JudoNotes

Recently during nagekomi I got painfully whacked in the shin by a fellow doing sasae-tsurikomi-ashi. Of course the pain was not intentional, just a moment of sloppiness on his part. Who among us has never been sloppy, right? But it did remind me very vividly of the distinction between hard and soft parts of the leg — the bony and fleshy parts, if you like. Judo always uses the fleshy parts.

A sample of ashi-waza techniques illustrates what I mean:

• In ashi-barai, sasae-tsurikomi-ashi, and hiza-guruma, you catch uke with the arch of your foot.
• In ouchi-gari, you reap with your calf.
• In osoto-gari, you reap with your hamstring.
• In uchi-mata, you lift with your thigh.

In the various ashi-waza you might attack a hard part of your opponent, like the ankle or knee, but always with a soft part of yourself.

I feel this is representative of a fundamental difference between judo and the striking martial arts, where bony parts such as heels, knees, and shins are the primary weapons.

I can't think of many judo techniques where you apply force to your opponent with a hard part of your body. The best example that comes to mind is hadaka-jime, where the edge of your wrist presses painfully against uke's throat. There's also a choke whose name I don't know, where you slide your hands like knives along both sides of uke's neck. Maybe you could count tai-otoshi, where the knuckles of your lapel hand can press against the side of uke's face. Also maybe tomoe-nage, where the bottom of your foot supports your opponent's whole body for a moment.

This is just a handful of techniques out of the whole body of judo.

I'm ignoring atemi-waza, since it isn't relevant to how judo is practiced by anyone I know or know of.

There are some small tactical moves that use "hard parts". In newaza, pressing with a fist or elbow can be used to create discomfort in the opponent, or the side of the wrist can be wedged in like a crowbar to get an opponent's chin off their chest. In grip fighting, the edge of the wrist can be used to help strip the opponent's hand from a lapel. In high-level competition, fighters have been known to "accidentally" punch or bludgeon each other in the head while ostensibly reaching for a grip. I'm sure "accidental" shin-kicking happens too. But these moves are not full-blown textbook techniques. They're just tricks to gain a bit of advantage.

That's Parnell Legros doing a flying ukemi over Rusty Kanokogi. The young woman warming up looks familiar, but I don't know her name.

I tore these pages out of the March 24, 1986 Sports Illustrated. A lot of my possessions have come and gone since then, but somehow I still have these pages. I've been meaning to scan them for years.

Click the photo to see the rest of the article in my Flickr feed. If the scans are too fuzzy, you can read the text of the article here.

The Hudson Judo Yudanshakai has been holding monthly fund-raising workouts at locations that change month-to-month. The last two were at Tech Judo and I enjoyed working out on the large mat and meeting some new players. Everyone was friendly and helpful.

I'm going to try to make the next one, which is on Friday, May 21 at Brooklyn Polytech, near the A/C/F/M/R/2/3 subway lines. Here's some info from the registration form:

THIS IS A MINI CLINIC AND MAXIMUM WORKOUT FOR JUDOKA 13YRS. AND OLDER OF ALL LEVELS THAT BRINGS TOGETHER MANY OF THE BEST PLAYERS AND COACHES IN THE AREA TO SHARE KNOWLEDGE AND HAVE NEWAZA AND RANDORI GUARANTEED TO CHALLENGE EVERYONE. NOTE: ALL PROCEEDS FROM THIS EVENT WILL GO TO THE HUDSON JUDO YUDANSHAKAI COMPETITORS FUND FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF SPONSORING AREA JUDOKA.

WORKOUT DIRECTORS: CLYDE WORTHEN and BILLY MARTIN

LOCATION:	POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY 6 METRO TECH CENTER BROOKLYN, NY
FACILTY:	WORKOUT AREA 2 OLYMPIC SIZE COMPETITION AREAS ALL TATAMI MATS
FEE:	20.00 PREREGISTERED; 30.00 DAY OF WORKOUT
ELIGIBILITY:	MUST PRESENT VALID USJF, USA JUDO, OR USJA CARD WORKOUT OUTLINE ON BACK OF PAGE

Quick notes for now, photos and video later.

Dojo tournament. We had a great turnout on Saturday, including guests from Five Points, where Kevin McGrath is Director of Personal Training and a judo instructor. I got to see some fine players from Oishi's day classes, including a demo of ju-no-kata by two yellow belts which put the rest of us to shame. After the tournament several players, including those two yellow belts, received well-deserved promotions. I was particularly pleased to see Max and Ki receive green belt and yellow belt, respectively.

Hudson Athletic Fund Workout. This will be a monthly series of fundraising workouts at various locations. I went to the first of these workouts the Friday before last and had a good time. The next one will be on Friday April 16, at Tech Judo. Registration form here.

Upcoming tournaments. The Liberty Bell in Philadelphia is next weekend. The Senior Nationals will be in Myrtle Beach, SC on the weekend of May 1-2. Jeff will be competing; I don't know of anyone else.

This isn't related to judo except through a tenuous martial arts angle, but it's too cool not to share.

Extra footage and outtakes:

[CORRECTION: I said it was at the IFC, but it's at the Film Forum.]

Akira Kurosawa's Judo Saga (Sugata Sanshiro) and Judo Saga II (Zoku Sugata Sanshiro) are playing at the Film Forum on Monday, which is also Martin Luther King Day, meaning many of us will have the day off and will have time to go see one or both. (Note: Oishi Judo will be closed that day, giving you even more time.)

