MCO-Training, Phase 2

Is it possible to do judo training alone at home, without a partner and tatami? Yes, but it requires some imagination.

When the MCO (lock-down) was first announced, I decided to provide members with some unique and original content in the form of interviews with international judokas as well as concept lessons that could be delivered through blog postings. That was Phase 1.

Most likely the lock-down will last for a while longer so we need to move on to Phase II. A few players have asked me for tips on how to do training at home and these discussions have sparked some ideas which I think will be useful.

The first challenge of home training is that most of us don't have tatamis at home. Even I don't have any (all have been moved to the dojo) so any sort of actual throwing is out of the question for most members.

The second challenge is lack of training partners. Some members are lucky, like Dave, who has a spouse who is a black belt in judo! Our "Family Judo" members would also have suitable partners. Some of our members are living with family members or roommates who might not be judo players but who could serve as willing ukes. But a few, like Saymah, are living alone and thus have no one to train with. This will be the most challenging but if there's a will, there's a way. Saymah has suggested draping a judogi around a chair so she can practice some gripping. Hey, why not?

The third challenge is the training program itself. Just become some types of training can be done at home (and alone if necessary) doesn't mean it's any good. I've seen some things being done which I think are a waste of time. So, whatever I come up with, it has to be both practical and useful. Here's what members can expect

Gokyo
The gokyo is something everybody eventually has to learn if they want to become a black belt someday. Normally, we only teach the full gokyo when people reach brown belt level, to prepare them for the exam. But we might as well use this lock-down period to learn the gokyo. Since the gokyo involves demo techniques, these are things that you could easily practice with a willing partner, even if they are not judokas. For those living alone, it's a bit harder doing the techniques with an imaginary partner, but it can be done. At the very least you would be able to learn to recognize the techniques and learn their Japanese names. Then when you are able to practice this properly in the dojo, it will all become so much easier.

Gripping
A very complex topic that is often neglected. The lock-down is a great time to focus on this. Gripping doesn't involve any throwing so no tatami is needed. It's very helpful if you have a partner whom you can ask to put on a judogi and do some gripping exercises with but if you don't, using an imaginary partner is also a useful exercise. Not ideal but at least familiarize yourself with the concepts through visualization.

Tokui-Waza
Each player must develop their own tokui-waza or favorite techniques. I will work out a customized skills development plan for each member, taking into consideration individual circumstances (e.g. living with family or living alone, etc) and individual goals and aspirations for judo (e.g. recreational or competitive). In a way, I will be giving you personalized coaching remotely via the Internet.

Family Judo
For beginners and parents with children, I'll also come up with practical activities you can do to have fun and build up useful judo skills in the process. These will be things that adults can do with adults, adults can do with children and children can do with children (we have some kids with siblings in our club).

Thinking out-of-the-box
Nobody likes to work under constraints but ironically, it’s when you work under restricted conditions that innovation sprouts. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. You find ways to work around the constraints you face and sometimes those way end up being better than the old way.

According to an article published in the Harvard Business Review last November, while people tend to intuitively believe constraints stifle creativity, they actually have the opposite effect. According to the authors of the article, who had looked at 145 studies on constraints, “when there are no constraints on the creative process, complacency sets in, and people follow what psychologists call the path-of-least-resistance – they go for the most intuitive idea that comes to mind rather than investing in the development of better ideas. Constraints, in contrast, provide focus and a creative challenge that motivates people to search for and connect information from different sources to generate novel ideas for new products, services, or business processes.”