Stances

Example of kenka-yotsu

Yesterday, I taught four types of osoto-gari:
a) 3-step osoto
b) Ippon-osoto
c) Tenri-grip osoto
d) Osoto-makikomi

The first two (a) and (b) are done from a kenka-yotsu (opposite stance) situation and the last two are done from an ai-yotsu (similar stance) situation.

It's very important when teaching judo to emphasize what variations of a technique can be used in what situations. A technique that works well in a kenka-yotsu situation usually will not work well (or not work at all) in an ai-yotsu situation.

This is something I think about for every throw I teach.

It all starts with grips...

Ashraf, in blue, was very helpful as a coaching assistant.

Yesterday, I gave a little introduction to competitive judo training at Alice Smith School where I will be helping to teach competitive judo starting in January, next year.

Their current coach, Dave Potts, have already trained them well in basic judo so they have a solid foundation. My aim for this sessions was to give them a glimpse of what they can expect in the coming year.

We only had an hour, so I didn't want to dwell on techniques. Instead I focused on something more conceptual: stance and gripping. I felt this was the best way to get started because when it comes to competitive judo, everything starts from the grips (and stance plays a very important role in gripping strategy).

When I was a brown belt and just starting out on my journey into competitive judo, one of the first things my competition coach taught me was grips. Prior to that, I had no idea how important grips were. I would just go up to my training partner, take hold wherever I could and try to do my judo. I didn't realize that if I didn't get my grips right, there was no way I was going to be able to fend off an attack much less successfully execute a throw of my own.

So that's where it all began for me. Grips. So, whenever I teach competitive judo, I always emphasize grips. I'm delighted that the students at the KL Alice Smith School Judo Club found the introductory session interesting. I was delighted to hear one of them say they couldn't wait for the judo sessions to start next year.

I've been involved in judo for all of my adult life and over the years, I've accumulated a lot of knowledge about judo. I really enjoy sharing my knowledge and experience with those who are keen to learn. It's a privilege, really.

How family judo came about

All judo clubs must evolve over time. Those who remain static will eventually fade away. You need to constantly improve your offering. That's true of any business. And it's true of a judo club too.

Those who are familiar with KL Judo know that for a long time our focus was on competitive judo training for adults. Only recently have we started to train kids. The idea of "family judo" emerged soon after that.

We figured it would be a good idea if parents were on the mat at the same time as their kids, for two reasons:
a) the very young kids feel more comfortable and confident when their parents are on the mat too
b) some parents sit on the sidelines watching the training for two hours -- they might as well get on the mat and do some judo too!

We pitched this idea to a few parents, who decided to try it and they really like it. Nowadays, this is something we pitch to all parents who bring their kids to try out judo. It's a really good concept and we're delighted that it has taken off so well.

The importance of club culture

In running a judo club there are so many important things to think about and to make sure you get right.

You need to maintain good infrastructure so that your club is a nice place to train in. You need to ensure there's a critical mass of players on the mat so each person has enough training partners. You need to come up with programs that cater for both competitors and recreational players. You need to make sure the sessions are always fun and interesting. The list is endless.

One thing I believe is absolutely crucial to get right is club culture. We judo players like to say that judo is more than sport. By that notion, a judo club must also be more than just a sports club. It's a little community -- a judo family, if you will.

As the head coach, I consider every new member to be an important component of the club. We look at the needs and aspirations of each member and try to help them achieve their goals. We also make sure they have fun in the process, because if it's not fun, it's not worth it.

I believe in leadership by example. If my players see me treat each person as super important and they notice the care and attention I give to them, hopefully they will treat their teammates that way too.

From what I've seen, it's working. No new player ever has to wait for some time to be accepted. From Day One they can integrate into the club without any problem because our players, I'm proud to say, are really friendly and welcoming.

This is part of our club culture. It's in our DNA. And it's something I'm really proud of.

