[KenTheWalrus]

I'm not trying to bitch, I just need to get this off my chest.

I had the worst partner last night. To start, we were doing hidaka jime. This guy snaps it on, full force, and when I tapped he didn't let go he actually said "was that a tap" before he let up. To me, if you think it could be a tap, let go. Anyway, it really hurt my throat (it still hurts). I decided not to get into an escalating problem by doing the same thing as tori so I didn't even take my chance to do it. The instructor must have seen it because he came up and told the two of us that we can use counters for all the techniques for the day. He then instructed us on the proper way to do hidaka jime.

This guy's breath was rank. It smelled like he smoked about ten cigarettes in his truck before class.

Next we did kesa-gatame. I figured this would be where I would get a little revenge and simply reverse it every time he applied it. First one goes on without a hitch. As soon as we start scrambling I turn towards him hoping he throws his weight high, which he does, then I turn away and now he's in the down position. The second one comes and I get him over, he farts right in my face. I just stopped and stood up. He laughs and says "that was a tap, right?" By this time I figure this guy has no clue and I need to be careful because he's gonna keep doing stupid crap.

We then go into kata-gatame and this guy starts as tori. He grabs me and lifts my arm, the wrong arm, and I tell him "you have the wrong arm". So instead of grabbing the right one, he gets up and switches to my other side. I tell him he has the wrong arm again and he starts to argue with me. Now the instructor comes up and tells him he's doing it wrong and shows him how to do it.

The fun didn't stop there. Every class that we did de-ashi-harai the instructor has made it a point to tell us not to kick the leg but to sweep with the foot. We start out and this guy's rhythm is all off. He keeps trying to sweep the foot with my weight on it. I tell him to do a little bunny hop to get the right foot. So, the next time we do it he nails me hard in the leg. I tell him that hurt and to not hit me in the leg. Next pass, bam, in the leg again. We switch and I'm tori now. I do my sweeping motion, he lifts his leg so I never make contact and he falls pulling me down. No ukemi, no control. He just drops his weight pulling me down. I go to catch my weight so I don't land on him, he tries a sweep but misses and I end up stepping on his ankle. Now I know the instructor told us we could counter moves, but falling straight to the ground and pulling someone on top of you just sounds like a bad idea. The class ended shortly after that. I was really glad it was cut an hour short.

Anyway, at least I know not to partner with that guy again. -ken

[KenTheWalrus]

The rest of last week went by pretty well. My throat still hurts so I'm probably going to go get it checked out. I partnered with the newest guy who's about 5'1" and probably close to my weight. He's really condensed and hard to throw from the hip. I can't get my weight under him without dropping straight to a knee and I'm not quick with that move. The best I did was throwing him to the side. Conversely, he can throw me like a rag doll. It's cool and the only real damage I took from any of his throws was when the bells slapped together. For a second there everything went numb. After a minute I was good to go. The brown belt in class told me that I needed to get the spread eagle into my mind if I wanted to continue judo.

I am doing better on my ukemi and received a couple compliments on it. I can tell I'm out of practice with any type of partnered sparring because I let the compliment go to my head and ended up trying to sweep the wrong foot with de-ashi-harai. I did the stubbed toe on my partner. I apologized and we moved on. After that though, I let myself get flustered and my technique started to slip. In the past my greatest asset, in my mind, was the ability to remain calm and see the opening. I'll keep focusing on staying calm and with time I should be cool as ice again. -ken

[Frodo]

One partner an arrogant ass... Next one 220+ pounds and 5'1"... You need new training partners!!!

[KenTheWalrus]

Originally Posted by Frodo

One partner an arrogant ass... Next one 220+ pounds and 5'1"... You need new training partners!!!

lol, yeah I could use someone taller and better smelling.

