Category: Tachiwaza

Nothing below the belt II – Finalised rule changes for 2010

I have posted previously on the proposed judo contest rule changes for 2010. Well, they are no longer proposed. They are now with us and running at international level for all events. As a result we can expect this to filter down to domestic events (more on that later).

The core of the changes are still the same. However, some leeway has been given to a judoka who finds that they are in ‘cross guard’ (Tori has forced Uke down by taking an arm over the back so it is on the same side as the sleeve grip). In such a situation Uke would not have many attacking options which did not involve contact below the belt. As a result, to add to the complexity, this is now allowed…..UNLESS (yes there’s more) Uke had deliberately put themselves in that position to begin with!

As always, based on the discretion of the referee team.

Actually, this is one good thing that has come out of this: The IJF is no longer insisting on a single referee per mat. They will continue to use three in conjunction with the video system. Business as usual. Some commentators feel they intended to backtrack on this one all along so it gave more of an impression of actually consulting the coaches and players that form the international circuit.

Despite this consultation there is still some absolutely dreadful use of the English language in the document. For example, ‘Judo is a physic and mental education system’. Physic?

Naturally the issue of referees having to decide whether a leg grab has been part of a genuine combination or that the opponent genuinely attacked first still stands. Or, in IJF words, that there was an attempt to ‘make fall’! This is where there has been an absolutely horrendous change to the previous draft: It is now HANSOKUMAKE ON FIRST OFFENCE. There is no warning of any kind. If it is judged you have fallen foul of the changes the contest is over for you.

Up to now, direct hansokumake was reserved for items such actions against the spirit of judo or use of a prohibited technique (where the technique was prohibited for safety concerns). Now it is being used for techniques deemed responsible for ‘untidy’ judo. Disgraceful.

Domestic judo organisations may take a different approach. As an example, the British Judo Association has announced that it will retain the shido for the first offence at all levels.

The IJF has released some video examples to help illustrate which sequences are still permitted and which ones would now result in direct hansokumake. Some are good examples of negative judo which of course are not attractive to watch. However, look at example 23. Hansokumake. Why though? White has put in an attack and blue has attempted to immediately counter which means they should be permitted to grab the leg. Yes, it ends up being a lame attack and it looks bad BUT they should be allowed to try that one still, surely? Part of the reason it doesn’t work is because white is diving for the tatami as soon as they can once they realise they are off balance. Also, wasn’t blue in ‘cross guard’ as well?

One more: Example 24. Deemed hansokumake. To my eyes, this was a good combination. Yes there was a slight delay between techniques but it was seamless. Perhaps the first attack was not considered ‘genuine’? Look at it again though, give the benefit of the doubt to Tori: Uke tried to attack at the same time so they had to perhaps change their strategy? The reason the throw was successful was due to Uke becoming vulnerable in that initial exchange.

Lafon has made a fantastic blog posting on this subject including some more analysis of the videos: Hansoku Make, IJF!. I strongly recommend it.

Finally, the last entry is curious:

Any action against the spirit of Judo can be punished by a direct HANSOKUMAKE at anytime of the contest.

This is not new. So why mention it explicitly here? I feel this is almost a ‘warning shot’ against coaches developing new strategies to work ‘against’ these changes. The IJF could identify such cleverness and issue an addendum declaring it as against the spirit of judo, and hey, hansokumake for you guys too!

These changes worry me. Referees already had the tools they needed to punish negative judo without having to resort to banning whole techniques. The fact is, for whatever reason, they weren’t using them at international level. Flop ‘n’ drops were being allowed to happen. If anything, I have seen domestic events be harsher!

The bottom line here is that the IJF needs judo to look dynamic and exciting for the Olympic Games. If it is not visually appealing to the layperson its place in the Games is at risk.

I’ve recently finished reading Judo Memoirs of Jigoro Kano which is excellent. It includes the story of how Kano ‘imported’ Kata Guruma into judo (he needed a technique to throw someone who he just could not throw). The sad thing is that you will not be seeing too many examples of that throw at international competition now…

Coaches will be priming their charges with alternatives (e.g. the above throw but with two hands on one sleeve) which in turn could also lead to ‘flop and drop’ attempts at it from some quarters. Aren’t we then back where we started? Won’t we need rules to guard against negative attacks? And for referees to identify and penalise these?

Yes.

Isn’t this where we came in? We’ve had the tools for this for a long time. Bottom line: There is no need to restrict techniques to stop negative judo. Indeed, to gain maximum efficiency here, wouldn’t a simple tightening up have worked really nicely? Maximum efficiency… I’m sure that sounds familiar somehow…

For a comparison on how these changes have been brought in compared to rugby union, check out Lance Wicks’ excellent IRB ELVs Vs. IJF 2010 rule changes post.

