Last Saturday night, we had another "study group". It was just me and my nephew Cody again this time. We started off with the 5 throws in my repertoire (deashi barai, hiza garuma, kosotogari, osotogari, and ukigoshi). Cody seems to have a really good deashi barai, considering he didn't have someone who knew what they were talking about show him the sweep.
I think Cody is having the same realization I had when I started Judo: I got into it for the throws, but found out I really enjoy the groundwork...it's fun! Cody's thinking the same way, so we spent more time working on ground stuff than anything else.
We're using a combination of what I'm learning in my lessons with Pat and Roy Dean's blue belt requirements DVD. Last night we worked on the Scissor Sweep from the DVD. We drilled it about 10 times each, then moved into ground randori, looking for opportunities to use the scissor sweep against a resisting opponent. Pat's advice about not waiting until the guy is all the way in your guard to set up the sweep was invaluable, and we were both able to pull off the sweep in randori several times over the next hour and a half! We're doing mainly "positional randori" - we try to get into and maintain either side control or the mount. We don't worry about submissions so much at this point, as I've only just begun to learn them in Judo.
We also took a look at something I've been having trouble with: shrimping/hip-escape. It finally clicked that I've been leaving out the bump/bridge part of it, and making it way too hard on myself to move my hips. It's one of those things that's been explained to me a lot, but for whatever reason, it just didn't register until recently.
It was a lot of fun, and I THINK we're both improving a little, both in terms of skill and "fuel efficiency". One big deficiency that we have right now is space - we're using a mat space that's 8'x12', and it takes up a large portion of my living room, so sometimes we have to stop and reset before someone gets thrown into the TV or something.
2 comments:
It sounds like a good time.
I can't tell you how many times I see guys bridge/bump, then settle back down before trying to shrimp out! That's a valuable lesson learned.
Regarding the scissor sweep, that's a great one to know. I have a lot of success with that sweep from a cross-collar grip. If someone's deep in my guard, I'll work for a deep cross grip. From there I have a lot of control over his posture, and am half-way to a choke. I can then move to the choke or control his arm and work for the scissor sweep.
It's also a great grip because if you sweep to mount, you are still halfway to a cross lapel choke.
I am enjoying your posts a lot! Thanks for sharing. I was recently given a nice rollup mat for my garage and am hoping to work outside of class in much the same way you are.
Thanks for the tips and encouragement, Steve. I'm glad you like reading my blog - the feeling's mutual!
As Pat advised me, I've been working on getting set up for the sweep BEFORE my opponent gets fully into my guard...so as he's moving into my guard, I'm moving stuff into position for the sweep.
The difference between that and trying the sweep on a guy settled deep into my guard feels to me like the difference between sitting on a completely stationary bike, then taking off, as opposed to running alongside your bike and hopping on while it's moving. Does that make any sense? Much smoother, and I had much more success with it that way. I reckon after maybe 3,500 more tries, I'll be okay at it!
I also would like to move the mats to the garage and get a few more. My garage is 20'X20' so it'd be better than my living room. But no A/C in south Louisiana in the summer...ugh.
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