Students sometimes have difficulty with throwing techniques because they haven't properly taken their opponent off balance. This problem can even affect more advanced Judo players as well even though they understand the importance that Kuzushi plays in applying the techniques and throwing or sweeping their opponent. It obviously plays a vital role in performing the techniques in Randori.
So it's important that we understand what causes this problem in our training and even more importantly, what can we do to fix this? To find the solution to this problem we first need to identify what is causing the problem then we can try to solve it.
Many factors can cause insufficient application of Kuzushi. Let's look at each of them:
Generally the cause might come from the instructor, the actual method of instruction, the Tori or even with the Uke. The problem can even be caused by years of mistakes made during practice of the technique and unbalancing that should precede the actual throw.
Problems coming from the Instructor An instructor who lacks ability to properly instruct will result in poorly trained Judoka. Students new to the art will not have the experience to be able to tell that they are being poorly trained and will end up frustrated in their abilities and even quit Judo altogether. Their techniques will fail and they won't have the experience to understand why despite how often or hard they train.
Problems coming from the instruction methods
There can be many reasons for this, like maybe the instructor has too many students he's trying to teach at once and can't properly instruct all of them so some get neglected. Another is that maybe he only pays attention to the advanced students or those that develop more naturally and lets those that have trouble figure it out for themselves. Whatever the reason it's important for students to ask questions and pay close attention to the information they are getting from their instructor. The method the instructor uses to impart the techniques is very important in order for the students to have a clear understanding of the techniques for them to be effective.
Problems with Tori
This is obviously the most common source of the problem with poorly applied Kuzushi. The problem comes from Tori performing the throw. Even with proper instruction, the throw is unsuccessful because of improper application of Kuzushi, therefore not properly taking the opponent off balance before executing the technique. The solution to this problem can only come from the instructor paying close attention to the execution of the technique to show exactly where the lack of unbalancing the opponent is and how to properly take the opponent off balance. Most times, the Judoka will not see the problem himself and will try to force the throw and wonder why he's having such a hard time, usually assuming that it's from poorly applying the technique. Not understanding that the fault isn't in the technique but in the lack of application of Kuzushi.
So ultimately, the solution is for the instructor to improve the student's awareness of Kuzushi and it's critical role in the throw. As the student's awareness improves, he or she will better be able to execute the throw by properly applying Kuzushi before attempting it.
Problems with Uke
Uke's role is critical for Tori to properly learn the technique as well as make it work. An uncooperative Uke, who prevents the technique from happening as Tori is trying to learn it, can be what's making the technique fail. Remember at this stage Tori is merely learning the specifics of the technique and requires cooperation from Uke to properly do so. The solution to the problem is in the instructor showing Uke how to properly cooperate with Tori to execute the technique effectively.
Keeping Uke Off Balance
A common problem that happens when a throw is slowed down to emphasize the details is that Tori loses the kuzushi he has applied to Uke. In other words he has trouble keeping him off balance as he works out the details of the throw in a slow and methodical way. As he enters or positions himself for the execution of the throw he stops keeping Uke off balance usually due to his concentrating on the steps involved in entering and executing the throw. This defeats the Kuzushi that he set up previously to entering for the throw. The key here is awareness and keeping the student focussed on the Kuzushi especially as he speeds up the technique and can perform it faster. The student can also emphasize the force necessary to maintain kuzushi as he's slowly going through the motions of the throw as to keep Uke off balance even when he's moving slowly.
By Kosta Megas
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4062722
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