Nothing below the belt – Proposed judo rule changes

Rule changes for judo shiai are coming, and they are a big talking point right now. They have been officially trialled at the Junior Worlds and this was considered a success by the IJF. As a result, the trial has been extended at select senior competitions over the rest of the year. If things continue to go well it strongly looks like the rules will become official from 2010.

Here is the Word document detailing the changes.

Some may choke slightly with one of the first lines:

The IJF’s wish is to defend fundamental judo values.

Lest we forget the introduction of the blue gi and koka?

Working through the document, we start with FORBIDDEN in big red text referring to direct attacks or blocking via contact below the belt. You can see where this is going: No more leg grabs or even kata guruma. So this is removing direct usage of throws from the gokyo. Okay, you won’t find any leg grabs in the gokyo but they are still an accepted part of judo and have been used to powerful effect.

The punishment is somewhat severe. On the first offense, a shido penalty (as expected) is given. But the second is a direct hansokumake! Harsh. Two lapses of judgment and you are off the mat.

Now, a judoka CAN use these techniques if they are as a result of a sequence of techniques. Classic example might be ouchi-gari and with the arm coming down behind the leg to assist with completing the throw.

Secondly, they may be used as a counter. The classic would be against a failed uchimata and using Te guruma.

Here we are presented with our first problem as referees, and this has been demonstrated at the Junior Worlds. If Tori attacks and is fully committed, and Uke proceeds to counter by way of a technique below the belt, all is fine. However, there have been cases when Tori has more ‘offered the leg’ or feinted. Uke has gone for the counter as a ‘twitch’ reaction and been penalised for it. Not an ideal situation.

Naturally many are not happy with the above changes. It may be the intention of the IJF to ‘defend fundamental judo values’ but is removing techniques (and not for safety reasons) the way of going about it?

Why is this happening?

Ultimately, it comes down to judoka at the top events (such as the Olympics) being of a very similar level. This is naturally assisted by the qualification system: A nation has to be of a certain standard to even take part. The chances of ‘WOW’ ippons is therefore reduced. And what happens in a stalemate? Boring judo.

In particular, drop kata-gurumas which are immediately squashed by Uke and end up with a bit of fumbling on the ground, then ‘Matte’, then the whole thing again. It’s not interesting to watch. Remember, the IJF want judo to get more TV coverage and thus they need more excitement in the matches. Ban the techniques, liven up the judo, job done?

We shall see. The Junior Worlds did prove to feature positive judo but of course it favoured nations that traditionally use more stand-up techniques anyway (Predictably, Japan did excellently!). Competitors work around the rules, however, so it will be interesting to see what ‘mongrel’ techniques start to appear as the year progresses.

In relation to all of the above, the document also emphasises the need to penalise for ‘extreme defensive position’. Think ‘wrestling stance’ for this one. Adopting such a position in a negative judo way was previously a penalty anyway, so this is more of a clarification than anything new. It is also one I am glad to see pointed out again, as I am personally quite ‘hot’ on penalising negative judo for obvious reasons… it’s negative! STOP DOING IT!

As I have had told to me by IJF referees and taken on board, and have mentioned before on this blog, referees have a duty to penalise negative judo to absolutely make it clear that competitors need to be more positive. Moaning about ‘bad’ contests afterwards when you had the ‘power’ to do something about it, and in a strange way ‘educate’ the competitors, is no good. And also strongly remember that it is not just about penalising the negative, but giving their opponent the opportunity to shine.

Overall, I feel it is a great shame that we are having to prevent certain techniques and strategies. Referees at international level could have been advised to simply be stronger on penalties for negative judo. Now, I remember the guidance coming out on this matter previously, but from watching video footage of recent international events (pre Junior Worlds) … I just didn’t see it happening. Plenty of false attacks and negative judo, but not many penalties as a result.

You can’t blame competitors for being defensive sometimes. After all, one Ippon and they could be on the way home, especially with the ridiculous new repechage system. That was a bad idea. “Who wants to see losers fight losers?” was a heard quote and made me pretty annoyed. The competitors deserve more of a chance to prove themselves than they are currently being allowed.

We shall see what happens…

Tactical awareness: Throwing (or being thrown) from the floor

Ippons are perfectly scorable when Uke is on the floor. There’s this blurry line between the tachiwaza and newaza phase and you want to exploit it, and avoid being exploited.

