Judo For No Gi - A Guide to Gaining a Huge Advantage in MMA and Submission Wrestling

Firstly, anyone seeking to utilize upper body throws should get the basic "forward footwork" drill down as practiced in Judo clubs worldwide and demonstrated by Dave Camarillo is his Guerrilla JJ book. The key here is to make sure you are stood on the balls of your feet and that you develop your speed and co-ordination. Get down to your local judo club as well in the beginning, as you will see judoka's constantly practicing their footwork (crossing their feet) and lifting their opponent high with the Gi.

Secondly, buy some rubber resistance bands so you can practice this same movement more intensely and build endurance in your hands, forearms and upper body. I know a number of Judoka who use these bands daily to land hundreds of virtual throws even when they cannot make the gym or dojo.
Thirdly, develop the gi game for a while. The sheer quality of players in Judo clubs should not be underestimated and the sparring practice will give a tough workout for even experienced freestyle practitioners.

Fourthly, start to practice throwing off the underhook, whizzer, and neck control. In no gi practice, I try and get a grip as quickly as possible, all things being equal (i.e. defending the leg shot, not allowing my opponent any control, etc. ) Then I hit my favored throws.

Which throws for no gi? This can be contentious. I am tall so I throw uchi mata off all three grips, neck, under and overhook. I do the same with harai goshi as well. Tai otoshi - always off an underhook or whizzer, it does feel secure off the head/neck and really can give the back away. I also like kouchi gari, and sumi gaeshi, the latter of which is probably my highest percentage take down. Although its falling to the back, I find that I either land with a heel hook on my opponent at worst, or side hold with an underhook when it works.
Short guys have another advantage again; they don't have to work as hard to get their hips under to throw. Which throws: just grip and go. Its common to see seionage and tomoe nage recommended but I personally feel that if you just lock in a grip and attack, you can't go too far wrong in No Gi. You will find your throws easily.

The key for me is to not fear throws going wrong. They will in the beginning. But as my Judo has developed and I always tried to attack, my throwing skills have improved dramatically. I strongly recommend attacking with throws all the time, once you have started to get a basic level of comfort. I rarely ever land in bad positions now against non-judokas when attempting throws. This is not being brash or over-confident; its just a fact as many no gi players fail to really attack in the clinch. Look at the success of Couture (greco I argue is very similar to Judo), Parisyan, Filho, Henderson, Lindland, Yoshida, etc, against world class MMA opposition. They take down at will. Any recreational martial artist can enjoy the same advantages in no gi by following the basic outline above and developing upon it.

     By Glyn Powditch

 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1231515

Judo Tournaments and Technique

Kansetsu-waza are the twists, bends, or locks applied on the elbow joint only in judo. They are very useful in judo tournaments. Some of these are outlined in this article.

1. Hiza-gatame (knee-elbow lock)
To produce a positive effect in locking, bending, or twisting your opponent's elbow joint, it is necessary to break his posture to prevent him from using the force of his waist and abdominal region before you apply the lock.

Let us study the technique of hiza-gatame. You are lying on your back with the body of your opponent set between your legs. When he extends his right arm carelessly toward your chest, you quickly grasp the wrist tightly under your left armpit. At the same time you break his posture by pushing back his left thigh with your right foot while pulling his left lapel with your right hand.
Now with your left knee press his right elbow joint from the outside while bending your body upward. He must give a signal for defeat because of the intense pressure on his elbow joint.
Therefore you can create extreme pain in your opponent's right elbow joint. Also, pressing down on the elbow joint with your left knee, will result in an even more unbearable pressure.

KEY POINTS:
a. Hold your opponent's right wrist firmly under your left armpit; otherwise, he may escape by pulling it away.

b. Push away at his left hip with your right foot in order to break his posture. He will then be unable to use the defensive power of his waist and abdominal region.

2. Juji-gatame (cross armlock)
This technique locks the opponent in the form of a cross and is a good lock to use in judo tournaments. His upper arm is locked between your thighs, and pressure is applied upward against his elbow joint. As your opponent lies on his back, you sit at his right side. When he carelessly extends his right arm toward your chest, you quickly grasp the arm and hold it in your arms. Now you turn your body to the right to sit at the right side of his right shoulder.

At the same time place your left leg over his neck and face to prevent him from rising. Your right leg is planted against his right side. While pinning his upper arm tightly between your thighs, you press it against your abdomen. Now pull his wrist with your hands so that the little-finger edge is pressed against your chest. At the same time raise your abdomen and place pressure against his elbow joint for the completion of the lock.

KEY POINTS:
a. You must pull your opponent's right hand so that his little finger will touch your chest. Thus the inside of his arm is turned up.

b. Push your hips as close as possible to his shoulder for leverage support.

c. With the lower part of your left leg, pull his head against your hips to prevent him from raising his body.

d. Pin his upper arm by pressing your knees together.

e. Apply the final pressure by raising your abdomen.

