Judo adventures 3.28

[yuuago]

Attending: Me, VP, TJ, Cor, and Ri-sensei. T-sensei and TN-sensei instructing.

Groundwork today. We worked on kesa-gatame and escapes from it. One way to make your hold more secure is to get your wrist under the neck and turn it so that the hard part is pressed tight.

Another thing to consider is you can do the hold under the neck or under the arm, and depending on your opponent, it may be more secure.

TN-sensei also explained that part of the original point of kesa-gatame is not only a hold, but because it provided an opportunity to cut your opponent's throat.

For escaping, you can turn. But if the hold is secure, you press shoulder work your left hand. With the right, grip opponent's arm. Turn as much as you can and sweep your legs toward them. Then plant your left foot and bridge your opponent.

Randori. Worked with VP, TJ, Ri-sensei. I managed to get TJ in some holds, and also managed to escape his hold. Ri-sensei suggested I try and on-knee variant of osoto-gari; challenging, but it works.

At the end, TN-sensei explained that you enter the mat for competition with left foot forward. This is because it's harder to draw a sword that way. Right foot first is an aggressive move; left first is respectful.