Second Judo lesson

9/13/08 was my 2nd lesson with Pat. We started off with a review of deashi barai. He enhanced the exercise we worked on last week (walking across the mat with sweeping motions);
1) the non-sweeping foot should be angled to the outside – this gives a wider range of motion for the sweeping leg.
2) the sweeping foot does not strike; it “hitches” a ride on uke’s foot that is being swept.
3) as tori sweeps, gripping hands should be turned in. This trains the mind to pull uke as the sweep is taking place.
I learned kosotogari (small outer reap). This sweep comes natually out of a failed deashi barai.
Things for me to remember:
1) This is a foot technique, not a hand technique. If tori uses hands to effect this technique, it actually helps uke.
2) Be careful on the sweep not to strike uke’s foot. Tori’s sweeping foot should follow and fit with uke’s foot until the moment of the sweep.


Next we covered the entire ground mobility cycle. It goes all the way around uke while he's on his back, THEN take uke’s inside arm by the elbow and force it over his face. Use your weight on that arm to roll him onto his stomach, and there's another cycle there. The cycle around a face-down uke involves one knee up and one down (alternating knees). The knee on the ground should “chock” uke so he can’t move around. Both hands should stay on him as "feelers" to get feedback as to what he's trying to do.
Things for me to remember:
1) In munegatame, one knee should be against uke’s hip at the belt (not the butt), and the elbow should be against his other hip.
2) When practicing transitions from one hold to another, get the body/legs correct, then adjust the arms/hands. As skill develops, they should move closer to happening simultaneously.

When on your stomach, to get up onto your elbows and knees, don’t try to do a push-up. Rather, bring one knee up (like in munegatame) and use the bottom half of that leg to ROLL the rest of your body onto. Think of how the Egyptians used logs to move heavy stones to build the pyramids.