Going to the Mat - Control it!
Physical battles begin standing. If they come to grips, they go to the ground. The person who goes to the ground best wins.
The important part is “going to the ground best.” At the onset, judo’s samurai heritage said that the “best” part had to do with staying alive and vanquishing the opponent. That meant the opponent went to the ground, but the tori didn’t. Tori maintained standing zanshin. A look at all the self-defense katas shows this to be true. Uke goes to the ground and tori maintains a very positive and controlling standing posture. Tori is maintaining balance, control of uke, and is simultaneously aware of the total surroundings, should any other enemies be coming. Zanshin.
Yes, one could point out that judo has sacrifice techniques and makikomi, but let’s put that away for later clarification.
I believe that in improving one’s judo technique, a judoka should strive for standing control. I see that today’s shiai favors rolling ippons. That said, when a rolling throw is attempted and fails, tori’s body separates from ukes to the point of almost putting the forehead on the mat. Rolling throws also end with tori not maintaining control, and sometimes creating a separation on the mat.
If we still want judo to represent the initial samurai aspect, even to the point of being useful for today’s personal defense, rolling throws are not a good idea. Throwing somebody onto the concrete will most likely take them out of the action, but not necessarily. You also don’t want any bony part of your body to smash into the hard surface. You don’t want to throw someone and still be in their grasp. BJJ aside, you don’t want to be on the ground with somebody who is still in a position to bite, kick, head-butt, eye gouge, or provide any other animalistic response. If the opponent has a friend, you are potentially in serious trouble.
We can look at how hold downs relate to this. In the initial discussions of creating contest rules, there were a few who suggested that three seconds was enough to declare a victory. That was how long it should take a samurai to draw the short sword and stab the opponent (before the opponent did it first, one hoped). Given some thought, why would anyone want to hold an opponent in place for a long period of time? Secure it, own it, Ippon!.
If you practice throwing uke and completing in a standing posture, controlling the sleeve arm, and being tuned in, you can get instantly to a hold down or an arm lock. If your throw only scores waza-ari, you can be there in plenty of time to get the hold, provided you’ve controlled the arm.
To add to this “throw-and-control” idea, think about how we train ne waza. If we start on the ground, we are unrealistic. Physical battles begin standing. Starting with a non-ippon throw and then battling for supremacy is a much more useful drill. It can be with a specific takedown and predetermined response (from either judoka), or it can be a scramble. What doesn’t work is too good a throw, unless it is a predetermined set of moves. A waza-ari o-goshi into kesa gatame isn’t much use unless very specific controls or defense / escapes are practiced.
In all instances, the automatic response to being thrown is to have a brain shift, and more often than not it isn’t into a functional one. Pre-conditioning is required. A pre-conditioned uke can beat tori, unless tori has a trained control reflex.
I have a life-long judo friend whose students do really great looking “throw-and-roll” throws. His history as a coach and referee is exemplary. He trains players to win shiai, so the “throw-and-roll” is what he teaches, and a fine job he does. We both come from the days of having only ippon and waza-ari for scores, with throw and control required for ippon. I’d wager he’d tell me that judo is dynamic and changes and we have to change with it. My thought is that we are the ones who change it and / or allow it to be changed; but he’s right, because that’s the way it is. Then again, I’m not a “Judo for shiai” only sensei.
If I were coaching for shiai victories, I believe that training for throw & control will provide many more victories. I believe this has more bio-physical advantage in terms of the physics of what makes judo throws work. This is a debatable statement, for another time.
That said, I also believe that learning a throw the ends standing before learning it as a rolling throw will provide a better rolling throw if wanted.
Standing control will be a much better reflex on the street. Martial arts and street confrontation is a broad subject. Narrowed down to the option of staying on ones feet or going to the ground in a personal defense situation, my advice is to stay standing.
One excellent judo throw control endeavor is nage no kata. You may or may not be able to find a sensei who can help you with the many nuances of it. Still, the very nature of it demands zanshin.
Here is a video that shows a cop using a throw right out of nage no kata to defend against a machete attack. There is no doubt in my mind that this cop studied kata. His reactions to take control once the throw was concluded show how going from standing control to opponent on the ground control is functional.
You must go to the mat against an opponent with full control, from the beginning to the end.
From the perspective of being the one thrown, you must be ready to take control of the opponent as the opponent comes to the ground with you. The seemingly automatic success of o-goshi to kesa gatame seems assured. When asked how to escape from kesa, I tell students, “Don’t get into it!” This is true of many of the predicaments resulting from good throws that don’t quite score ippon. Even before landing, you must begin the movements required for destroying the hold. What are they? Many are the ones you learned in class by starting already in the hold while practicing, although you were learning them from a static position. Just as throws must be learned in moving scenarios, escapes from hold downs must be learned from being thrown. The moves that you need to do to escape kesa must be in progress even as impact happens, and before the referee says osaekomi! Take control; don’t be controlled.
(It is difficult to practice these defensive strategies unless your sensei actually creates drills for them. That’s between you and your sensei.)
Rock & Roll
Doing BJJ “rolling” is okay because it provides an understanding of how to move and manipulate, and it gives you good on-the-mat body awareness. It also teaches you to spot and take opportunities, as well as create them. I like it that in BJJ there is a strong submission mentality. In judo, there is no rolling. It’s “Get it or forget it”. That’s the samurai mentality again, kill or be killed. It’s all rock !
When practicing ne waza, don’t hang around on the mat for minutes on end while getting nowhere. Either get something within half a minute or get up and start over. FYI, never start facing each other on your knees! Don’t begin in the guard, unless you are practicing BJJ. (If you want to use the guard to do something that takes the game, then find ways to get from someplace realistic into the guard, and it can’t be a pull down from a fake sacrifice throw.
Summary
Throw and remain standing in zanshin.
Don't start matwork practice on the mat.
Learn throws standing before rolling.
Judo for self defense is best when tori remains standing.
Nage no kata is good throw control training.
If thrown, take control before being controlled.
If thrown, your best defense is an immediate offense.
Don’t loiter in ne waza.
Begin ne waza from realistic positions.
Your throw isn’t over when uke hits the ground. Your throw is over when you have vanquished your opponent.
Control is the Inner Secret Word
Throughout, “control” has been the theme. Constantly ask yourself where and how you can control the process from throw to matwork. Add that to your judo and your judo will work better.
