Training Log #1
August 7 2023
Mental Review
I'll lean towards making my review short and simple. I can probably point out
over a dozen different things to work on, but it's probably better to emphasize
a handful of things so that it is easier to remember. Need to work on that
guaranteed, slow gradual improvement. I might even repeat the same things week
by week for that extra emphasis.
When it comes to the gym, I'm not too concerned about increasing my weights. It's
more supplementary for me to maintain a level of strength. There are certain
benchmarks I want to hit when it comes to weight, and at that point I'll focus
on increasing the sets/reps at that target weight rather than increasing the
weight.
Jogging is more like stretching for me, it helps me understand how my
body is feeling that day, so I only do my ~2.5km route. Some days I do it fast,
other days I do it slow, what matters is that I do it and understand how my body
feels and how much I should push it. Similar with stretching, which I do every day,
some days I'm very flexible and other days I'm not. The important thing is doing it
and understanding how my body is in the present moment.
These are the main things I want to work on in Judo:
I find myself in north south position often enough, so I need to drill in my paper
cutter submission technique.
With both ko uchi gari and o uchi gari, after execution I need to be in a position
where my body is close to my opponent in order to chain the next attack. A mistake
I frequently make is not closing that distance after the foot sweep, leaving a big
gap between us, which makes it harder to go for a turn throw.
With morote seoi nage, I really need to emphasize the pull/lift BEFORE I turn.
I also need to work on explosively finishing the technique, extending my bent
knees, twisting my torso, and finishing with the hands.
In Shiai, and just overall in general, don't be tense. Staying relaxed and calm
boosts my cardio considerably. Also have a strategy and stick to it, rather than
winging it. This allows me to easily identify strategic mistakes and adjust it,
rather than just winging it and making things up.
With heavier opponents, emphasize grip breaks where needed and of course attack
immediately after grip breaks. Also, allow them to tire themselves by letting
them attack first and focus on defense/evasion, before going in for my own
attacks.
Rough Training Notes
Jul 30 Gym
Warmup dynamic stretches
Squat
-warmup bar
-95lbs x5
-115lbs x5
-135lbs x5
-155lbs x5
-185lbs x5
Deadlift
-warmup bar
-135lbs x5
-155lbs x5
-185lbs x5
-205lbs x5
-135lbs x5
Incline Bench Press
-Warmup bar
-65lbs x5
-95lbs x5
-115lbs x5
-115lbs x5
-125lbs x5
Overhead Press + Rows Superset
-warmup bar
-45lbs x5
-45lbs x5
-55lbs x5
-65lbs x5
-45lbs x8
Pullups (Explosive)
3 sets of 5 reps
Stretching Routine
Jul 31 Jog ~2.5km
Aug 1 Judo Practice
Warmup Stretching Routine
Newaza
Corrected ezekiel technique in butterfly / feet on hip/knee guard
-crush the throat downwards, rather than putting forearm across the side of neck
Opposite side lapel grip, sweep from bottom
-deep lapel grip (right hand on opposite side lapel), forearm across neck (front
of throat), post on feet/toes to drive forearm into neck
-left arm behind opponents head to trap it
Newaza Randori
-reassess papercutter submission (north south)
-position of choking hand?
-left hand grab lapel, go down over the neck, and have the
hand touch the ground (?) before finishing with elbow?
Tachi Waza
Worked on ko uchi gari
-focused on pulling sleeve down AFTER technique (after foot touch->neck push)
-to pin opponent in place after repositioning them with the ko uchi
-placing right foot deep after foot sweep, don't leave it too far back from
opponent
-this is so i'm in better position to land morote seoi
Worked on ko uchi gari -> morote seoi nage
-foot positioning is important after the ko uchi gari attempt
-pull/lift BEFORE turning when doing morote
-slide left foot in, and overturn (more than 180 degrees, like 210+ degrees)
Randori
-not really sure what to say here other than have a better strategy, and
go for techniques that I'm practicing.
-I seem to do a lot of moves that I don't actually practice (eg drop tai otoshi,
osoto otoshi, tani otoshi)
-keep track of the moves I'm landing.. perhaps these are the moves
I should practice more?
Aug 2 Judo Practice
Warmup Stretching Routine
Tachi Waza
Ouchi Gari
-stick closer for ouchi gari. instead of just pulling in and sweeping with leg,
when I sweep i should have some forward movement to get hip contact
-with tsurite, also stick it on their body (somethign like my forearm
makign contact with their body to maintain that closeness)
Morote Seoi Nage
-need to work on the kuzushi before turning to make it more consistent
-need to work on a more explosive finish
Shiai Practice
-today I had 3 matches. most of my training partners are heavier than me.
not trying to make excuses, just want to lay out all the facts, as it is
clear my strategy needs to change depending on the size of the opponent
-actually have a fuzzy memory of the matches so I'll make an effort in the
future to remember it better
-first match, black belt colleague, ~40 lbs on me
-felt like I was fighting off well in the beginning, distancing well,
engaging well, and defending well
-not sure if I was getting tired or lazy before I got thrown for ippon,
but it was the back of the lapel grip that led to the throw
-need to rethink better defences against this grip
-actually I have a manouver, hand on the wrist, switch stance
and use a shoulder roll over their forearm/wrist to break
the over the back grip
-I got in fairly deep with a tai otoshi, wonder if I could have committed
harder to secure it. not sure if I used all my explosiveness
-second match, yellow belt colleague, same ish weight
-I went for sasae tsurikomo ashi barai but ended up on my back and
the opponent got wazari. likely he knew the move was coming, so I need
to learn how to set the sasae up better, as it appears to be a move I
have an affinity to do
-i ended up reversing and getting on top but he also threw a
triangle into an armbar. unfortunately we got stood up before
we could continue the position as we were out of bounds
-not sure what happened next, but there was some back and forth and I
remember starting to breath heavier. ended up hitting a osoto otoshi /
tai otoshi for the ippon
-third match, yellow belt colleague, ~30 lbs on me
-I actually learned a lot about how to manage my gas tank in this match
-I did about 3 explosive manouvers and ended up exhausted after that
-memory is fuzzy in this one so I don't I'm not 100% of the order of the
events, but we both scored wazari on each other in some way or form.