3. Ude-garami (entangled armlock)
In the above-described techniques you reverse the natural bend of your opponent's elbow joint. In ude-garami, however, you twist to apply pressure on your opponent. He lies on his back, and you sit at his right side. If he carelessly extends his right arm, you quickly grasp the wrist with your right hand.
Then you lean across his chest, bringing your left hand under his right arm and up to grasp your own right arm-left wrist on top. If you lift up his right elbow a little with your left forearm while pushing down his right wrist with your right hand, you will exert enough pressure on his elbow joint to bring about his submission.

KEY POINTS:
a. Lift your opponent's elbow and push down on his right wrist as he is lying on his back.

b. Apply the entangled elbow lock only when your opponent's arm is in a bent position.

c. Keep your body posture correct and lower your body in order to create a low center of gravity and thereby prevent your opponent from escaping.
These are good holds to know and can be used to great effect in judo tournaments.

     By Spioros Arena

 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2578745

Judo Training Methods

Judo uses three types of training method: formal exercises (kata), freestyle fighting (randori), and matches (shiai). In the formal exercises we determine various instances in which defense or attack might be necessary, establish rules for controlling body motion in accordance with correct judo theory, and practice using these set movement rules. We will omit discussions of both the formal exercises and the techniques used in them. In freestyle fighting two men practicing together make free use of the throws and the grappling techniques to polish and refine themselves. In matches, too, we make use of all the techniques at our command, but in this case the aim is to defeat our opponent.

Training order calls for thorough training with freestyle fighting and then participation in matches. Once you have gotten to the point where you are pretty good in judo, you will decide what things you need special training in and practice them yourself in formal exercise training. In this section we will be discussing freestyle fighting training only.

The three kinds of practice

From years back, we have been taught that there are three kinds of practice: first rapid techniques applied against a man who is better at judo than you are. In this type of practice you get thrown a great deal. We call this sutekeiko, or throw-away practice, in Japanese. The second method is to practice with someone about on your level with the same approach you would have if you were engaged in a judo match. The third method calls for your practicing with someone not as good at judo as you are. This is not supposed to be a chance for you to shove and push with the strength of your body and arms; it is supposed to be practice in which you use proper body motions, force your opponent off balance, and use techniques that you can handle with ease.

Practicing to win is an error

One of the most striking things to happen on the postwar judo scene is the almost total disappearance of practice for practice's sake, not for the sake of winning. Is it that before the older men could teach the younger ones how important this practice is, judo became popular through match after match, or is it that the young people today have grown much stronger than young people used to be? We are told in precise detailed explanations that all virtue lies in practice for practice's sake. It is so significant to progress in the techniques that we must not overlook it. Ignorance of this importance and the attitude that one is a senior or one is a teacher and need practice only to win is a grave error. Prewar senior judo men and teachers gave hot scoldings for this attitude.

Practice for practice sake is the basic element of progress. To repeat, practice for its own sake is the key to progress. Rather than thinking of throwing or downing your opponent, think that he is actually being good enough to become the model on which you can both polish up the techniques you are good in and learn many new techniques. Pay no attention if your opponent throws you or turns your own attack against you. Practice with the single idea of learning the body movements and the techniques themselves. In practice sessions use as many right techniques, left techniques, and counter attacks as you can. Naturally, with all this activity one of these practice bouts can only last two or three minutes. That is all right, but remember, work out, rest a moment, work out again, rest again, and keep this process going throughout the entire practice session.
Nowadays, practically everybody thinks that the thing to do is to have an advanced judo man teach you what to do and then for everyone to practice with someone more or less on their own level of proficiency. This notion results in the young man anxious to practice but standing glumly around in the training room because he is ready to work out but is so good that no one will practice with him. Such an attitude, of course, is folly.

All-important practice with beginners

Find yourself a beginner, or a child, or someone poorer at judo than you, and with the mental attitude we have already explained, practice with them. Someone who is anxious to train and full of high spirits may not want to do this, but the person who can use his own techniques to effortlessly throw even a beginner just as he thinks he ought to throw him is sure to develop into a fine technician.
If you are practicing with someone poorer than yourself and you find that the technique is not working out as it should and you cannot force him off balance, do not get disgusted and attempt to use force to push or shove him down. Your purpose in practice should be to make yourself stronger and more skilful in the techniques. The late Seijiro Hashimoto (ninth dan) claims to have gained his proficiency by always practicing with someone poorer in the techniques than he was.
One of the most important things in practicing with someone not as good at the techniques as you are is to take plenty of falls yourself. If your green opponent comes in with a good attack, immediately let him throw you. This will help the poorer man master the technique. The better of the two can then easily use his body movements to force his opponent off balance and apply a technique to him. In this way, while he is unaware of it, you can gradually plant the seed of knowledge of the essence and basic nature of these techniques in the less skilful man. Letting your opponent throw you is also a good way of mastering the technique your opponent is using to throw you.

