Saturday 23/5/15 Session (Open Training)

What a fantastic session we had today -- the best yet since our dojo opened its doors May 11. We had several guests from Sekolah Bintang Utara, one of the few high schools that actually has a competition judo program. We also had several black belts visiting us for the first time, helping out with the training and providing good randori experience for the colored belts.

There were a few beginners present but it was largely a competitors' training session. I came prepared to conduct a general session and a competition session depending on the make up of the crowd. Since over 80% of the players present were competitors, I angled the session towards competition.

Birthday girl Shen is still on crutches so she couldn't train, which is such a shame because there were many competitive girls on the mat, which is a rarity. But she unexpectedly received some birthday flowers, so that's some consolation. :)

Ms Jey, the teacher in charge of judo at Sekolah Bintang Utara (SBU) dropped by to observe the training and she brought with her some of her top players to try out the training.

Some of the girls getting ready for the start of training by doing a bit of stretching and warming up.

We had some beginners  so some of our senior players helped them learn how to do forward rolls.

The rest did moving uchikomi to get the blood flowing and get themselves ready for a good session.

At KL Judo we use video extensively as a training aid and as usual, we start the session watching some judo videos.

I explain to the players the importance of drills and familiarizing themselves with the current IJF rules so that they don't lose out strategically. I showed them some videos of top players actually losing key matches because of some strategic mistakes rather than being thrown or beaten on the ground. Sometimes, matches are fought and won on strategy alone.

We were fortunate to have some good black belts on hand today such as Poon (Adidas stripes), Chew (middle) and Chern Yew (blue judogi).

After the video session and the briefing on drills and rules, the players are all set to do some training.

We start off with some drills on preventing your partner from pushing you outside the contest area. I will be uploading some videos of this exercise in another posting.

Everybody has to do this, from beginner through intermediate through advance. It's something new for them and many found it quite tiring. But it's good exposure for them on the kinds of drills done in judo clubs in Europe.

Not many clubs teach gripping. At KL Judo, we have a gripping session at every single practice. Gripping is so important, especially with the new IJF rules in place, that we can't leave it to chance. Our players will learn gripping techniques and strategies as part of their training.

Showing Qaini how to legally break a grip. It's useful having Chew on hand as he is a referee and he confirmed that my approach to grip breaking is totally legal and well within the current IJF rules.

Chew has a strong grip and Hooi from SBU tries his best to break Chew's grip. But it's not easy.

As with the case with all our drills, everybody -- even beginners -- have to do the gripping drills.

Doing drills can be quite tiring. Time for a water break before we move on to the next session.

Even the coach needs some water.

Actually, everybody needs some water after all that pushing and grip fighting.

After I show them some videos of the Laats' Takedown (also known as side-takedown), which is a very European technique, I demonstrate the basic principles behind the throw. It all starts with the grip. I show them two alternate grips they can use to make this technique work.

I demonstrate the throw to the left, which is my preferred side for this particular throw.

Chew is also familiar with this throw and he demonstrates it being done to the right-hand side.

As the group was large, I asked Chew to take half the players and guide them on how to do this throw.

It's critical to get the correct grip for this throw grip, it just won't work.

I explain that the side takedown can also be adapted for newaza when your partner is facing you and trying to turn you. Again, it's important to secure the correct grip for this to work.

Tipping your opponent to the side doesn't score points in of itself but it puts you in a good position to clamp on an osaekomi, which does score points.

Guiding Koay on the proper grip for doing this technique in groundwork.

I'm a strong believer in drills, so we have the players try it out with full resistance. Best way to learn.

We can't possibly end a judo training session without randori. One of the main challenges faced by judo clubs in Malaysia is the lack of randori partners for their players. That was not a problem we faced on Saturday night.

We had so many black and brown belts on the mat, the colored belts were spoiled for choice when it came to randori partners.

Because we had so many players on the mat, there is the danger of people bumping into each other. Here, you can see Wai Kit playing the role of buffer to ensure the two pairs don't collide.

We have quite a bit of mat space so everybody got a chance to do some randori. Quite a bit of randori actually. You'll see later in the video that I will upload in another posting.

Those on the sidelines waiting to fight have a good time watching the others rumble. That we played music during the randori made it all the more enjoyable for everyone.

Some parents watching on. Maybe they are enjoying the music too!

Poon is too exhausted to watch any fights or enjoy any music.

Aishah & Qaini lead the stretching and sports massage session after three hours of non-stop training.

This session is crucial to lessen the aches and pains that many would be feeling the next morning.

It may look like I'm torturing Koay but I'm actually helping him to stretch.

Poon gets extra help from his son during the massage session.

Chern Yew gives Chew a special leg massage.

We end with our customary circular bow. I thank the guests from SBU as well as the black belts who came to train with us. We hope they will come more often.

1-2-3... everybody say "Ippon!"