barbell. I need to go back to this when I return to work and my usual gym, so a good way of warning my body 😉
The importance of crash mats
After hardening my arteries with the likes of goose, chocolate and whisky (I pretty much only ever have the latter two at Christmas, I am good most of the time, just don’t mention the pizza!), I was extremely glad that there was a Judo session session last night.
The majority of it was spent on pure technique on the crash mats. It has been a long time since I can remember doing as much as this, and I feel so much better for it. Continously taking turns to work on throws, but with the ability to do it with full commitment (including “going to ground”) without hurting someone.
You see, one problem I have is not completing forward throws: Making the entry, then pretty much forgetting kuzushi and wondering why nothing happens! Back in the day I could never complete Ippon Seoinage for just this reason: I’d have Uke loaded onto my back, but would be forgetting to turn to complete the throw.
Full-commitment crash mat work helps get over this mental barrier of only doing half of the throw.
Thinking about it, this is partly why I have such success with sacrifice techniques: The sacrifice element is the full commitment! And I am very comfortable with doing that. It will be golden when I get to the same place with forward techniques.
Two techniques were highlighted. One being to take a cross-sleeve grip, then just use that to attempt a forward throw (such as Tai Otoshi. For Uke, it doesn’t necessarily feel threatening so could be successful.
It reminds me a little of a version of Sasae Tsuri Komi Ashi that I do: Just take the sleeve grip and go for it! Again, very much works on the element of surprise, but even if Uke is only shocked into imbalance it is a good set-up for another throw.
The second technique was taking a dominant back grip, then as Uke attempts to rise, let them, and at the same time use your free hand to grab their leg and commit to taking them to the ground. Because of my height, I don’t tend to go for leg grabs much, but this one felt very natural so I will give it a spin. I do Sumi Gaeshi from the same grip, so it is nice to have both directions covered…
A final thing to mention is an element of the Randori afterwards. I am impressed at this club at the sheer determination of the Juniors when sparring with me (I.e. someone who is 2-3 times their weight!). They just don’t give up and try technique after technique. I need to strongly try and develop that attitude when paired with those heavier than me, or a higher grade, or both!
Movie trailers from the past!
Microsoft have finally released the UK Video Store for the 360, as reported by Kotaku.
There are some recent titles there, as well as old, and one of the old ones is Superman III. For some (well, mostly geeky) reasons I enjoyed this film as a child, but it has NOT aged well.
Check out the embedded trailer. Not only does it look OLD (1983!), notice how the trailer SPOILS THE ENTIRE PLOT OF THE FILM:
Not The Usual Flat-Pack
It’s that time of year. I’ve put together a quite special Marlborough Doll’s House (obviously not for me!)
And I suppose it was a good opportunity for some macro-esque photography… the full set can be found on my Flickr.
Pre-Christmas Judo
Well, that was the final session before Christmas. Although I am happy that this club doesn’t like having large breaks — back on the mat next week! Hmm, if I can remember which day…
Main thing I took away from Newaza was more on strangles (Finishing when hooked in from behind by exerting leverage… another way is to push own left arm deep behind the head so that Tori’s shoulder effectively works as a block).
Tachiwaza concentrated on defenses against a high collar/back grip. I liked these. A good one being to clamp down on the arm (to force to to bend, thus becoming weak), then stepping round and pulling to upset balance then throwing as appropriate. But NOT letting go into order to use BOTH hands to bend it… that would be bad.
It is important to actually PULL when stepping round. If you don’t, you just move around Uke but Uke remains nicely on-balance.
Makikomi was touched on. A throw I think would be quite good for me but needs a lot of work. It’s a hard landing. After a demo I lost the ability to see the colour blue correctly for a few moments… oops!
The World of Judo Magazine folds
The BJA have announced that The World of Judo Magazine has ceased publication.
The BJA handle some of the logistics of the maagzine, such as subscriptions, and there is no official reason given on the magazine’s website itself.
However, Bob Willingham (Editor) did put the reasons in the final issue. Some choice quotes follow:
… since the start of Matside [BJA’s own magazine] I have not been volunteered a single news item from the BJA HQ. I actually feel it is a case of HQ ‘working to rule’ and waiting for me to run out of steam. I strongly feel that you are no longer going to get a quality judo magazine of international standard as the support for me is no longer there from the BJA…..despite my considerabke support for Densign White through TWOJ he has done nothing to support or promote the magazine in the last few years
The second major problem in publishing is that I am no longer the Official Photographer for the IJF.
The second quote was accompanied by a very snippy email snippet (“..I consider that our common work in the future is finished..”) from the President of the International Judo Federation.
This is a great shame. I had only just subscribed to the magazine so the final issue is the only one I have seen, but it had a lot of good content and fantastic pictures. I can see why subscriber numbers dropped (Why would BJA members pay extra for it when they get a freebie magazine with their membership?) and I had done just this for the first few years.
There is some further discussion on the BJA forums as well as on The Judo Forum.
Pre-Christmas but a full mat!
It was the usual Tuesday session, and surprisingly (considering the run-up to Christmas) it was the busiest I have seen it for ages! Mainly because our sister club was down, so other seniors to play with.
It was a Randori-centric session, and I got a good work-out (mainly because I felt unfit and just “out of it”… I really need to push myself harder when this happens).
Some notes based on this:
Newaza:
Got some good pins on, but generally I was sluggish and not moving fast enough. A typical example was letting someone pin my arm when I was trying to take back control. Firstly, I shouldn’t have let this happen, and secondly, should have fixed the situation with movement rather than just working on force.
Got some nice sweeps to work. Again though, also got stuck underneath in a terrible stalemate (someone trying to strangle, I blocked, that’s it!). Should have used more movement to try and turn that around. Far too much strength involved, so hellooooo bicep burn!
So, the summary there (and you will see this as a regular theme in this blog), is that more movement is required.
Tachiwaza:
A little disappointed in myself. The throws I got to work were my sacrifice staples (Tani Otoshi, bastardised Yoko Otoshi, Obi Tori Gaeshi). Far too much reliance there, rather than the techniques I am trying to work on now, such as Uchi Mata, Ouchi Gari and Osoto Gari.
Why? See Newaza – just too slow, not setting up throws, not fighting for grips spiritly enough. Sluggish. I partly do this to stop getting tired but this also means I won’t get any fitter. I REALLY need to step it up a gear properly.
However, an enjoyable session, and I’ve got things to think about.
Tabata fever: Treadmill
Ah, so Tabata training CAN be performed on a treadmill.
This is a run Tabata on treadmills done at 12% grades, and an appropriate speed for the individual. They will start with a warm-up and then get into 20:10 x 8! Foot pull speed is very important as the slower the pull you will begin to push and end up fatiguing much sooner.
Video, courtesy of CrossFit and Newport Beach.
20:10 is the typical Tabata interval (20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest).
Speeds used: 7 – 7.5mph.
Not that I will actually have much access to a treadmill over the Christmas period. Hmm, will have to translate it to a track somewhere…
Low-Cost Multi-point Interactive Whiteboards Using the Wiimote
It’s fantastic to see Yet Another Cool Thing created using the Nintendo Wii hardware:
Since the Wiimote can track sources of infrared (IR) light, you can track pens that have an IR led in the tip. By pointing a wiimote at a projection screen or LCD display, you can create very low-cost interactive whiteboards or tablet displays. Since the Wiimote can track upto 4 points, multiple pens can be used.