Anyone can tell from watching judo of late that less skilful men are not practicing with more skilful ones, and that they are not practicing for practice's sake alone. When they fall, even if the throw was performed in a cooperative way, the fall they take is not good. They use their bodies only. Of course, the body cannot take this kind of treatment too long, but in addition, people who fall this way do not make progress in the techniques. You may well ask why this is true, but the fact is that if you look at these people after a little time has passed, they have made no progress.
The basic element in judo is the ability to fall. The thing to remember is to take a good wide fall when your opponent comes in with a successful attack. A man good at the techniques is also good at falling, and a man good at falling is sure to make great progress in the techniques.

The road to progress

Anyone who is just beginning judo training aspires to progress and wants to become as strong and as skilful as possible, as quickly as possible. Probably all of you wonder if perhaps there is not some secret, some mysterious clue that I can pass on. I will tell you my own path to progress, but it is so everyday a story that I myself feel a little ashamed of it. Try not to be too surprised.

A thousand points

During the heat of the summer, in 1919, at the Kodokan, I offered prayers for success and went through a course of training of one thousand points. That is to say, one at a time, over a period of 31 days, I trained with one thousand men, one point per man.
I was twenty-one then, a sophomore at the school where Jigoro Kano was the headmaster, and brimming with vim and vigor and impertinence. Why did I decide to undertake this perhaps overtaxing practice training course? The preceding autumn at the Great Kodokan Red and White Match I had been lucky enough to break away from my group and advance to the third dan. One of my group-mates at that time was the late Seijiro Hashimoto from Shikoku. Also jostling to get ahead in the same number were Kasaro Date (first dan), Sunao Goto (second dan), Hisao Imai (second dan), and Kogo Sasaki (first dan). All these men were bigger and stronger in freestyle fighting than I, and I knew that if I wasted my time, they would pass me by.

Four training suits

As I have said, this all took place in summertime, when afternoon practice began at 1:00 p.m. and lasted till 4:00 or 5:00, or until the last person went home. Regulations were not too strict; roll was taken twice. The atmosphere was relaxed.
I always laid out four sets of training clothes, because with the heat and my copious sweating I knew I would not get along with fewer. When the practice session for the day was over, I would take all four sets, heavy with sweat, to a nearby well, wash them, and hang them out on a bamboo pole. This would leave me in nothing but my underwear, but by morning my practice clothes were usually pretty well dry.
During the course of these thousand points, my weight went down to 153 pounds, though I stayed healthy. But this heavy period of overwork caught up with me in the autumn. At first, though I did not feel strained, none of my techniques would work regardless of who my opponent was. Gradually it came to the point where I was the one most often being thrown, and people of lower judo standing than I were looking better in practice than I did. Even if I tried to pep up, my strength failed me. Although I said to myself, "This can't be!" the situation was a fact, and there seemed to be nothing I could do to remedy it. "Is this the end of my judo talent?" I worried.

Zen saved the day

Though I was impatient for improvement, I had to wait. I decided that for six months I would practice lightly -- two or three bouts a day -- and would use all of the rest of my time for nothing but seated Zen meditation at the training hall. To everyone's surprise, I followed my own course, sitting or standing alone at the hall or sometimes lying spread-eagle on the floor. Gradually I recovered in both mind and body.
Suddenly one day I thought, "In judo, while you are moving, force your opponent off balance, and apply your technique." Right after that, my techniques began to work. Perhaps it was because by that time I was my own healthy self again. Nevertheless, it was then that the idea of applying the attack after you have forced your opponent off balance and are still moving began to permeate my thinking. I might go so far as to say that this idea was my enlightenment.
It is almost fifty years since the thousand-points exercise, and from that day till this, my skill has never failed me. In addition, since I long ago gave up smoking, I do not today run short of breath. I think I can thank the thousand points for this.

Judo matches

In connection with matches I want to emphasize three points. First, if you have not had plenty of training in both applying attacks and in being thrown, you should not think of taking part in matches, and your instructor should not think of letting you. Of course, anyone just starting out in judo training wants to find an opponent and show what he can do in a match, but if that person lacks sufficient training he is inviting injury and accident.
Second, even if you are just at the point in development where a match is around the corner, hold off on public matches yet awhile. In other words, when you have a good basis of training and practice in the freestyle fights, first take part in a simple match by way of a test. Gradually, the degree of importance of the matches in which you can participate will increase until, before long, you will be able to take part in public matches with complete peace of mind. Sooner or later. everyone must take part in matches, and you must be sure to be particularly careful about them and do all you can to work out the best ways for you to make a good showing in them. Taking part in a large number of less important matches is the best way to get yourself used to them and ready for the more important ones. Following this path of gradual introduction to public exhibitions through accumulated experience is the best way for anyone.
Finally, all instructors must train their students to obey the judges' rules and the competition arrangements and never to regard them lightly.
Once you are able to participate in the kind of match that has a great deal of prestige attached to it, whoever you are, if it is your first experience you are sure to have a case of stage-fright. How far you can go to overcome that feeling is the big question. Since I first began taking part in matches, after each one I have been guided by a period of introspective analysis. This has helped me to overcome that initial fit of the butterflies. At each of the really big matches, however, it is impossible to avoid a certain amount of mental upset. The thing to remember is that being able to recover your spiritual balance as quickly as possible is the way to victory.

