1point2
3/27/2009 3:47pm,
A judo tournament I had planned on going to got cancelled then un-cancelled at the last minute. So those wings, beer, salsa, extra chicken, and fried food I ate this week are gonna haunt me (not in weight class, but just overall slowness).
This is my game plan, in terms of technique, fitness, and nerves. Why? Not to get advice, but to remember for next time, and self-critique/track my progress. Input appreciated but will largely be ignored--the tournament's tomorrow; I'm not changing much. Part of this is to think it through (hey! visualization! whoa!) for nerves' sake--while writing this I got both flop sweat and the shits. Seriously. Anyway...here's what I've been doing:
Forward throws - the #1 thing my coach told me to improve (last match I basically only moved forward), and by Kano I've been drilling them. Tai-otoshi and both seoinages, primarily, since my hip throw entries blow harder than the big bad wolf. They're not ready yet (not enough power with tai-o and straight knees with seoinage), but if I waited until they were, I'd never compete. These throws will work in shiai by trying them in shiai.
Turtlecracking and bellying out - I like the guard, I'm good at juji-gatame, but neither is applicable to judo tournaments at the novice level. I've been focusing on sangaku (triangle) entries from top turtle, rollovers and chokes like jigokujime. In newaza I turtle and do the legs-straight "chicken" variation, since I find myself there during shiai and need to defend.
Sprints and wind training - I gassed, so I asked my coach for a wind workout regimen. He's used one for twenty+ years that involves stair-climbing, hold-your-breath sprints, karaokes, and wind sprints after a 1-mile warm-up. I've done it a half-dozen times (less than ideal), and have omitted the stairs for lack of a good set of 'em nearby, but have seen improvement.
Kouchigari - It's my tokuiwaza for the moment, so I keep it sharp. I tend to overreach and telegraph, so I've been working on closing the distance and attacking full-on instead of feinting or doing combos.
Watch similar matches on Youtube - watching other novice matches keeps me in the right mindset and reminds me of how the matches will look and feel like. It makes me nervous, too, but a little less every time.
Breathing - I've used breathing techniques to good effect for negating nervousness before medical procedures, dates, and high-pressure karate stuff. I'll try the same here.
I'm competing in <178lb novice. I'm 5'10'' 175lbs gokyu. I plan to get my grip, attack (tai-otoshi, seoinage, kouchigari, osotogari, kosotogari, tani-otoshi, with the last three as counters primarily), circle, attack, stay loose in my grip, and attack. Check my tournament footage for last 2 attempts.
What do I need? IMO, I need twice as much judo a week (currently it's 2x) and four times as much running (it's been once every two weeks average), plus some below-sankyu grades to randori with. But all that is gravy. I'm gonna go, compete, learn what I can from it, and eat a big meal with teammates afterwards.
Thoughts?
This is my game plan, in terms of technique, fitness, and nerves. Why? Not to get advice, but to remember for next time, and self-critique/track my progress. Input appreciated but will largely be ignored--the tournament's tomorrow; I'm not changing much. Part of this is to think it through (hey! visualization! whoa!) for nerves' sake--while writing this I got both flop sweat and the shits. Seriously. Anyway...here's what I've been doing:
Forward throws - the #1 thing my coach told me to improve (last match I basically only moved forward), and by Kano I've been drilling them. Tai-otoshi and both seoinages, primarily, since my hip throw entries blow harder than the big bad wolf. They're not ready yet (not enough power with tai-o and straight knees with seoinage), but if I waited until they were, I'd never compete. These throws will work in shiai by trying them in shiai.
Turtlecracking and bellying out - I like the guard, I'm good at juji-gatame, but neither is applicable to judo tournaments at the novice level. I've been focusing on sangaku (triangle) entries from top turtle, rollovers and chokes like jigokujime. In newaza I turtle and do the legs-straight "chicken" variation, since I find myself there during shiai and need to defend.
Sprints and wind training - I gassed, so I asked my coach for a wind workout regimen. He's used one for twenty+ years that involves stair-climbing, hold-your-breath sprints, karaokes, and wind sprints after a 1-mile warm-up. I've done it a half-dozen times (less than ideal), and have omitted the stairs for lack of a good set of 'em nearby, but have seen improvement.
Kouchigari - It's my tokuiwaza for the moment, so I keep it sharp. I tend to overreach and telegraph, so I've been working on closing the distance and attacking full-on instead of feinting or doing combos.
Watch similar matches on Youtube - watching other novice matches keeps me in the right mindset and reminds me of how the matches will look and feel like. It makes me nervous, too, but a little less every time.
Breathing - I've used breathing techniques to good effect for negating nervousness before medical procedures, dates, and high-pressure karate stuff. I'll try the same here.
I'm competing in <178lb novice. I'm 5'10'' 175lbs gokyu. I plan to get my grip, attack (tai-otoshi, seoinage, kouchigari, osotogari, kosotogari, tani-otoshi, with the last three as counters primarily), circle, attack, stay loose in my grip, and attack. Check my tournament footage for last 2 attempts.
What do I need? IMO, I need twice as much judo a week (currently it's 2x) and four times as much running (it's been once every two weeks average), plus some below-sankyu grades to randori with. But all that is gravy. I'm gonna go, compete, learn what I can from it, and eat a big meal with teammates afterwards.
Thoughts?