The short guy is pretty cool. We talked a bit after our last class and we might start working out once or twice a week. -ken

[KenTheWalrus]

Another day, another ukemi (or 100). I'm getting to the point where the bumps and bruises are starting to amount to a nice collection of swelling around various parts. The best one from this today's lesson was a failed ukemi from an o-goshi. I didn't rotate enough and landed on my shin. My leg took all of the force and is a nice lump of tender meat right now. It's funny because I had another wrestling moment when I thought "hmmm... that really hurts. Get up and walk it off so you can finish class." Less than a minute later the pain was gone. Of course, when I went to the grocery store after class I developed a rather slow limp. Aw well, at least I can look at my leg and learn from it.

The injuries are starting to add up now and I'm hoping I can make it into the doctor tomorrow. My throat still hurts from that jackass applied hadaka jime. My neck started to swell as soon as we started ukemi. My only real worry is that it will cause me to take time off from judo. It's not to the point where I think it's going to cause irreparable harm but it does make judo a lot more painful.

I partnered with the short guy again. I decided to ask him if I could throw him like I meant it and he was cool with that. When I get in there and apply the hip throws it's a lot easier if I have speed behind me. After about half of class time our instructor came over and asked us if we had been practicing after class with each other. He said we have a nice flow to all of our techniques. My partner replied "no, we just communicate well." We do, and it makes for a better experience, even if I can't throw him too well.

One of the higher belts was demonstrating ude gatame on the gymnist girl. The instructor made a comment about her being flexible. I had been watching them previous to that and she was tapping regularly. After the instructor made the comment she refused to tap. She didn't hide the look on her face though, which was a cross between smelling the world's most deadliest fart and eating a whole bag of sour candy at once. It was pretty nasty to watch. I really don't understand why someone's pride would be worth more than their arm in a situation like that. I hope she has an ice pack at home.

After class one of the brown belts asked me if I wanted to practice any moves. I went for de-ashi-harai. It was the most fun I've had yet. The brown belt closed his eyes and made me throw him. If I wasn't throwing him, he wouldn't move (most of my partners expect it and lift their leg in anticipation). After I threw him a few times, he had me close my eyes and try to throw him. The first time I hit the foot but didn't throw him. The second time I threw him but lost my grip. The third time I hit it on the button. The exercise really helped me out with my focus and caused me to move naturally instead of a more reserved approach, it was awesome.

I'm pretty sure my partner (the short white belt) hurled after we tried kesa gatame. When I had him down I locked him onto the mat and used a judo modified sprawl to keep him solidly pinned. When he was tori I made him work hard for position and almost had him over a few times. I think I could have done it if I commited myself to trying to sweep him by getting my ams under his body and pushing off while bridging or shooting my hips to the side. I didn't want to risk it though and ended up tapping after a minute of hard work. Right after that he said something about eating too much before class and a few minutes later he was taking a trip to the bathroom. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I actually think to mysef that I have a strong will whenever I exert myself to purging, I just thought it was worth mentioning for later reflection.

I think I should post the night I have class instead of the next day. I get a lot more out of my thoughts. Later. -ken

[KenTheWalrus]

Tonight was the first night that I was graded on my technique. I had been practicing and studying the techniques on judoinfo.com (BTW, thanks for the link Frodo). I went in focused and ready. I was doing alright until I hit nami juji jime and had my thumbs on the outside. When my instructor corrected me I became flustered and lost my concentration. It sucked and I was really dissapointed in my performance. The cool part was that I was sitting on a bench after class and one of the brown belts came over and gave me a pep talk, saying how he still makes the same mistake. Another brown belt came over to me and gave me some pointers. It's nice when the people you train with are willing to support you. Well, class next week is shortened by the holiday so I won't be training until Thursday. The long weekend will give me time to work on my foot work. It'll also give me more time to heal. Oh yeah, my neck. I went to the doctor yesterday and my neck is infected. He put me on some antibiotics and it should clear up in about a week.

I decided to support Sherdog and get a platinum membership since I wouldn't have started a log at all if this site hadn't existed. That, and now I have a Hawaiian walrus standing on the beach as my avatar. -ken

[KenTheWalrus]

It’s been a couple weeks since my last post. Last week I received the results of my first grading. I did a lot better than I thought I did. I had a couple points knocked off for my nami juji jime and a point taken from my kesa gatame, which surprised me. I thought my kesa gatame was one of my strongest techniques. I guess it just goes to show that what we see on the inside is different than the rest of the world.