Although, of course you enter a match to win, as Jigoro Kano has said, the greatest value lies in following the way and gradually achieving victory. Do not think that anyway you win is all right as long as you do win. Remember the way you win is very important.
In championship matches, put up the best fight you can. Do not forget that until you have attained the championship you must face each of your opponent's, not to fight only, but to win. Always have self-confidence, and always use your head. I shall always criticize even a champion who fails to follow this rule.

From a technical viewpoint, the most important thing in matches is to come to grips with your opponent. Always stay a jump ahead of him, and win. I absolutely cannot accept the attitude that you should attempt to stay away from your opponent when he comes forward or that you should move around the training hall without even trying to come to grips with him. When he comes forward, the thing to do is to go forward yourself, stand in a beginning position with him, get the jump on him, apply your technique, and maintain control of him. If you do not, you will have no idea of what winning is.
Perhaps this point is not a technical one, but it is vital all the same. Never give a match up halfway through. Never say that you do not feel up to it, that your condition is bad, and throw in the towel. Fight to the very end, always looking for your chance to break through. If you stick it out the goddess of victory is sure to smile on you.

In conclusion, I want to repeat for emphasis that the judo man's cheerful and courteous attitude makes victory all the sweeter.

    By Kazuzo Kudo

Making Weight Techniques

There are so many different ways to make weight, and sometimes it can become very confusing as to how or what you are going to do. Making weight can be difficult or easy; it all depends on how you approach it and the confidence at which you go about it.

Many things need to be taken into consideration when preparing for a competition. This can include dieting before the comp, sauna-ing, starving yourself, or moving up a weight division.

In this article I am going to give a brief outline of the different techniques people use in order to ‘Cut weight’ in order to reach a certain weight division. I will also give you a theory to each approach.

This is not going to be an article about what you should do. My aim is to give you an outline of the techniques used and from there, do some more in depth research, talk to your coaches and team mates, and then choose a technique that best suits you.

Dieting before the competition

Many people diet before the competition. I believe that everyone should be dieting year round. Dieting doesn’t mean missing meals or following a particular meal plan, dieting simply means ‘watching your diet and eating clean’.

Losing weight is simply energy in vs energy out. Meaning, you must expend (use up) more energy than what you put into your body, (through food and drink.)

Many studies suggest that having 3 meals a day slows your metabolism (Basal Metabolic Rate) but by having 6 small meals a day your metabolism is always increased resulting in burning more calories throughout the day.

Depending on how quickly your body adapts to dieting you may have to diet as much as 6 weeks out from competition.

Many people find dieting the hardest opponent in judo. Dieting requires discipline and constant monitoring and can be very mentally draining when preparing meals, knowing what to eat and what not to eat as well as eating enough not to get run down, overtrained and ill.

  

Low Carbohydrate diet:

Low Carb diets are very popular. There are many versions out there but are all very similar. Same say have carbohydrates for breakfast and lunch but none after 2 pm, and a protein dinner, while others say have no dinner at all

A very important rule when talking about dieting is, ‘if you are losing weight, don’t change the diet. Once you plateau in dropping weight then re-evaluate your diet.” Make sure when dieting to talk to a professional or research yourself so you are doing all the right things.

I also record my weight before bed every night and when i wake up in the morning. This helps me know what my weight is all the time, so if i am heavy ill watch what i eat, if im a bit light, i might have some sugary food. But many athletes don’t like jumping on the scales because they don’t want to know what they weigh. This is not the best way to go about dieting for competition.

Experience has shown me that on a low carb diet I don’t start loosing weight for around 2 weeks. But because I was dieting and not loosing any weight i would diet harder and harder and end up getting run down with a flu. Make sure you know how your body adjusts to dieting and training simultaneously and adjust diet and training accordingly.

 The dark side of Low carbohydrate diets

The human body uses 4 energy sources, these are fats, carbohydrate, protein and alcohol. But the brain (the human bodies control centre) only uses Carbohydrate for energy. It doesn’t use any other energy sources, so if your muscles have no energy either does your brain. This is why on a low carb diet you are tired, lethargic, sleepy and mentally drained.

Many athletes don’t like dieting on a low carb diet because on a low carb diet you cannot train as intense or for as long. This is bad because leading up to a competition you want to be training at 100% without feeling tired, rundown and mentally drained.

