Training Log #2
August 14 2023
Mental Review
I actually injured two fingers on my left hand in last Friday's practice, so
I'm surprised I was still able to hit the gym normally. Despite my swollen
fingers I still worked out, and then went to two Judo practices this week.
In hindsight, probably not the best decision, but I wasn't able to determine
the extent of my injury until Friday when I realized that after a week it
wasn't getting better, so I decided to take a break from Judo practice.
Seems like I injured the tendons of my left ring finger, the knuckle closest
to the fingernail, likely from gripping too strongly and getting my grip
broken. I'm getting older now, which means injuries heal slower. I don't
need to be tough, just gotta train smart, especially if continuing to train
extends the recovery time or gets it reinjured.
These are the main things I want to work on in Judo:
Ko Uchi Gari variation. Add a small hop forward with my left foot at the end of the technique
to keep a close distance with the opponent. Steps: Left sleeve grip pull down, right
foot makes contact with opponent's right ankle area, apply pressure/sticky with my
right foot as I get contact, right hand pushes into opponent's neck/chin to get
their head/eyes snapping upward (this automatically sweeps their foot without me
having to kick or apply extra force with my right foot), lastly small hop forward
with left foot.
Morote Seoi Nage. The setup before this throw is so important, hence the hop with
ko uchi gari. Just remember knees bent, pull/lift BEFORE turning, and when I slip
my left leg backwards that my legs are not too far apart from each other.
Work on utilizing my explosiveness with my technique. My training partners are
improving so I shouldn't worry about them breakfalling properly.
O Uchi Gari variation. Similar to ko uchi gari, I can use that left foot hopping forward
action. When my right leg goes in for the sweep, maintain that hip to hip
contact with the opponent, drive my hip into them. As I maintain that hip contact
it positions me better to chain a second attack. I've been trying a big turn throw
such as morote seoi nage or seoi otoshi after o uchi gari, but I think other
techiques that don't require as much turning like tai otoshi, osoto gari, and
osoto otoshi are more effective. I am leaning towards osoto otoshi...
KUZUSHI!!
Rough Training Notes
Aug 8 Judo Practice
Warmup Stretching Routine
Newaza Randori
-if i'm going to be defensive in newaza randori, threatening with a deep
lapel grip from bottom seems effective. use it to threaten the neck
Tachi Waza
-we trained ko uchi gari, and then ko uchi gari into turn throw
-still developing my ko uchi gari -> morote combination
-ko uchi gari and hop forward to follow them as they step back
so I'm closer when doing morote
-perhaps continue to push them after ko uchi gari before
pulling for turn throw
-slipping my left leg back for morote seems work
-need to bend legs more
-need to get in the right position, don't have legs too far apart
-also emphasize that pull before turn. I want them moving towards me
from the pull before I utilize the turn to load them on my shoulder
Randori
-had some bruised fingers today so had to take it a bit easier
-went against a yellow belt that had ~40 lbs on me, around my height
-need to figure out what throws are effective with this body type,
doesn't seem like I can move him that well..
-do I commit harder to sasae?
-i had done a few morote uchikomi with him earlier, and it was
very difficult to load him on my shoulder
-need more experience to figure this out
-went against a brown belt, mb 15-20 lbs on me
-i moved in for a sloppy kosoto and got uchi matad
-i got attacked with a single sleeve grip (sode?) throw, was able
to post on my left hand and land on my stomach
-got thrown again, not sure if it was uchi mata or harai, but it
happened after I moved a certain way. memory is fuzzy but I did some
footwork movement and got hit by it
-attempted tai otoshi which failed, and went into yoko otoshi
-almost landed, he fell on his side, maybe wazari
-overall, just need more mat time against him. he has explosiveness
and uses it well, I need to learn how to sense when he is going in as
well as incorporate my own explosiveness effectively
-went against a yellow belt, mb 10 lbs less than me or so
-just focused on grip fighting as i was getting tired and my fingers
were beginning to feel the wear and tear
-actually attempted quite a few different throws, but they were halfassed
(such as sasae, right tai otoshi, and left tai otoshi with right lapel
grip), so they failed
-hit him with a right hand lapel grip left ippon seoi nage, wanted to
practice that single grip attack
Aug 9 Judo Practice
Warmup Stretching Routine
Worked on ouchi gari
-focused on maintaining hip contact when the leg goes in
-focused on the back foot doing a small hop forward for momentum and foot
placement after the technique
-focused on moving forward to stay close to opponent after the technique,
opening up options for followup attacks
-how to get kuzushi on a stiff opponent? maybe shoulder bash to the face
Worked on ouchi gari -> osoto otoshi, tai otoshi
-need more practice
-going seoi after ouchi gari may be a bit difficult, so consider osoto gari,
osoto otoshi, or tai otoshi
Practice Shiai
-only got two matches today. focused on being calm
-fingers still injured
-first match have video footage, up against a yellow belt around my weight, taller
-hit 2 wazaris
-first one was an osoto otoshi, leapt into it. slid my back foot and
got mat burn, probably don't want to slide and stretch like that..
-he did a good job and got out of my side control, i need
to work harder to maintain it, probably get tighter, as
I was trying hard to avoid giving up half guard i gave up
too much space as I was circling
-second wazari I did a half hearted uchi mata and used agility to
stick on him as he was regaining his balance and went for tai otoshi
-he ended up slipping his right foot back a bit and when
i committed it turned into some sort of low uchi mata
-second match was with brown belt, ~15-20lbs on me. he probably already had
like 4-5 matches in a row before me
-my initial plan was to just use time and tire him out before attacking,
but for some reason I changed my mind and wanted to go for a left hand
grip attack
-went for a half hearted left tai otoshi and got countered for ippon,
lesson (re)learned, KUZUSHI!
Aug 11 Judo Practice
Took a break to recover from finger injury.
Aug 12 Jog ~2.5km
Aug 14 Gym
I forgot to log my numbers at the gym, but I did the same routine as previous
workouts with fairly similar numbers, despite the finger injury.