Here’s Choi throwing Paischer for Gold in the 2008 Olympics:

This illustrates an important factor that referees must remember when scoring techniques: “It ain’t over ’till it’s over”. The whole, continuous motion must be kept in mind when deciding what score to give. In the above example, the referee team clearly felt that the attack continued from Uke dropping to the floor, resulting in the Ippon.

Before I continue, it is very important to point out now that the throw Choi used here is not going to be allowed come 2010! This thread on Judoforum.com has the information. Unfortunately, it isn’t 100% clear. For example, some of the techniques are not permitted when both players are clearly standing either. Also, fine line here: Will Ura-nage eventually be disallowed as well, due to it also involving picking a player up?

(Forgetting to consider the entirety of the throw can catch referees out for a different reason: A HUGE Kata guruma which has the “oooooooh” factor and the referee instinctively awards Ippon but… right at the end Tori loses control and Uke drops onto their side. Oops.)

Anyway, we have covered that throws in this phase are scorable. I saw a couple of great examples of this at the weekend, including one for the Gold medal.

Firstly, a player comes in for a failed Kata Guruma or leg grab of some description. They are down on one knee. Their opponent can take advantage of this (Uchi-mata especially!) for a good, sweeping, clean Ippon.

Secondly, this could be combined with a more tactical approach. Uke may feel they are ‘safe’ and will start to stand. This can also happen if both players have stumbled to the ground and stand up again. This is fine and the referee will not call Matte if both players are doing so of their own volition. Tori can take advantage of this lull and throw! Perfectly scorable and beautifully tactical.

So always be wary of these opportunities. If you are Uke in the above, you may want to turtle up and not move until Matte is called… just in case. ALWAYS be away of the tactical situation. Your opponent is unlikely to be letting you stand up because they like you and want to give you a nice slice of cake, are they?

Sasae perfection

In Syd Hoare’s A-Z of Judo, he describes Sasae Tsurikomi Ashi as Tori feeling like they are supporting Uke on their stomach.

This always seemed a little strange to me considering the literal translation of the technique (“Lifting pulling ankle block”), but this video makes it all become clear:

This is one of the best applications of the throw I have seen. Performed by Muneta Yasuyuki in the All-Japan Judo Championships. Absolutely wonderful.

Seniors and sutemi-waza // Your opponent will always be stronger

While working with a novice this week, I noticed that he kept coming in for (seemingly) Tani Otoshi, but each time I ended up straight on top of him. Although initially I was countering, this kept happening even when I went into ‘limp uke’ mode.

Finally worked it out. He was just dropping straight onto his back with his leg out, as opposed to the backwards direction that Tani Otoshi relies on! So obvious in hindsight but it was puzzling at the time.

I’ve mentioned before that I try to encourage upright judo. Sutemi-waza can be exceptionally effective but they can slow development, as I found out to my own cost. However, with seniors I feel to a certain extent you have to coach with what works for them, and it is more of an advising role. So I was happy to point out what needed to be done to fix the problem, as opposed to stating “THOU SHALT NOT DO SACRIFICE THROWS”.

I later worked with a junior squad player. I took a dominant grip, to the response of, “There’s nothing I can do, you are too strong, I can’t break your grip”. Advice here is the classic MOVE AND ATTACK. You should be able to do this from any grip as if you just stand still helplessly then in shiai it is not going to end well for you. Once she started moving, using speed and change of direction, I lost the so-called ‘unbreakable’ grip that I had.

You must always assume that your opponent in shiai is stronger. And that you may not be able to get your perfect grip. Movement is so very much the key, and I am looking forward to my toe being fully healed so I can exploit this!

Patrick Roux Interview

There is now an interview with Patrick Roux on the BJA web site.

It is good to see a common sense approach is coming in. Especially emphasising the importance of Uchikomi and correct Randori:

“…Randori, in France, is not a bull-fight, as it is in some other countries. Randori is more often used to develop a wide range of techniques. Between Athens and Beijing, the French women’s team changed the way it was doing randori and was rewarded with much greater success.”

Of particular interest was a reference to a throw at the 2008 Olympic games:

Another area, on which he wants to work, is tactical appreciation, for fighters to make an instantaneous decision under the physical and mental pressure of a competition. In Beijing, we had a perfect example of what he means in the final of the under 63 kgs category, when Lucie Decosse of France attacked the defending champion Ayumi Tanimoto, with ouchi-gari, driving the Japanese girl backwards. However, Tanimoto used the forward movement of Decosse to bring her off-balance and counter her perfectly with uchi-mata. For me, it was probably the technical highlight of the Games and demonstrated exactly what judo should be.