Using a low carb diet (and dieting in general) is all about trial and error, the more times you compete and make weight the better you get at knowing how your body reacts and feels.

  

Low Residual diets

Low residual (Fibre) diets are mainly used in the last week or week and a half leading up to competition. The stomach can hold on the average male (75kg) 4kg, and girl (60kg) 2kg worth of weight and it can take up to 1 week to rid the stomach of that weight.

Put simply Low fibre diets are designed to empty everything in your stomach and digestive system thus making you lighter.

These diets are great because you can eat things such as white bread, biscuits, rice bubbles etc and due to the low fibre content the food wont sit in your digestive system for 3 or 4 days, they will pass right through and not take up any unnecessary weight.

Another negative aspect of low fibre diets is the fact that these foods don’t contain vitamins and minerals so make sure you are taking a vitamin or mineral tablet of some sort to supplement any essentials you may miss due to skipping some types of food.

 Diuretics

Diuretics are a drug (in tablet or a dissolvable solution) that are used to flush out the body of fluid and food by making you go to the toilet a lot.

I personally I have never used diuretics but I have friends who have used them before. Some athletes take celery tablets and this supposedly makes you go to the toilet more often.

Another technique is approximately 2 weeks out from competition drink up to 6 litres of water a day Then in the last 2 days drink as little as possible. The theory behind this is to trick your body into thinking that it is holding excess water so it continues to flush itself out thus making it easier to excrete water.

I believe this is bad for 2 reasons. The first reason is that your bladder is overworking, to be constantly filtering all the liquid passing through is not healthy and i also believe that you cannot ‘trick’ the human body, it knows how much water is in your body.

Also 2 weeks out from the comp I wouldn’t want to be 2 kilos heavier due to too drinking way too much water because you don’t want to stress about the fact that you may be 1 kilo heavier than first thought..

One of the most popular theories is that drinking caffeine ‘dries you out’, this is true to an extent. Let me explain, for eg if you drink 1 litre of water your body may hold onto 600ml of it, therefore excreting 400ml of it. Caffeine is a diuretic meaning that if you drink 1 litre of it your body will only hold on 200ml of it and excrete the rest. Therefore people assume it helps you lose weight but in actual fact your body just holds onto less of it that’s all. This theory is similar to the negative kilojoule theory with the celery.

  

Cutting weight

Cutting weight is the term used where you must sweat out water as well as eat as little as possible in order to make weight. This is the most common technique used to make weight in not just judo but also in wresting, boxing and even horse racing.

Some athletes can lose up to 6 kgs in the sauna depending on what weight division and also how much muscle mass they have. How much muscle is very important because muscle is 70% water, therefore the more muscle you have the more water you can lose in the sauna. 

There are 4 ways you can loose weight in the sauna.

With clothes on: Some athletes get in the sauna with a lot of clothes on and sweat it out that way. This is a great way to heat yourself up quickly but once you start sweating your clothes become wet and it actually cools you down resulting in less sweat being excreted by the skin.

Exercise in there: Pushups, boxing,  star jumps what ever you can think of. What these athletes don’t understand is that once your body temperature has been raised, you start sweating. There is no point exercising in the sauna because you can only sweat at a certain pace and by exercising you don’t heat up more and sweat more. So any exercise you do in the sauna is really just wasting your energy.

Sit in swimmers: Sitting in the sauna is, I believe, the best way to cut weight. Just sit in there and continually wipe down all the sweat on your body. This will encourage more sweat to come out.

Baby Oil: Some people sit in the sauna and put baby oil all over their skin. The theory behind this is to clog up the pores in your skin. This will raise your core temperature resulting in more sweat. I think this method is counter-productive because why are you making it harder for your body to sweat by clogging the pores,  you should just let the sweat come out.

  

How long do you sauna  for?

Some athletes like to suna over a few days. I do not recommend this at all. You want to be as dehydrated for the least amount of time possible. So if you fight on Sunday, sauna on Saturday night and only be dehydrated overnight opposed to doing it Saturday morning and being dehydrated all day.

Also while in the sauna give yourself enough time to get it done as easily as possible. Slow and steady wins the race. Don’t spend 1 hour straight in there, as this is physically and mentally draining. Bring along a sauna buddy, bring an ipod, magazine or newspaper, but take your time.

 I don’t loose weight in the sauna?

Many athletes don’t lose weight in the sauna, this is because females have the lesser amount of muscle than males. If 70% of muscle is water, then females have a lesser amount. For these people i recommend getting a sauna suit, put a beanie on and go on an exercise bike or go for a run.

 I cant find a sauna?

If you cannot find a sauna here are a couple of options.

-       Put on a lot of layers of winter clothing and go for a run or sit on an exercise bike and ride hard.

-       Rug up and sit in a car with the heater turned on full blast.

-       Turn the hot shower on in the bathroom and let it get nice and steamy sit in there and sweat it out. (Just don’t burn yourself.)

-       Sit in a hot bath and sweat that way.

