Sunday, February 3, 2019

3 types of randori partners

Randori is a super important component of judo training. It's during randori that you hone your skills. So, I'm a big fan of randori.

To get the most out of randori, you need three kinds of partners:
a) those weaker than you
b) those of equal level to you
c) those who are superior to you

Weaker

You need weaker players so that you can try out your techniques and feel what it's like for those techniques to work. Against equal or stronger partners, you will have difficulty pulling off new techniques so you need weaker ones to for this purpose.

Equal
Partners who are more or less equal level to you are the ones that will push you to the limits. Throwing them will not be easy but not unlikely either. You will probably enjoy this kind of randori the most because it will be a battle of equals.

Stronger
It's important to have partners much strong and more skillful than you are to push you to greater heights. Having someone that much better, who can literally throw you at will, gives you a benchmark to aspire towards.

When you are first starting out in judo, you won't have weaker opponents. You might have equal-level opponents if there are other beginners there as well. You will have a lot of stronger opponents and that can be frustrating. That's where perseverance comes into play. You will need to stick to judo long enough to develop some strong skills. Over time you will see the "weaker" category growing and the "stronger" category diminishing.

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