Injury and pain

Judo is a full contact sport. When we spar, we go all out, within the confines of the judo rules, to defeat our opponents. They, in turn, do the same with us.

As such, it is not unusual for people to get aches and pains and sometimes even a bit of injury (because of the safety measures in place that prohibit dangerous movements, major injuries are rare). It's important to know the difference between pain and injury.

When we first started our club, we had a junior player (around the age of 11 or 12) who really liked judo and trained hard. Initially he would alarm us when he would say things like "I've injured my hip" or "my leg is injured" or "my arm is injured". We soon found out that to him "pain" = "injury". Whenever he got thrown, if he felt pain somewhere, he would say that he was injured.

But it's not only kids who sometimes find it hard to differentiate between pain and injury. If someone foot-sweeps you very hard on the shin, it will cause pain but it's likely not to cause an injury. If you get slammed flat on your back, you will get the wind knocked out of you, but probably no injury. In both cases, it hurts but there's no injury involved. Just catch your breath, have a drink, recover and get back to training.

An injury is when your ankle is sprained or you pull muscle, etc. In such cases there are actual injuries and you need to give it the proper attention (usually, ice, compress and elevate) and if the injury is serious enough, go see a doctor.

A lot of the time though, what beginners assume are injuries is just pain. Pain is okay, injuries are not. It's important to know the difference.

Training under less than ideal conditions

There are judo players who will fight no matter how tired they are or even when they are a little bit injured. Perhaps they do that because they believe it's important to get as much training as possible and don't want to waste any opportunity to randori. Or perhaps it's because they really believe in the fighting spirit of judo and don't want to give up so easily. This is not so rare. We all know players like that. There usually are a few in every club. They never say no to a randori.

Then there are also the types who only want to randori when they have sufficiently caught their breath and are not too tired. Some might just admit that they are too unfit to carry on. But some might actually try to justify it on the grounds that they will not be able to fight optimally when they are so tired. That's incredibly misguided reasoning right there.

Very seldom in competition or in real life will you find ideal situations. What if your fight goes into Golden Score? You can't very well tell the referee you can't fighting optimally when you are so tired! What if your shin hurts because your opponent accidentally kicked you during a failed foot sweep? Do you tell the referee, you can't fight optimally when your shin hurts?

And that's just on the competition mat. What about in real life? If a mugger attacks you, do you tell him you are tired and you can't fight him off optimally so he should mug you another day?

When you train under less than ideal situations, you are training yourself to be good fighter, a tough fighter, a resource fighter. So when you are really tired and someone asks you for a randori, be grateful for the opportunity to push yourself to the max. Remember, nobody improves themselves by staying in their comfort zones.

Senpai teaching kohai

Ashraf helping to teach Saymah & Eziel the arm roll.

In a judo club you have all kinds of players. Some players just want to train and have no interesting in teaching (or helping) others. Some would call them self-centred, others might view them as simply being very focused.

On the other extreme there are some players (including beginners) who simply love to teach others, to the point where they have no interest in training themselves. All they wanna do is "teach" others. I've met some like that at other clubs I've trained at. (There's nobody like that at our club, thank goodness).

Then there are the balanced ones. The one whose primary purpose is to train and become skilled judokas but who are always ready to lend a helping hand to their juniors when the coach is otherwise preoccupied. Such people embody the true spirit of judo.

Senpais are seniors who have more experience and knowledge than their kohai (juniors). I find it extremely helpful when a senpai is willing to put aside time to assist kohai learn some new things. This is something I encourage.

The true spirit of judo

As a judo coach, of course I feel proud when my players do well in competition. But as we judo people like to say, judo is more than sport. There's another aspect of judo which is just as important and it's the ethos of judo. And I always feel proud when I see some of my players embracing and embodying that ethos.