 Should I move up a weight division?

If you are sick of making weight and saunaing and all the rest of it just move up a weight division. It all depends on what you want to do as a Judo player. Are you a recreational player or competitive? Even then what are your goals? Can you move up a weight division and still be competitive internationally if not nationally. It really all depends on what you want out of judo.

Some athletes especially in the heavy weights can afford to give some weight away, as long as they are faster than their heavier opponents. For example Kurt Angle gave away around 10kg when he competed in International wrestling competitions. Another example is the heavyweight girl from Slovenia, Lucija. She fights +78 and only weighs in at 85kg. She is so fast and strong she placed 2^nd in the open of the 2007 world championships.

 For more info on different ways to make weight ask some of the older competitors how they made weight. Also do some research on the internet and find what’s best for you, remember that trial and error is the only way to perfect making weight comfortably.

I hope this report has helped you out when it come to thinking about how you will tackle the making weight problem next time.

 

     By: Matt D’Aquino

The Squat :A Judoka's Neglected Best Friend

If there's one thing I've learned about judo, I haven't learned enough. Thankfully I've learned more than one thing, one of which is this; judo is a sport requiring strength in the whole body, particulary the legs and back.

To get that strength I'm sure you work like crazy with your leg presses, situps, bench press, pullups, rows, pushups, bicep curls and so on ad infintum. Good for you, you're dedicated and I'm sure you can go far.
But, what if you could go further with less? Less exercises? Instead of doing an exercise for each muscle group, work the whole body in one movement! You could build strength even if you had a mere five minutes to spare in a day. What's more, it would be functional strength -- judo strength. So what is this exercise? None other than the full squat.

Woah! Wait! Before you get your holy water out and call upon the holy spirit to cast out the demonic spirit that has possessed me, let me explain a few things. Squats are not a dangerous exercise if done correctly. They are just like all exercises in that sense. Squats will not damage your back or knees, they will actually strengthen them. It is my firm belief that if more judoka did full squats with proper technique on a regular basis, we wouldn't be having so many veterans complaining of bad backs and bad knees. Not only do squats make your knees LESS prone to injuury, they strengthen the entire body (which is more than I can say for the leg press). Also, many judo technqiues use a squat (or at least a slight bend in one or both legs).

So, how do you do a proper squat? Well, there are many types of squat, but if you master the back squat then the rest are much easier to learn, so I'll cover the back squat. Strap on the weightlifting belt. Get the bar prepared in the squat rack, have your spotter ready and let out any gas NOW! Seriously if you need to release gas while squatting the whole gym will hear it and you want your spotter standing behind you, not dying behind you! Now, step under the bar and get it on your upper back (to test where you want to have it, what I like to do is raise an arm to my side and then bring it back as far as I can. Feel along your back. The weight wants to rest across the muscle that sticks out. Take two steps back, a couple of deep breaths and you're ready for the descent.

A myth about squatting (which is the reason why many people cannot squat) is "To squat, just bend your knees and go down". I cringe when I hear this. Squatting is a technique that you must learn even to do it at a basic level. When you descend, concentrate on pushing your hips back rather than bending your knees (imagining you are sitting on the toilet) and keep your chin up. Stare at a spot just above you on the wall. You must keep the concave arch in your lower back and you must NOT lift your heels off the floor. Don't worry about your gluteus going over your heels or your knees going over your toes. This isn't bad for you and it helps you maintain balance. Do not internally or externally rotate your knees. A good trick is to imagine you're on the ceiling, upside down and are trying to bring your ass to touch the ceiling (but your feet are going to get in the way) . When you are at the bottom, (i.e hamstrings touching calves) hold your breath and (without relaxing) push your fat belly out (it's fat, mate, admit it) and rise up. To lift, concentrate on your head and back moving up rather than straightening your legs. When you are past the hardest part of the lift, then breathe out (keep pushing your abs out, though) and when you are standing up straight with knees locked and torso upright, you have done one successful squat. Well done. Pat yourself on the back...Put the weight back on the rack first, you muppet!

Full squats will also increase functional leg flexibility greatly! More so than conventional stretching. Don't believe me? Find a guy with poor lower body flexibility and get them to do a proper full squat. They won't be able to. Weight lifting, through a full range of motion is more effective than stretching for flexibility enhancement and the full squat has a helluva range of motion.
To summarise:

• Squats, when done properly, aren't bad for your knees or back. Done improperly, however, they are.
• Judoka would find great benefits in regular squats. Squats work your whole body, not just your legs.
• Squats can actuially strengthen the knees and make them less prone to injury.
• Go down as if sitting on the toilet and pulling your ass to the ground. To lift, concentrate on your head rising.
• Push your abs out and wear a weightlifting belt (this will strengthen your core).
• Full squats are one of the best methods for increasing flexibility in the lower body.

Learn to squat, get some strength, win more matches.