We were visited by one of the sensei’s friends, another black belt. He went over Tai Otoshi, uki goshi, and flying juji gatame. My fat ass ain’t flying nowhere, but it was awesome watching him catch it from every angle. He also showed me a couple ways to change my grip. The lapel hand uses the pinky and ring finger more than the middle and pointer. My smaller fingers aren’t as strong but it makes for an easier transition when pivoting. The sleeve grip is pulled tight and up for a tighter pull on the arm. It helps a lot when redirecting my opponents balance.

Tai Otoshi is hard. My foot placement needs a lot of work. Uki goshi is difficult right now. It’s not something that works well when applied slowly. I’d rather get the technique down first and then work on speed and power. It also makes it difficult when your partner is 5ft.

We worked on gyaku juji jime. I need to work on my upper leg flexibility so I can get into butterfly guard easier for the push off. Juji gatame is different from what I was taught before. There isn’t any hip pressure applied. Instead the pressure is applied by squeezing the knees together. The sit down part is hard when you’re big. One of the bigger green belts came over and helped me. I have to remember to pull up on the arm and trap it because that is what is going to keep me from falling backward when I squat down. -ken

[Waxwingslain]

Sounds like you're doing well!

[Frodo]

Originally Posted by KenTheWalrus

It’s been a couple weeks since my last post. Last week I received the results of my first grading. I did a lot better than I thought I did. I had a couple points knocked off for my nami juji jime and a point taken from my kesa gatame, which surprised me. I thought my kesa gatame was one of my strongest techniques. I guess it just goes to show that what we see on the inside is different than the rest of the world.

Interesting. Last time we had to take an informal test. However, that was at the university and we didn't receive a kyu from Master Kim until the end of the semester. This time Master Kim. just handed us our belts; although, the browns and dans had to do their naga no kata.

We worked on gyaku juji jime. I need to work on my upper leg flexibility so I can get into butterfly guard easier for the push off.

I don't use butterfly guard in this case. I just put my legs on his hips, extend, and sit up. You can even put them on the floor. The idea is to make space/leverage so he is pulled down while you sit up as you apply the choke.

Juji gatame is different from what I was taught before. There isn’t any hip pressure applied. Instead the pressure is applied by squeezing the knees together. The sit down part is hard when you’re big. One of the bigger green belts came over and helped me. I have to remember to pull up on the arm and trap it because that is what is going to keep me from falling backward when I squat down. -ken

The hip does the pressure. The knees simply isolate his arm. A myth is that you shouldn't cross your legs doing an armbar. Instead you can cross your feet if you remember to squeeze your knees together. MAKE SURE HIS ELBOW IS ABOVE YOUR HIP. It will never work if his elbow is between your legs. So it is very important to get your hips high into his armpit if you can. Grappler sit-ups help with this.

[KenTheWalrus]

Originally Posted by Frodo

Interesting. Last time we had to take an informal test. However, that was at the university and we didn't receive a kyu from Master Kim until the end of the semester.

My class is at a community college. My sensei mentions Master Kim's technique a lot.

Originally Posted by Frodo

I don't use butterfly guard in this case. I just put my legs on his hips, extend, and sit up. You can even put them on the floor. The idea is to make space/leverage so he is pulled down while you sit up as you apply the choke.

I use my feet on the floor, but it doesn't give me the smoothness that I want. My gi keeps me from sliding in one movement and I end up squirming back.

Originally Posted by Frodo

The hip does the pressure. The knees simply isolate his arm.

The way I used to do it was all hip and pressing my legs down. It would have been near impossible to do it with one leg. By using the knees I don't really need to apply hip pressure, although it would probably help. Catching the arm with the knees has made my technique a millions times better by allowing me to keep the one leg free giving me more versatility to slap it on.

Thanks for the video links. That's some cool stuff. -ken