Solo training drills for Judoka

[Deadmeat]

This thread is particularly in relation to practicing specific judo techniques without a partner. [Mods - If it's better suited elsewhere mods, please move it]

Unfortunately, it's not possible for me (or most peoplefor that matter) to train Judo every day, but as part of my daily routine (particularly on days when I am doing things other than judo) I like to start the day with some solo drills I've found to be helpful for my overall Judo, as well as my coordination in general.

So far I only have a few that I'm doing regularly, but I'm always looking for new/better alternatives.

Criteria:
Easily doable in the comfort of your own home
Minimal equipment required.
Equipment easily attainable

Materials:
1 medium sized boxing bag (not mounted or hung)
appropriately surfaced floor spaces (Garage floor & non abrasive carpeted area respectively)
Bicycle Tyre inner Tube
Stable Pillar/Post
2x Gi Belts
Duct Tape

Drills:
Pull and Pivot for nagewaza
Tie your Gi belt at about waist height around a pillar/post/tree of your choice. If it slips down, a bit of duct tape will do to either hold the belt in place, or replace it for the task.

Take the bicycle tyre inner tube , and slice it so that you essentially have a long strip of rubber that you can wrap around the tree, and hold the ends in your hands.

Approximate your preferred grip's hand positioning (lapel and cuff, double lapel, etc), and practice entering as if you were performing specific throws, whilst pulling in the appropriate manner on the inner tube.

Make sure that your belt is at the correct height in relation to your opponent's (the belt/tape around the tree/post/pillar), and that your weight is distributed correctly. Think about kuzushi as you pull on the arms. Think about your foot placement, positioning, and agility.

Can be done as static Uchikomi, or to breakdown an aspect of the technique.

Obviously not a replacement for actual uchikomi or training with a partner, but a good drill nonetheless.

Ashi waza bag drill
(particularly De Ashi Barai, Ouchi Gari, Kouchi Gari, okuriashi harai, etc )
Take the boxing bag and stand at one end of your garage, or other suitable space. Supporting the bag (with good posture) in such a way that 90% of it's weight is resting on the floor, execute the ashi waza of your choice, imagining that the bag is your opponent's leg. Step, and repeat the process until you reach the oppsite end of the room/allocated space.

Tuen around, and repeat, selecting one sweeping technique to focus on.

solo floor work
on an appropriate surface (non abrasive carpet or whatever you deem appropriate):
Shibori (floor swim)
Ebi (shrimp)
Gyaku Ebi (backwards shrimp)
Bridging

situps/pushups/etc I'll leave out, as they are probably an existing part of your regular routine anyway.

___
Any suggestions, comments, etc?

[zander]

I really appreciate this, thanks for the ideas!

[Deadmeat]

no worries mate. Hope it's of use to you. Just remember that when you do a de ashi, the twisting of your arms generates like 80% of the throw's force, so don't neglect the hand movement when doing the boxing bag drill.

[Bullwhip]

You can buy rubber tubing of variou sizes, I think that makes more sense than bycicle tube. Again I know not everyone has a lot of money.

[Coach Josh]

A couple of notes to add.

Be very specific on what you are looking to improve. In the case of the rubber band drill you can break it down into several stages and focus on several different areas. The most important being foot placement and speed. Executing proper taisabaki will greatly improve your Judo. After you get the proper foot work increase the speed. This should be done with a light resistance on the bands. After that then you should be working on your kuzushi. Increasing resistance to help strengthen your pull. In other words don't substitute strength for proper technique.

The ashi waza drill I really don't see the benefit of the bag. While you may be doing something akin to the movements of ashi waza its hard to say if you improving it. The reason I say this is due to the specific nature of ashi waza and the fact that very little has to do with power and all of it has to do with timing.

When using the rubber bands place a line on the floor just in front of your lead foot. Do not cross that line when turning. One of the biggest mistakes you can develop when doing solo uchimokis is to step into "uke". You should be stepping across the body and pulling uke into you. I think it was already stated but make sure your bands are at shoulder height so you are pulling straight and not in an upward motion.

A drill to help improve your ashi waza would be to place a paper towel on the ground and sweep it up and down the mat/"training area". While focusing on proper foot work you are learning to keep your foot low and perform a sweeping motion with little to no resistance. This stops you from developing the kicking action you may inherit from using the bag. You can use the paper towel in conjunction with the rubber bands to help develop good kuzushi also.

[hairydynamicist]

When using the rubber bands place a line on the floor just in front of your lead foot. Do not cross that line when turning. One of the biggest mistakes you can develop when doing solo uchimokis is to step into "uke". You should be stepping across the body and pulling uke into you.

Interesting. I'm pretty sure I've been doing this wrong then (which is entirely possible - I'm new to this). In fact, recently when doing uchi komi I've been focusing on getting my feet sort of in between the other guys (by closing that distance myself, any pull I do only really shifts their weight forward on to their toes. If I'm lucky).

Anyone else got any thoughts on this?

[Coach Josh]

If you can get your hands on it get the Koga video or dvd. He explains this on the video. This is for Ogoshi and seoinages. Uchimata and haraigoshi you should be stepping into and under your uke as you pull. Sorry if that caused a confusion.

Now in competition Koga also would take an additional step inside his opponents once he got fitted in and dove forward onto his head. This was done to be able to throw the Olympic caliber people and has since been banned. Well the diving onto your head part. A Koga Style SeoiNage without the head dive is still a great throw to have in your arsenal.

If you're throwing a drop seoi then getting in between the guys legs is important but you shouldn't train to throw drop seois. You should train to throw standing seois and when you have to resort to a drop due to style or size differences then do so.

[hairydynamicist]

If you can get your hands on it get the Koga video or dvd. He explains this on the video. This is for Ogoshi and seoinages. Uchimata and haraigoshi you should be stepping into and under your uke as you pull. Sorry if that caused a confusion.

Now in competition Koga also would take an additional step inside his opponents once he got fitted in and dove forward onto his head. This was done to be able to throw the Olympic caliber people and has since been banned. Well the diving onto your head part. A Koga Style SeoiNage without the head dive is still a great throw to have in your arsenal.

If you're throwing a drop seoi then getting in between the guys legs is important but you shouldn't train to throw drop seois. You should train to throw standing seois and when you have to resort to a drop due to style or size differences then do so.

Funny you should mention Koga - I'd never realised who he was until some guy over at judoforum mentioned that it's worth going to youtube and doing a search for 'Koga' and 'judo'. Anyway, the net result of this revalation to no one else but me was

1) I've been bleating on about Koga to anyone who stands still long enough for about a month now;
2) I'd convinced myself that my shitness at judo is due in no small part to my not stepping in deep enough.

Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely keep it in mind.

[oldman34]

If you're throwing a drop seoi then getting in between the guys legs is important but you shouldn't train to throw drop seois. You should train to throw standing seois and when you have to resort to a drop due to style or size differences then do so.

I used the head drop for throwing taller opponents. It worked so so for me. Maybe I was doing it wrong.

[Coach Josh]

I see another instructional video in the near future.