-I remember getting on top in bottom position, and my right hand was
stuck in lapel grip. not sure if i was tired or if I froze up, but
I couldn't free my right hand from the lapel grip in time even though
my mind wanted to do it to advance my ground position. honestly I'm
pretty confident in my ground game, especially top, so it was a little
confusing why my body couldn't execute (perhaps tired?). he ended up
securing half guard before I could establish a better position and we
got stood up shortly after
-I believe I got thrown (which probably means the first take down was my
wazari when I got on top previously) for wazari, and the opponent got
kesa gatame on me. Not sure if the weight mattered, but he got a good
position over my chest and compressed my air out. I was already
exhausted at this point and needed to take a breather, but the
kesa was tight so it took a long time to catch my breath. I had
energy for one explosive shrimp but it wasn't enough. I wonder if I had
the energy to immediately shrimp instead of waiting to catch my breath,
` as being scrambly immediately before he can establish the hold down
further could have let me escape
-now I know more about my gas tank and need to conserve it so that
I don't end up in an exhausted state during the match such as this time.
-for this size difference, and my energy level at the third match, I
had about 3 explosive manouvers before exhaustion. That means I probably
have 2 opportunities to go in and also conserve energy for movement and
defense
-although I feel like my cardio is decent, now I understand a little
better the effects of grip fighting a bigger opponent, and multiple
explosive manouvers, as it depletes my energy considerably
Overall
-I need a better strategy going up against larger opponents. I'm trying
to exchange and attack to take them out sooner, but that doesn't
capitalize on my other attributes such as speed, movement, and gas tank.
-perhaps I can use my movement and energy to evade a few attacks
from a larger opponent first, to get them a little tired before I move in
for my attack.
Aug 4 Judo Practice
Warmup Stretching Routine
-trained a side stepping harai goshi
-move didn't feel very natural to me, need to figure out the proper
foot placement after the side steps and the kuzushi for pulling them in
-trained a variation of this where the opponent resists getting moved by
the side step, so then you snap them down, take a step back, force them to step forward
while bent over, and then side step x2 harai goshi
-did some kumi kata
-got to work on grip breaks, especially the right hand back of the
neck grip
-practiced different right hand grip pulls, including lapel and sleeve
and armpit grips
-did some newaza practice
-halfguard sweep 1 (assuming you're on bottom, left leg on outside
right leg on inside)
-get your left leg over your opponent's right foot, with your
left foot on the ground, trapping your opponents right leg
-put your right foot on the ground, with your right knee pointing
upward. this would make your right knee/quad push up against
the opponent's thigh
-overhook the opponent's right arm with your left arm, hand
into their armpit
-post your right hand in the opponent's right stomach/hip area
-bridge off your right foot that's grounded, as well as using
your right hang to push, and sweep the opponent to your left,
ideally moving right into full mount
-variation of the previous halfguard sweep, where the opponent on top
touches their hip to the ground to distribute their weight differently
-trap opponent's right leg with your right leg instead of your
left leg
-leave your left leg on the outside, put your foot on the ground
to bridge
-your left hand extends and you move to your left, your left
arm (inner bicep area) making contact with your opponents head,
pushing it. your right arm also extends to your right
-sweep to the right instead of the left, bridging with
your left foot and extending both arms
-had one round of newaza randori with a new student, so didn't really do much
-did 2 rounds of tachiwaza randori
-focused on grip breaks and being relaxed. this was a big improvement
to the previous shiai practice, as it allowed me to conserve energy
and be more ambiguous when I attacked. I need to make the effort
to remain relaxed when I grapple, and not be super tense like I was
during shiai
-I need to establish strategy and stick to the gameplan
-I need to figure out what grips I'm getting often and what kind
of kusuzhi they offer
-I seem to be tending towards drop tai otoshi and counters
-Still need to figure out what techniques are effective against a
heavier (40+ lbs difference) opponent
Aug 6 Gym
Warmup dynamic stretches
Squat
-warmup bar
-95lbs x5
-115lbs x5
-135lbs x5
-155lbs x5
-185lbs x5
Deadlift
-warmup bar
-135lbs x5
-155lbs x5
-185lbs x5
-205lbs x5
-205lbs x2, x3 under over grip
-135lbs x5
Incline Bench Press
-Warmup bar
-65lbs x5
-95lbs x5
-115lbs x5
-125lbs x5
-125lbs x5
Overhead Press + Rows Superset
-warmup bar
-45lbs x5
-45lbs x5
-45lbs x5
-55lbs x5
-65lbs x5
Pullups (Explosive)
3 sets of 5 reps
Stretching Routine
Aug 7 Jog ~2.5km