Judo adventures 3.47

[yuuago]

Attending: Me, C, SJ, Jo & Ma, G, and misc kids. T-sensei, J-sensei, and Ry-sensei instructing.

We started with turnovers. Basically various scenarios where you reach under, grab the lapels, and use that to roll your opponent over.

We also worked on some counters for turnover attempts. So like, when you're in turtle, or when you're flat, if someone reaches in to grab that, you can trap their arm and then roll. This gives you an opportunity to get them into a hold down.

Basically, if someone's reaching to the side opposite from where they are, you can deliberately give them an opening to sneak their hand under your arm to grab for something. But then you trap it - high, above the elbow. And then you post your leg as leverage and roll. You have the arm already trapped, so then you can grab at their legs and hold them.

I partnered with G for part of this. I'm glad she has continued to come to class. It's hard for her because most of the people in the adult class are very big compared to her. But there were also some smaller kids there today, so she was able to work with them as well.

We also worked on grip breaking. I find it very challenging. Anyway, we worked on breaking from lapel and from sleeve.

For lapel, you have to grab with two hands and basically step back - requires a lot of force. It's hard. Sometimes a turn helps also. Upside, if you break it successfully, you have hold of their arm and can easily pull them into a makakomi.

For sleeve, I received some tips that might help. Basically you bring your hand up near your ear, and then turn your arm out, and rip it away. You might need to step back as well, or turn your body. This will free your arm, and then again, lots of options.

I don't have a lot of upper body strength, so things like grip breaking are very hard for me, depending on who my partner is.

Anyway. Warmup nearly killed me today. I arrived early and did a shitload of breakfall practice and stuff, because I was assuming it was going to be a small class. But tons of people showed up, and C and SJ were leading the warmup and I just couldn't keep up... and also I guess I'm still not feeling 100%. Oh, well. The breakfall practice was very useful, though, so there is that.