Randori vs. Shiai

It's kind of like the difference between learning to walk and being chased by a mean dog.


According to Dr. Kano, there are three tools for instruction or practice: Kata, Randori, and Shiai. At the highest level, here's what they mean:
• Kata: practice of forms; predetermined movements
• Randori: adversarial, free-moving practice
• Shiai: competition, tournament (I've posted before about the value of competition.)

I'm not going to talk about Kata here (though it bears discussion), but I do want to talk about the difference between Shiai and Randori because they're sometimes confused.

Randori is practice. To "win" in Randori, you just need to learn something new or get better or help your partner learn. Thus, you can still win if you get thrown 30 times. The way you "lose" in Randori is that you don't do any of those things and/or you hurt yourself. You are generally not putting your heart and soul into putting your partners back on the mat. Given the principle of "Jita Kyoei” (mutual benefit), you are trying both to help yourself as well as help your partner. That doesn't mean that there's no struggle, but it does mean that if a 200 pound black belt is going against a 150 pound green belt, the 200 pounder shouldn't be making it as difficult for the green belt as he is capable. Maybe the 200 pounder will decide to focus more on foot sweeps, or he will give the green belt many looks at the same attack (even if that attack puts the green belt on his butt every time)…

Shiai, on the other hand, is a competition.  You “win” in competition by winning. You put the other guy on his back, you pin him, you make him tap, you get more points, or he gets disqualified (though I'm not a fan of people who try to get the other guy disqualified). If, for whatever reason, the 200 pounder in the 150 pounder mentioned above were in the same division, and they found themselves facing off against each other, the 200 pounder's job is to put the smaller man on his back with force and control. As I mentioned in the article I linked to above, both Randori and Shiai are about field testing your Judo. Shiai, though, is intended to be a more extreme environment, where the other guy is trying as hard as he can to put you on your back, and you’re seeing how your Judo works in that situation. Jita Kyoei still applies, but in this instance the benefit that you are providing your opponent is a sincere attack.

Randori has partners, Shiai has opponents.

One's first Shiai is often an eye-opening experience. You get hit. You get ground up. You get mauled. You get jostled like you've never been jostled before. It may not be beautiful judo, but that isn't to say that that's not what your opponent is supposed to be doing. You see, they're giving you the opportunity to test your judo against somebody who's mauling, hitting, and jostling you. That's a useful skill. Just be ready for it.

And if they're doing that in Randori, tell them to knock it off.

Recap of Gary Goltz's Clinic

Sensei Gary Goltz paid us a visit on his whistle-stop tour of the East Coast .  His clinic started with a demonstration of some simple, effective drills to teach footwork and body positioning for throws to the uke's rear, focusing on the three main entries for rear throws.  He demonstrates the culmination here:

Note that he does not grip his uke's gi - the drill is aimed at focusing on footwork and body positioning.  One note on the O Soto portion - be cautious not to let your shoulders get behind your hips as you bring your leg up - it's a good way to end up on your butt.

He then demonstrated similar drills focusing on two main entries for forward throws.  The "regular entry":

And the "irregular" entry:

He then gave a simple and effective version of Sasae Tsurikomi Ashi - As a side note, I really like how he executes this Sasae, starting by destroying uke's posture and making him hop to stay alive...  I think I will start teaching it this way:

We then looked at how to combo into Sasae, using Osoto Gari as a lead-in:

Not coincidentally, this combination is reversible!  You can just as easily go Sasae Tsurikomi Ashi to Osoto Gari! 

Following that, if you didn't quite complete your Sasae, your opponent should be in a great position for O Guruma, Harai Goshi, or a number of other throws:

Finally, we did some randori, but with a twist:  At first, only the high rank could attack.  The lower rank was only to respond to the throw, by either a) avoiding it, b) countering it, or c) just taking the fall.  After a few minutes, the attacker and "responder" would change.  I really liked this flavor of randori, especially when you have some lower ranks on the mat, because it simplifies the action somewhat, and allows more focus on sub-components on randori (see my post on multitasking for more on why I would like this).

Just before bowing out, Sensei Goltz shared some great news with us:  our very own Leo Valdes (a.k.a. "KodokanJudo" for anyone who has been reading the comments on this blog) received his promotion to Yodan!  Big congratulations to Leo on that.  Definitely well-deserved.

In addition to Sensei Goltz, we also had Senseis Bernie Gill (Richmond, Godan) and Hamdi Hawash (Richmond/Egypt, Godan) who added another 100+ years of Judo experience to the mix.  In all, it was a great clinic that everyone, whether experienced or novice, could take away from and add to their own Judo.  Sensei Goltz's focus on the simple and effective provided drills and combinations that hammer home some core principles of Judo in a very easy-to-grasp manner.  We at Akari Judo really appreciate him taking the time to work with us, and will definitely be integrating his drills and techniques into our practice.

And congratulations again to Leo!

The Genius of Kano

For me, the thing that differentiates Genius from just the "Really Smart" is that a Genius has a great ability to reject commonly accepted "reality" where it is wrong.  A good example is with Einstein and relativity.  As a quick side note, I think that is why so many geniuses go crazy (and/or are perceived as being crazy)...  This predisposition to reject reality can go too far.  But that's for another day.  Today, I want to talk about our buddy Jigoro Kano and how he was, IMO, a genius.

The biggest genius of Kano, I think, was that he could make a more effective martial art by removing the most lethal/damaging techniques.  The eye gouge is an amazingly effective way to end a fight, sure, but you only get to practice it at most two times with your partner - and even then you have to be pretty persuasive to get that second rep in.  You can fake it - go right up to the point of gouging the eye - but because you can't practice an eye gouge in a live situation, your ability to pull one off in a real confrontation would be in question.  So Kano took those techniques that he felt could not be safely executed in a live situation, and he gave them the boot.  Striking?  You can only kick someone in the face but so many times before they want to stop playing with you (and by the way, stop saying that Judo has atemi waza...  the Nage No Kata head bop is a useful training tool, but it isn't meant to teach people how to strike).  Neck breaks?  Only 1 rep per partner.  Gone.  And on down the list. 

What you are then left with is a martial art where you can go all out with your full range of techniques (or, in the case of submissions, until they tap, and you simply have to disregard the tap to finish the technique).  Now, you can attempt to apply your knowledge against a resisting, moving, and attacking opponent, without fear of breaking him or her.  And by getting to practice in this live situation (aka, Randori) over and over and over again, you are now much more likely to be able to apply your knowledge in a "real" encounter.  So by taking out the "effective" techniques, Kano made Judo more effective.  Genius!

As a quick side note, I have always wondered why he took out leg locks.  BJJ has shown that leg locks can be practiced safely, similar to how we practice arm locks...  Anybody know the answer?

As another side note, Sensei Kano, in addition to being Genius, was also Really Smart.  He was a brilliant marketer.  He took the time to create this nifty new art, but it could have easily died on the vine, like so many other great ideas.  But he was able to get his message out effectively by working with the Tokyo Police, using his position with the Japanese Ministry of Education (and how awesome would it be if we could get Judo included in PE curricula in the US?), working to get Judo into the Olympics, and sending his top students to be Judo emissaries around the world.  And there is probably more, but I just don't know about it.  Anyway, the existence of Judo today owes itself to both Dr. Kano's genius and his cleverness.  It's pretty rare to find someone who has both...