We had the smallest Sunday class in a long time yesterday. Perhaps this was due to the upcoming X'mas celebrations but only six players showed up.
This could have been a disaster. Instead, it turned out to be arguably the most productive session we've ever had.
With very few players on the mat, we were able to give personalized attention to each of them. And that really made a difference.
We started off with ippon-seoi-nage, followed by a lighter technique: de-ashi-barai. Then, it was a big technique again: ogoshi, followed by a technique that requires a mix of finesse and brute strength: ouchi-gari. That's four standing techniques that we covered. We've never been able to cover that much in past sessions.
For groundwork, I asked them to do a series of hold-downs without letting go of uke. So they would start with kesa-gatame, then switch to yoko-shiho-gatame, then to kami-shiho-gatame, then yoko-shiho again and finally, tate-shiho-gatame. At first it was done without resistance, then later with resistance.
For randori, we did a few rounds of newaza, followed by standing. It was very tiring but at the end of it all, everyone felt that they had a heck of a session.
In general, it's always nicer when there are more people on the mat but sometimes having fewer players on the mat can result in more productive sessions. And these are fulfilling in their own ways.
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| Our players are not just good judoka, they are good actors too! |
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