This is a counter which I like myself. And it shows why I am struggling with my Uchimata. Performing it as a primary attack doesn’t work too well for me, as clearly I am not generating sufficient Kuzushi. If Uke has effectively done that for me by way of an appropriate attack, it’s a decisive Ippon.

Getting there…

The Flow of Judo

A good session tonight. More things are starting to click, and Randori feels like a natural flow.

I am getting more comfortable at not just playing left-handed, but also adjusting my grip to suit the throw, Uke and so on. In other words, adapting! The Grip Like A World Champion DVD has given me a few ideas, as has watching countless Judo match videos on the likes of YouTube. Essentially, I am starting to feel loose yet in control.

In particular, my Osoto Gari is feeling nice (long legs!). For other throws, I am working on gripping higher up the sleeve. This forces me to be closer to Uke, making throws such as Hiza Guruma easier. Having long limbs is great, but trying to force throws at a distance is not always a good thing.

A key point is that I am feeling more when the appropriate time for a throw is, as opposed to just trying a throw regardless and seeing what happens.

I have been working on a lapel-side Seoi Nage for a while (from a left-handed grip, performing the right-handed throw). It feels very nice. I have always enjoyed working on shoulder throws in technique work, but never felt comfortable with trying to slot them into Randori because of my height. This is a weak excuse. Recently, I have managed to execute this throw successfully in Randori — this helps my confidence a lot and makes me realise how far I have come! It’s particularly effective if a taller Uke goes for a high collar grip.

Another new throw, after watching Winston Gordon use it with some success, is Ko Soto Gake. As it is kind of a “hug” throw, it is good at forcing me to adopt close body contact. Remember that failing to get this contact has long been a personal bugbear of mine.

In my previous post I talked about working on the “baseball choke”. I had been rotating incorrectly so it would not work. I had a chance to work on this earlier in the week (including an entry working against the turtle). Anyway, in Newaza Randori tonight I managed to get it to work a couple of times when pulling guard… remembering to swivel my whole body around really makes it come on fast and hard!

It is a bit of a “sucker” technique as it relies on Uke falling for the “trick”. Something to break out every so often. I’m not sure if I would be confident enough to try it in a competition or grading yet though!

Judo with TWO shoulders

The good news is that it looks like my AC joint injury was just a Grade 1.

I rested it over the weekend, and went along to a session on Tuesday. I strapped it up but in contrast to Thursday (where it just did not want to go in some directions at all!) it was excellent. In fact, no noticable problems whatsoever. I think there may have been a small amount of weakness but no pain.

The bruising has come through: Several inches away from the injury site!

The joint itself is still a little popped up, but the swelling may not have completely gone down yet. That said, reading around on the subject would indicate that even though the injury may completely heal, the bump may remain.

The session itself was good. Upset at myself for falling back to some “old favourites” in Randori (Hello, Hikikom Gaeshi), but at least I tried a few other things. I just need to try those other things MORE.

Made up for that in Newaza, even though if I did get pinned due to experimental chokes going a bit awry 😉 This is the one in question:

I need some advice on the correct spinning (turning?) motion once the hands are in place as that is where I am getting stuck.

Weight training continues, with the numbers going up. Unfortunately, due to stubborness I now have a slight pulled muscle in my back. I dropped a weight when doing deadlifts due to losing my grip, and should really have called it a day then, but retried it. Stupid.

1st Kyu! Well, in theory…

I graded up to 1st Kyu today… albeit only in the Theory components. So nothing changes until I complete the contest examination at a future grading. And I’m in no rush to do that right now, as I feel I have a long way to go. Some details on the required theory here.

Also, in order to experience life “on the other side”, I’ll be going on a Referee training course next month! With my current grade I’m eligible to become an Area Referee (provided I pass the course) which would be interesting.

Training in general was a bit “meh”. Groundwork was nice as I got some nice strangles and turnovers to work (although I need some more ideas when facing someone on the knees… aside from pulling guard and working from there, of course). Standing… not enough movement and attacking spirit on my part. Some gripping “tricks” have started to work but MUCH more practice needed there.

So…. hmm, basically 🙂

Jimmy Pedro clinic clip

The Judo Podcast has an upcoming interview with Jimmy Pedro. Visit their site in order to suggest any questions.

The announcement has a clip from a recent clinic (Takes a while to load). It’s an interesting demo of an alternative grip entry for Tai Otoshi, and it is nice to see the emphasis placed on remembering to keep rotating!

I’ve ordered Jimmy’s Grip Like A World Champion DVD, so expect a review soon. He also plays left-handed (although note he is demonstrating right-handed in the video clip).