From Wikipedia:

Sanshiro Sugata (姿三四郎 Sugata Sanshirō, aka Judo Saga) was the directorial debut of the Oscar-winning Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa. It was first released in Japan on 25 March 1943 by Toho film studios, eventually being released in the United States on 28 April 1974 and is based on the novel of the same name by Tsuneo Tomita. It follows the story of Sanshiro, a strong stubborn youth, who travels into the city in order to learn Jujutsu. However, upon his arrival he discovers a new form of self-defence: Judo. The main character is based on Shiro Saigo, a legendary judoka.

The film is seen as an early example of Kurosawa's immediate grasp of the film-making process, and includes many of his directorial trademarks, such as the use of wipes. The film itself was quite influential at the time, and has been remade on no less than five occasions. It spawned a sequel, Sanshiro Sugata Part II, which was released in 1945.

I will go see both for sure. I just need to decide on a showtime.

The most excellent Hidden Fortress, also by Kurosawa and the direct inspiration for Star Wars, is playing today at 3:40, 6:20, and 9:00. I'd love to see the 9:00 show, but will have to see if I have time.

Here's a trailer for Sanshiro Sugata (presumably the film quality at the IFC will be better):

And here's a trailer for Hidden Fortress:

The 2009 East Coast is on the weekend of September 19-20. The Cranford Invitational is October 11. Application forms available at the Hudson Judo site or the Cranford JKC site.

I'm still alive and kicking. Unfortunately I've been neglecting exercise for the last two months. In particular, I haven't been rehabbing my knee properly, and I don't want to return to judo until it's reasonably strong.

A few days ago I started a "30 for 30," which is a thing Rhadi Ferguson started. Here's the Facebook blurb:

Please commit to join Dr. Rhadi Ferguson for 30 Minutes of Cardio for 30 days which is called the 30 for 30 challenge. If you are "in" your only requirement is to check in daily and report what it is that you did for the day.

I've been trying to use variety to keep it interesting. Here's what I've done so far:

• Day 1: 75-minute walk.
• Day 2: 70-minute brisk walk, including a detour into the 53rd St. subway station to go up and down the stairs twice.
• Day 3: Mixed jogging and walking (mostly walking) for 35 minutes.
• Day 4: Jogged to the gym, did 34 minutes of exercises using a step platform, a rubber band, and the floor.
• Day 5: Skipped rope at the gym, alternating one minute on and one minute off, for 31 minutes (16 sets). Followed this with some non-cardio exercises.

On the down side, my strength is practically nil. It's embarrassing the basic exercises I'm struggling to do.

On the plus side, the weather in the evenings has been great. I did Rhadi's previous 30 for 30 back in April, not long after my meniscus surgery, and all my work then was in the gym. Getting outdoors has been a refreshing change. Also my lungs are holding up well. Breathing hard is strenuous but it doesn't grind me to a halt like it's done in the past (my theory is that I had a lingering low-grade infection). If I can breathe hard then I can make progress.

For extra motivation, I got a gadget called the Nike Plus that slips into a special hole in my Nike running shoes. It's basically a pedometer that sends data wirelessly to my iPhone. The iPhone talks to me at various intervals during the walk or run to tell me my progress. It lowers the music volume temporarily and restores the volume when it's done speaking. When I get home and connect the iPhone to the computer, the data is uploaded to a web site where I can review my history and get bits of encouragement, like congratulations on doing 10 total miles.

I've read complaints about the calibration of the Nike Plus, but I don't care as much about accuracy as general trends. So far, having used it three times, I've found it fun and motivational, and it appeals to the geek in me. We'll see whether the novelty wears off over time.

So that, plus watching what I eat, is what I've been up to fitness-wise. Hope to see you folks in the dojo in a few weeks.

Paul Virtue pointed me to this. It's an episode of an old educational cartoon called The Funny Company. I recommend skipping the introductory cartoon-y stuff and jumping to the 3-minute mark.

The YouTube caption says:

The Funny Company,originally commissioned by Mattel Toys, featured mini educational films, cleverly sandwiched within each animated story, to help illustrate the theme of the cartoon. This innovative 1963 series was developed by producer Ken Snyder (Roger Ramjet, Skyhawks, Hot Wheels) in response to a 1961 speech by the FCC chairman urging more cultural and educational children's programming.

A handful of unrelated notes:

• My legs felt like they had a little extra spring in them during today's practice. No idea why. I didn't work out all week except for last night, so my legs should have felt like lead this afternoon. Maybe going easy last night helped.
• When I see a demo of a technique from judo or any fighting art, and uke is smaller than tori, I have to resist the urge to discount the value of the demo. I think this is an understandable reaction, but it isn't entirely rational and I should judge the technique, the demo, and the demonstrators on their own merits.
• I think learning the foot sweep motion is like learning to dribble for a basketball player: you should be able to do it without looking. The movement should be so ingrained in your muscle memory that you can brush the mat with the side of your foot while looking straight ahead.
• There's a bunch of updates I'm supposed to do on oishi-judo.com, including a few tasks that have been slipping my mind for months. This weekend would be a good time to get them all off my plate.
• I was tempted to go watch the tournament at Tech Judo on February 1, even though I don't know of any Oishi players who are going. I think I'm addicted to the action and the atmosphere. But I'll be celebrating Chinese New Year's with family that day, so I'll have to miss the tournament.