In some sports, trash-talking and insulting the opponent is somehow acceptable. Judo, in contrast, has a strong moral code that guides how judo players are supposed to behave. Some people mistakenly believe this covers only behaviour on the mat -- such as playing fair, being respectful of your opponent, and being a gracious winner/good loser. But judo ethos should also inform how you behave off the mat.


Our club recently had some new recruits and I was delighted to see some of them really adopting the spirit of judo. Let me tell you about three of them.

On the left is Jeremy and on the right is Ashraf. While I was away in Abu Dhabi recently for an IJF meeting, the two of them got together to do some training. Rather than sit out this period when I was away, Jeremy wanted to practice his yellow belt syllabus. This is an example of good judo spirit. He could have easily given himself the excuse that since the coach is away, he might as well take it easy and resume training the following week. But he took the opportunity to learn. This is judo spirit!

As for Ashraf, instead of taking it easy himself, he offered to help Jeremy learn the yellow belt syllabus -- something he was very familiar with having just taken the yellow belt exam himself.

So, although there was no official class and there wasn't anybody else in the club, they were willing to go there and train on their own. The hard-working ethic they showed is classic judo spirit but another point should not be lost. Jeremy is a +100kg player while Ashraf is a -55kg player. They couldn't have been more mismatched in terms of size. Yet they were willing to come together and train. Some player want an ideal situation to be present before they do anything. I'm sorry but that's not real life. In the real world, situations are very rarely ideal. You do what you can with the circumstances you've got. That's what these two did.

Saymah is a newbie who came to us with no athletic background. Judo training is not easy even on those who are highly athletic, imagine what it's like for someone who has no sporting background. Yet, she trains practically every day, taking LRT to training and back (which is quite a distance). That takes lots of dedication and commitment -- again, good judo qualities.

Normally Saymah gets a ride back after training from one of our members but he has been away on holiday for some time so she has to take public transport, which requires changing trains. The other day Jeremy took it upon himself to send her to KL Sentral so she would not have to change trains. What's notable is that KL Sentral is not on his way home. He went out of his way to help a teammate. This is good judo values off the mat.

The one on the right is Saymah and the one on the left is Eziel, from the Philippines, who has just joined our club. Like Saymah, Eziel relies on public transport to get around. For her first day of training, she had to find her own way to the dojo, which is not so easy. Many people have gotten lost trying to find the building we are located in. The first time I tried looking for the building, it took me a while to find it too.

Saymah was kind enough to meet Eziel at KL Sentral so she could follow her to the club without potentially getting lost. During training, Saymah helped Eziel get accustomed to judo and did a great job guiding her on the basics, although she was a newbie herself (but a newbie who has put in a lot of hours of training).

She played a key role in making Eziel's first day a good experience. Again, good judo values. Real judo ethos.

As a coach, of course I want all my players to do well in competition. Judo, after all, is a competitive sport. That sporting element must never be neglected otherwise judo becomes less than sport. But judo also has to be more than sport to make it truly a worthwhile pursuit. The good judo values and spirit exhibited by Ashraf, Saymah and Jeremy -- all newbies to the sport and to the club -- are what makes me feel grateful and contented as a judo coach.

Feeder schools and a judo eco-system

In Japan, the top judo centres are mostly in universities. These universities usually have feeder schools that have strong judo programs. Talented judokas from those schools then go on to study at the affiliated university.

Judo clubs here have nothing like that. There's no feeder school system. That's why judo clubs have such difficulty recruiting competitive players. If a club wants to have strong competitors, it needs to have some kind of feeder school that grooms judo athletes.

A judo eco-system should be established whereby:
a) There's a primary school that offers judo classes
b) There's also a secondary school with a judo program. That way students from the primary school who want to continue with their judo training are able to do so.
c) Lastly, there needs to be a judo club that caters to grown up judokas, to take in these judokas from high school or university or the work force, who still want to train competitively.

There's nothing even remotely close to such an eco-system right now but unless something like this is built up, Malaysian judo will never go anywhere.