Radcliffe-on-trent Xmas Budo Course 2005

Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2005 13:56

Once again Shihan Lawson and his Club organised a very good budo course, covering a number of martial arts. With the usual high level of instruction. As usual it was interesting to watch judoka from contest back grounds struggling to relax and apply throws without using strength. On the other side of the coin it was good to see another judo club taking the less strength and more technique root.

The more courses I attend the more I have come to realise that the judoka who tend to come out with comments like "when you are a black belt, you should be able to take anything !". Tend to be built like brick out houses and have problems with relaxed randori / practise, mistaking every session for "CONTEST".

Don't get me wrong I believe that contest has its position in the martial arts and if you enjoy it that is fine. But many martial artists enjoy training for other reasons and don't always want to get piled into the floor every time, just to help prove a point. Twisted Evil

In Budo

John

Guest

WIMP

Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 20:07

Brick out house Very Happy

Joking aside I have thought back over the session in question and realised that the main difference between the two styles was that the Zen style finished in a more relaxed stance and tends to help there Uki to breakfall properly, while the contest style judoka seems more focused on planting there Uki squarely on there back to obtain a win, even when not in a contest environment.

This would obviously be the main aim for any contest win, under contest conditions, but not very helpful if you want your partner to train with you for the rest of a long weekend.

Judoka at Dan grade level need to be able to maintain a level of control and flexibility in there Judo and keep there minds open to new ideas and training. If you are attending a course which is trying to teach a more relaxed and less strength method of Judo then there isn't much to be gained from training in a contest way as usual.

I suppose that is what keeps the two camps so far apart. You either like and want relaxed Judo or you want to win at all costs !.

John Twisted Evil