Judo Techniques - Skills Vs Power

When watching judo competitions many people are puzzled when they see in the open weight division a light weight beat a heavy weight: is it thanks to their judo techniques, that they win? Or is there something else?

The debate is open and many have already said a lot on the matter, however most everyone tends to think, that if somebody is twice the size of the opponent he can only win, but in reality it is not always so. There is no doubt, that the advantage of the big is power, strength, weight, but what about the little? Is it just skill? And what if the big has the same skills?

A first distinction, that needs to be made between the two is concerning speed: do you think, that the big and heavy moves at the same speed as the light and little? Of course not and this is one of the great advantages of the smaller ones. The old masters used to give, and some still do, following advise: "if you have to face an opponent, that is bigger than you, remember to always keep moving and have him move too. In a static situation, both standing and on the ground, you are dead meat to be squeezed like under a press!"

In Japan the open weight division is nothing special or outstanding, it is rather natural and in the past there were really exceptionally small judokas who thanks to their outstanding judo techniques won all their matches against the heavy ones with ease.

The same masters, that gave above advise also highly recommended to train in a specific way in order to face bigger or smaller opponents. It is not enough to try during judo training in the dojo several fights with various sized opponents, but it is also important to do specific drills designed for the light to face the heavy and for the heavy to face the light.

When it comes to ground work again speed is important, but at the same time becoming a snake for the little can give some enormous advantages. You should always move along with your opponent and never oppose power or stiffen yourself, especially if he is twice the size you are. Chokes and arm locks are also highly recommended and again the golden rule is to always keep moving, never create static situations, which will of course favor the big and heavy.

Athletes, that continuously keep training in order to improve their judo techniques however can even do something more, independently if they are small and light or big and heavy. They can both learn some more on how to improve their performance by mastering their nutrition besides their opponents.

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