Letters from Camp, Day 3

Hello mother, hello father / Greetings from camp, in North Carolina

Day three of three at the Greatest Judo Training Camp on Earth.  It's been tough on the body, but totally worth it.  Here's a brief recap:

• Nick Lowe started the day with what he called his "Hajime to Matte" framework...  There is more to it, and I'll probably devote another post just to this, because it really is a useful way to think about randori, shiai, etc., but the short version is this:  Once you hear "Hajime!", there are up to 6 phases (and you want to win all 6, every time) before you hear "Matte!":
1. Move before the grip
2. Grip
3. Move before the throw (create Kuzushi/Tsukuri)
4. Throw (Kake)
5. Transition
6. Ne Waza
• Shenjiro Sasaki then showed us more of his wizardry with a Jujijime defense that can lead to a nice Juji Gatame.  He then showed a turtle rollover that can lead to Sode Guruma Jime, and another that leads to a particularly uncomfortable turnover.  Then we moved to standing techniques, looking at a Kouchi Makikomi (like you've probably not seen), then a Tsurikomi Goshi (off of a more tradition Kouchi setup), then an arm bar and a choke from standing, and finally a spinning entry to Harai/Tai Otoshi/Uchi Mata (and it can work for several others).
• Hap Wheeler ran us through some nice groundwork drills, focusing on three key aspects of groundwork:
1. Transition - Getting from standing up to Ne Waza; we did a drill where tori would attempt a throw, uke went to ground (either having been thrown or having turned out), and then newaza randori from there.
2. Recognition - We did a "freeze" drill where the action was stopped to allow a contestant to identify a particular type of opportunity (e.g., an arm bar).
3. Speed of Execution - We did a drill to maximize the number of repetitions within a given amount of time.  The drill was set up to allow a quick transition from one partner to the other.
• Igor Yakimov then showed a nice gripping sequence involving cross-gripping the lapel and "crunching" your opponent's arm, and several throws and subsequent grips from there.  As always, stuff I can use.
• Nick Lowe then came back to end the camp by trying to kill everyone.  =:>  Amongst other intensive drills, we ended the day with 20 minutes of intense randori...  Okay, it wasn't that bad.  Thankfully, I drive a pickup, so I was able to air out my gi on the way back home to Richmond.

So that was the end of camp...  As I mentioned before, I'll post videos sooner or later (probably later, as it isn't going to be one of my top priorities) to fill in details on all of this stuff.  And I intend to write up another post with my "key take-aways" from the camp...  The main stuf that hit me.

Till next time...