Developing Grip Strength

Maximum Efficiency, Minimum Effort

Anybody who knows anything about judo knows how important gripping is these days. In any contest the judoka with a stronger grip and with more extensive knowledge of grips and grip fighting has the advantage. So, it would be a good idea for any judoka to ensure they have a strong grip.
So, how would you do this? Squeeze stress balls or those little metal things? Well, you might but I certainly would not! Squeezing an object countless times might give you more endurance in the wrist and forearm but the resistance is just too little to build any strength. So, would the best way be to incorporate a load of grip strengthening exercises into your training regime? Only if you have time to add them in during your 45 minute weight session and chances are you don't.

Except in rare cases you don't need that many extra exercises just for your grip. Just adapt your training somewhat. Instead of doing countless sets of wrist curls, reverse bicep curls, etc., just think about how you do your regular exercises. With the weight lifting, use free weights and grip the bar tightly. Pullups work the brachioradialis better than reverse curls as well as a few other muscles. More bang for the buck and a simpler workout. When you do randori, make a conscious effort to do a degree of grip fighting (but not so much that you won't be getting any throws in). Pullups are great for grip strength, particularly if you add weight and wrap your gi around a bar. If you can, wrap a gi around the barbell when doing weight lifting to make it twice as thick and grip that. When doing pushups or squatthrusts or burpees, try to push the ends of your fingers into the floor, as if trying to get a grip on a basketball. Everytime you finish a session and take off your gi, wring it out a few times as if you're trying to get the sweat out. Or you could take a bath towel, fold it over, grip it as tight as you can and try to pull it apart. If you succeed it doesn't cost much to buy another one! Just a few simple methods here and you can actually reduce the time of your workouts.

So, eliminate all those extra forearm/wrist specific exercises and adapt your regular exercises more. If you still want an extra exercise for your grip strength, I recommend rope climbing -- one of the best (and most functional) exercises for improving grip strength.

So, ditch the isolational rubbish and thicken the bars, grip tighter, grip fight a bit more in randori, use your gi in the weight room, wring out your gi, "grip" the floor in pushups, and (if possible) incorporate rope climbing into your training regimen

The result? Stronger grip and more time for uchikomi.

Getting Results from Strength Training

If you have ever read various information on strength training and conditioning, you may end up more confused than you were before. There are so many different methods and means of strength training out there and often times the authors seem to disagree sharply with one another. It can be enough to make a person's head spin. So who is right?

To set the records straight, there are plenty of training regimes in the world that work at the right time under the right conditions and for the right athlete. The idea is not to read what someone else has done successfully and just copy it, but rather to look deeper. What are the underlying reasons why a training regime works? Where does that training regime fit in to the overall structure of a training program? You will make a quantum leap forward in your understanding of strength training if you avoid the mistake of having a myopic view of training that misses the forest for the trees.

Too often, people become dogmatic about one particular training regime and cannot understand why others could be equally dogmatic about a very different type of training regime. It reminds me of the parable of the blind men who were touching an elephant and trying to describe what an elephant was like to the others. Because one was touching the trunk, another the legs, a third the tail and fourth the tusks, each disagreed with the others as to what the nature of an elephant is. Each was equally right and equally wrong.
The parable holds true when it comes to training. We all feel our small part of the "elephant" and cannot seem to figure out how stupid another person is for feeling another part of the "elephant" and telling us how different it is from our small part. The sooner we get rid of our blindness, the sooner we can see the whole "elephant" and incorporate all of our small truths into a greater truth.

Get rid of the notion that there is one ideal training program out there. It doesn't exist. Certainly some programs are better than others. But among well-designed programs, there can be great variation based on the needs of the particular athlete. Even programs that are not so well-designed may have some good ideas to incorporate into a more comprehensive training program that is well-rounded, appropriate for the particular sport, training age, chronological age, work capacity, phase of training, strengths and weaknesses of an individual athlete.

A greater understanding of training truths will emerge when discussions about training stop being centered on a certain "camp" of thought and becomes centered at finding what lies beneath and what the underlying mechanisms of training are.

Training Phases

The concept of training phases will help you understand how athletes in the same sport can train so very differently from one another. In its simplest form, training phases are periods in which a particular physical attribute is emphasized above the others. Broadly speaking, there is a correct order to this training. In this way, training is much like the building of a house. You build the foundation first, before building the frame.
For intermediate and novice athletes to achieve maximum results from their special strength training, the proper order of training is: anatomical adaptation, hypertrophy, maximal strength, power and power-endurance. In order to maximize power-endurance, one must first increase power output. In turn, increases in power first require an increase in strength. Strength potential is maximized through hypertrophy (muscle growth) in the prime movers. Hypertrophy, strength, power and power-endurance require strong tendons and ligaments. It should be noted that if an athlete must maintain a relatively constant weight because he or she is competing in a weight class, the hypertrophy phase can either be skipped altogether or significantly reduced.
This order of training is known as linear periodization. Linear periodization is not the only form of effective organization of training (let's see the whole "elephant"). However, linear periodization has been used successfully by many athletes for decades. There is a great deal of empirical and scientific evidence supporting linear periodization. Most of the athletes who do not use linear periodization used it for a large part of their training careers. For these reasons, linear periodization is particularly appropriate for athletes at least up through the intermediate level. While advanced athletes may eventually experiment with and ultimately find success with other forms of periodization, many top level athletes successfully use linear periodization for their entire careers.

