I once heard the definition of a sensei as “Someone who has gone before”. I don’t know if this is true or not, but what I do know is that we can learn from those who have gone before us.
As you get older and practice more Judo, you acquire more and more knowledge. I firmly believe that the day you think you know everything in Judo is the day you should stop coming to Judo because you will have a negative attitude towards training and this could affect the training sessions of other Judoka.
In the last 21 years of Judo I have done a lot of things:
– I have competed in hundreds of Judo tournaments.
– I have fought in 4 world championships (plus 1 youth world championship)
– Competed in Grand Prix’s, Grand Slams and the Olympic Games.
– I have beaten and thrown great players.
– I have lost against great players
– I’ve lost to some terrible players.
– White belts have been thrown at me
– And to be honest, I didn’t like every minute of it. Sometimes he hated it. Sometimes I loved it. But that is competitive Judo.
Once someone asked me what competitive Judo was like, I replied that “Competition Judo is tough, lonely and amazing.”
Over the years, I’ve learned and forgotten some great things, but here are 5 things I wish you knew as a Judoka teenager.
1) Judo is tough, brutal and lonely at times
If you want to be a good Judo player, you must familiarize yourself with the training on your own. YOU are the one who should set the alarm in the morning and hit the gym. It is YOU who must arrive early to training and leave late. It is up to YOU to ask questions and remember. It is up to YOU to study your opponents on your own time and it is up to YOU to put it down and fight as hard as you can.
Sometimes you may have to pay for your own travel, but it’s up to you to learn how to save money, how to budget, and how to write endorsement letters.
2) Motivation comes from within
How hard you train and how long you dedicate to judo is up to you, don’t depend on the motivation of others to motivate you. For example, you shouldn’t have to wait for your coach to tell you to come up and do another Randori; you must do it on your own.
For example, I hear people say, “I can’t push myself unless my coach yells at me.” This kind of attitude says that I just don’t want to take responsibility for working hard on my own. I know you need a boost sometimes, but not every workout for years.
Don’t trust people to pressure you; To be successful, you must put in effort and be motivated. Anything less and he will not succeed and will seek to blame coaches and training partners for not pushing him hard enough.
If your coach asks you when you are coming to train next, this is a good indicator that you are not training enough.
3) Strive to improve yourself, not just to prove yourself
Strive to improve your Judo instead of demonstrating your Judo. For example, when I was trying to perfect my Guruma Kata, I would throw some intermediate level Judoka over and over again. I wanted to show my club that I was a good judo player by throwing ippon. (I know, right?) Then all of a sudden, Kata Guruma was banned and I had one less shot in my arsenal.
Rather than throwing these intermediate players hundreds of times trying to TEST ME, I should have been working on other techniques to IMPROVE myself.
So if you’re training and throwing the same person with the same pitch day after day, you’re on your way to ruin. Discipline yourself to say NO to some techniques and start attacking with pitches that you are not good at. This can be frustrating at first, but you’ll thank me when your judo improves dramatically.
4) Combinations, combinations, combinations
All throws are the result of a combination. This combination can be a grip change, a grip break, or an ashiwaza attack. Either way, start attacking with Combination Judo, not Single Attack Judo.
Combine drills against left- and right-handers to make sure your judo improves. Develop Attack Judo, as this is the only Judo that wins these days.
5) Learn a great half guard pass
One of the most annoying positions in Judo is when you throw someone to score, flip them over and then they wrap your leg and you can’t get it out before the referee yells mate. So learn some great half guard passes and practice them like crazy.
6) Dress up your techniques with the same ticket
If you really want to annoy your training partners and opponents, start disguising your throws with footwork. For example, Uchimata and Ouchi gari, Ippon seoi nage, and Kouchi makkikomi. By doing this, your partner will not know how to react, and by doing so, you will have full control over them.
Furthermore, this also relates to your uchikomi. I’m a big believer in doing 1 forward toss and then 1 backward toss when practicing uchikomi. This develops a great awareness of balance for both people.
7) Get out of your comfort zone
Training in the same place day after day may not only become stale, but also limit your growth as a judo player and as a person. Get out of your comfort zone.
Go to Japan and practice Judo (you have no idea what it feels like to be the only foreigner on the mat with 400 Japanese Judoka).
Another great way to get out of your comfort zone is to participate in a judo or sambo tournament, a BJJ tournament, or a wrestling competition.
Getting out of your comfort zone is the best way to grow as a person and as a judoka.
8) Not everyone wants to see you succeed
There will be people in your world who will tell you that “you can’t do this and you can’t do that.” But don’t listen to those people. Many people have laughed at me when I told them that I wanted to represent my country at the Olympic Games; Some people have even said to me, “So you went to the Olympics and you just had one fight?”
But guess that? Who cares what they think. As a young judoka, it is important not to take everyone’s advice into account. Pick and choose who you are going to listen to.
Oh, I’ll give you a hint. Don’t listen to people who keep you down all the time; listen to the people who encourage and edify you.
For example, I know a guy who if I lose then I’m “hopeless” and if I win “I didn’t win fast enough.” Either way, this guy is a lose / lose situation, so I decided a long time ago not to take his advice because it only hurt my feelings (yes, I do have some) and it drags me down.
So be careful who you listen to.
