Why? Why? Why?

From time to time, it's good to do a little Q&A on FAQ (frequently asked questions) so that people understand why we do and don't do certain things at our judo club.

Why do we charge for trial sessions?
There are two key reasons for this. Firstly, we want only serious prospective members to come for our trials. One way to weed out the serious from the non-serious is to charge a nominal fee. We believe RM20 is very fair for a two-hour session (our normal walk-in rate is RM50 per session). If someone is not willing to pay RM20 for a trial, they are not serious about wanting to join. Besides, if they are simply too cheap to pay for a trial, we don't want such people in our club. Secondly, contrary to what some people might think, there are costs to the club when a newbie comes for a trial. True, our rent stays the same but there are opportunity costs in terms of the time, attention and effort our instructors and senior players have to spend on teaching the newbie the ropes. This is time that could have been spent on existing members. So, we need to impose a nominal fee to discourage the frivolous from coming for a "free trial".

Why do we insist on proper judogis being worn during practice?
There is a very practical reason. Karate and taekwondo gis are not designed for gripping and certainly not heavy gripping. Most karate and taewondo gis are perhaps 150 gsm (grams per square meter). In contrast, a competition judogi is 750 gsm. In other words, five times as thick. Even a beginner's training gi for judo is at a minimum 350 gsm, which is already double the thickness of a karate or taekwondo gi. Mind you, a beginner's training gi is the absolute thinnest gi for judo.

Why don't we allow BJJ gis, which are easily as thick as judogis?
BJJ gis may pass the thickness test but they are usually too tight and the sleeves and pants are usually too short to be considered legal for judo. BJJ is very much a groundwork game so having the suit loose enough and the sleeves long enough is not much of a concern. It is a concern when you are dealing with judo, which has a strong throwing component to the sport. But even if a BJJ gi had the necessary thickness, looseness and sleeve length, we also don't permit gis that are of any colour other than white or blue. Nor are the gis allowed to have patches and embroidery all over the place. Judogis are allowed to have some patches and embroidery but in a very limited way. These are restricted to certain parts of the judogi only. Otherwise, it would be considered an illegal gi. This is what gives judo a uniform look. You might disagree with the ethos or even the aesthetics of having such uniformity that but those are the rules set by the International Judo Federation. We are a judo club so we follow judo rules.

Why don't you also teach some BJJ or MMA stuff like other martial arts clubs?
Because we are not a martial arts club. We are a sports club specializing in judo.

Why don't you teach "old-school" judo techniques that allows leg grabs?
For the simple reason that IJF rules don't permit leg grabs. In anticipation of the follow-up question: "But aren't leg grabs useful in a self-defense situation?," for sure they are but we are not a martial arts club focused on self-defense. We are a sports club focused on the Olympic sport of judo, so we follow IJF rules.

Why don't you do no-gi judo during training?
While BJJ has a no-gi version, there is no such thing as no-gi judo under IJF rules. Judo must be done with a judogi. However, we occasionally do no-gi drills and randori for the purpose of teaching our players to be comfortable with close-contacting fighting, which is popular among some European and even some central Asian countries (e.g. Kazakhstan, Mongolia, etc). Traditional judo typically teaches you to keep uke away from you until it is time to attack but the close-contact fighters like to draw you in and literally hug you tightly in order to do their techniques. This is something most players are not used to. So, no-gi training, which requires close contact as there is no jacket to grip, helps players overcome their unease with close-contact fighting. We don't do no-gi newaza however as there is no benefit in doing so. Newaza is by definition a close-contact activity already, so our players do not have to acclimatize themselves to it. They are already used to it. It's close-contact stand-up fighting that most players are not used to.

Why don't you do a lot of fitness exercises during your sessions?
We only have a limited amount of time for training and our members, who are mainly working adults, can come only so many times a week. Whatever little time we have together, we want to use it for doing judo. Strength, fitness and conditioning work can be done alone or with other friends outside judo training sessions. But judo can only be done at the club and only with training partners (you can't do judo alone). The time we have together is limited and therefore scarce. It should be used for judo.