The order in which training proceeds in a linear periodization model is: (1) Anatomical Adaptation; (2) Hypertrophy (optional); (3) Maximal Strength; (4) Maximal Power; and (5) Strength/Power-Endurance.

Anatomical Adaptation -- The goal of Anatomical Adaptation is to prepare the body for work, increase tendon and ligament strength, increase work-capacity and correct muscular imbalances. The Anatomical Adaptation phase is also used as a recovery phase after peaking. Typically, high numbers of exercises are performed, relatively few sets are performed of each exercise, the weights are light and the repetitions are relatively high (15+). Circuit training with various bodyweight exercises and light implements is common during this phase of training. An Anatomical Adaptation phase commonly lasts around 6-8 weeks for novices and 3-4 weeks for intermediate athletes.

Hypertrophy -- The goal of the Hypertrophy phase is to increase muscle mass in the muscles which are most important for your sport. As such, exercise selection is important, but the majority of work should be multi-joint free weight exercises. The number of exercises decreases sharply from the Anatomical Adaptation phase. However, the intensity (i.e., the percentage of 1 rep max) increases as do the number of sets, however the repetitions decrease to the 6-12 range with novice athletes being on the higher end of the repetition range and intermediate athletes operating in the lower range. The Hypertrophy phase builds off the of the Anatomical Adaptation phase because work capacity (the ability to handle a certain volume of work) has been raised and the ligaments and tendons continue to be strengthened to prepare for heavier weights that follow in the Maximal Strength phase.

Maximum Strength Phase -- Following an increase in muscle mass and ligament and tendon strength, it is time to make those muscles as strong as possible during the Maximum Strength phase. Again, the number of exercises decreases, the sets and intensity increase and the number of repetitions decrease (generally, the 4-7 repetition range is appropriate for novices and the 3-5 repetition range is appropriate for intermediate athletes). As with the Hypertrophy phase, exercise selection is critical and multi-joint exercises are a must. The Maximum Strength phase flows from the previous Hypertrophy phase because after increasing your muscle mass, it is now important to teach those muscle fibers to fire efficiently against heavy resistance.

Maximal Power Phase -- Now that your tendons and ligaments are strong, you have some more mass and strength, it is time to make your body use that strength quickly. This is where the Power phase comes into play. Power is a combination of strength and speed. During the Maximum Power phase, typically the number of sets remains high and the repetitions and number of exercises remain relatively low, however the intensity (percentage of 1 repetition maximum) drops as well since lighter instruments can be moved much faster than heavier instruments and the idea is to train speed-strength. During this phase, plyometrics, jumps, throws, bounding, jump squats, speed benches and Olympic lifting variants are common methods of training power. The Maximal Power phase follows the Maximum Strength phase in the natural order of training because you have a greater capacity for power the stronger you become.

Strength/Power Endurance -- The final phase is Endurance. Depending on the type of endurance needed, whether it is acyclical or cyclical, long, medium or short, speed-endurance, power endurance or strength endurance will dictate the manner in which endurance training is conducted. This is a bit of a lengthy topic that merits its own discussion, but typically rest periods are severely decreased during the endurance phase and repetitions are increased. However, so much is dependant on the type of endurance needed that it is hard to give broad sweeping statements regarding this phase of training. The goal of this training is to take the strength, speed and power you have developed and then teach your body to be able to repeat it over and over again for a certain period of time. For the purpose of Judokas, grapplers and others involved in combat sports, you need to train to maximize acyclical power-endurance and strength-endurance of medium duration. A common form of training in this manner is interval training either with or without weights.

It should also be noted that these training phases need not be discrete elements unto themselves. Transitional phases and mixed training blocks can be used so that training becomes more of a continuum. In this manner, a trainee could combine Maximal Strength and Maximal Power training in the same training block, or even in the same session with Maximal Strength being more predominant in the early stages of the phase and Maximal Power being emphasized in the later stages of the training block.
Now that you have a broader view of the phases of training, you can see more of the "elephant" and understand why so many people can train so very differently for the same sport. So the next time you hear or read two people dogmatically arguing with one another regarding the proper way to train, you can knowingly say, "you are both right... and you are both wrong!"


      By Matthew A. Levy

Matthew A. Levy
Los Angeles Lifting Club
"There Are No Limits"
1031 North Victory Place
Burbank, CA 91502
(818)846-LIFT