Purposeful Randori

Randori is an essential component for mastering judo techniques. You do uchikomi to learn how to load up an opponent for a throw, you do nagekomi to get a feel for the execution of the throws, and you do randori to try out the technique against a resisting opponent.

There is a tendency for many players to treat randori as shiai (competition). In some extreme cases, each randori is treated like it's the final of the World Championships. This is not how you are supposed to do randori.

There is no win or lose in randori because it is not shiai. But you definitely lose out if you treat randori as shiai. In shiai you don't want to concede a score so you won't take chances. In contrast, in randori, you're supposed to take chances and try new things. It doesn't matter if you get countered. What's important is that you get to try your technique.

You can use randori to hone a technique that you've already mastered. Maybe you're a little bit rusty and want to sharpen your technique. That's fine. Use randori for that purpose. Or you might want to use randori to try out something completely new. Randori is ideal for that. If you get countered, you learn something about that technique -- you now know what not to do when executing it. And through a process of trial and error, you will figure out the best way to make the technique work.

You can also use randori to figure out a way to thwart your training partner's favorite technique. Let's say your partner always throws you with uchimata, how do you stop it? Or better still, how do you counter it? There are techniques to do that. Try them in randori. Bait your partner into doing uchimata and see if the counter works. If it doesn't, try tweaking your approach to it. You'll have to be willing to be thrown many times before you can figure out a solution to it. Leave your ego at the door of the judo hall and be willing to try, and fail, and get countered. This is how you learn.

Always be purposeful when you do randori. That is, be clear about what it is you are trying to achieve. Have that objective in mind and keep it in mind throughout the randori. Then, you will really benefit from the session.