Why don't you do stretching before the judo sessions begin?
(From the New York Times)
Researchers now believe that some of the more entrenched elements of many athletes’ warm-up regimens are not only a waste of time but actually bad for you. The old presumption that holding a stretch for 20 to 30 seconds — known as static stretching — primes muscles for a workout is dead wrong. It actually weakens them. In a recent study conducted at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, athletes generated less force from their leg muscles after static stretching than they did after not stretching at all. Other studies have found that this stretching decreases muscle strength by as much as 30 percent. Also, stretching one leg’s muscles can reduce strength in the other leg as well, probably because the central nervous system rebels against the movements.

(From WebMD)
Should you stretch before exercise? Not necessarily. It's not proven to help prevent injury, curb muscle soreness after exercise, or improve your performance. Static stretching before exercise can weaken performance, such as sprint speed, in studies. The most likely reason is that holding the stretch tires out your muscles.

Why don't you do cool down exercises after the judo sessions are over?
(From the New York Times)

Most of us were taught in elementary school gym classes that the body requires a formal period of cooling down after a workout or competition. Instructors told us that by slowing to a jog or otherwise lessening the intensity of the workout, followed by stretching or otherwise transitioning out of physical activity, we would prevent muscle soreness, improve limberness and speed physiological recovery. All of this would allow us to perform better physically the next day than if we hadn’t cooled down. But under scientific scrutiny, none of those beliefs stand up well.

(From Sports Medicine)
Most evidence indicates that active cool-downs do not significantly reduce muscle soreness, or improve the recovery of indirect markers of muscle damage, neuromuscular contractile properties, musculotendinous stiffness, range of motion, systemic hormonal concentrations, or measures of psychological recovery. It can also interfere with muscle glycogen resynthesis. In summary, based on the empirical evidence currently available, active cool-downs are largely ineffective for improving most psychophysiological markers of post-exercise recovery.

Why don't you do much uchikomi?
We believe uchikomi is useful when an athlete is learning a new technique and therefore has to learn how to enter into the throw. However, once the athlete has learned the mechanics of the throw, the focus should be on nagekomi. It is important to do the full motion of the throw rather than just "fit-ins". So, yes we do have our players do some uchikomi when they are learning something new but we quickly have them move onto nagekomi, which is a more effective way to learn how to do a throw.

Why do you have so many crash pads?
Because we believe in nagekomi! If we are to have our players do multiple throws at full speed and with full impact, it would be very hard on the uke if the throws were done on tatami. And certain throws are more impactful than others. Doing soto-makikomi or ura-nage repeatedly on tatami is nothing short of abuse of the uke. We want our players to be safe. Crash pads ensure they can take the hard throws without injuring themselves.

Why do you have a TV screen in the dojo?
We believe in teaching practical, real-world, contest techniques. It is important we show our players clips from the IJF World Tour so they can see how judo is done at the highest levels. We need to let them know that what they are learning can actually work and is not something theoretical that only looks good or is only doable when you have a cooperative partner.

Why do you play music during randori?
Because judo involves rhythm and music involves rhythm, so they go together well. But that's just a clever answer by half. The truth is music makes the session more fun and interesting. Music is also an easy way for us to keep time. Most songs are about four minutes long, which is about the length of each round of randori.

Why do you allow beginners to do randori?
Why not? We believe randori is safe, especially when beginners are paired with experienced players who can take care of them. Many aspects of judo training can be boring. Breakfalls are boring, uchikomi is boring, even nagekomi can be boring after a while. What's fun is randori and we want our members to enjoy their judo.

Why do you livestream your sessions?We offer a very unique and interesting judo program and we want to share it with anyone who may be interested. By offering livestreams and highlight clips of our sessions, we allow people to know what they can expect if they were to join our club.

Why aren't you concerned that other people can see what you guys are working on?
A famous basketball coach once said something along the lines of: "We're not afraid of other players knowing what we can do as long as they can't stop us from doing it." We don't believe the element of surprise is a sustainable way to win competitions. Being damn good at what you do is. Good players should be able to pull of their favorite techniques even when their opponents know exactly what they are going to do. If you face Shohei Ono, is there any question he is going to do uchimata or osoto-gari? The only question is whether you can stop him from doing it to you (the answer is often no!). The same it true of every top player. And that must be the aim of every up-and-coming player. That is, become so good at something that they can't stop you from doing it.