Hajime to Matte Model: Move Before the Grip

If you have to be a target, be a moving target...

In a recent post, I mentioned the "Hajime to Matte" model that Sensei Nick Lowe shared with us at the camp.  If you go to Akari Judo, we're going to be spending the month of July working on this Hajime to Matte model, so I wanted to devote some posts to my thoughts on each phase.

The first phase of this model is "Move before you grip."  The basic idea is that once you hear "Hajime" (Japanese for "begin") you need to move to get the right position - position relative to your opponent, and position relative to the mat area - to set yourself up for success in the next phase:  the grip.

So what are those aspects that you need to consider when thinking about moving before the grip?  Well, first you'll want to think about how to move, to be sure that you are moving the right way - that is, in a way that will keep you mobile and won't set you up to be thrown.  Then, you'll need to think about where to go - and that will be determined by where your opponent is and what part of the mat you want to be near (e.g., a corner, a sideline, the middle, etc.).

How to Move:

• The Balls of Your Feet:  I've talked about the importance of the balls before!  I focused mostly on throwing, there, but you should be staying on the balls of your feet even before you touch your opponent.  The same reasons apply:  balance, power, and mobility are all improved if you are on the balls of your feet vs. flat footed (or worse, on your heels!).
• Keep Your Feet Apart...:  If your feet touch, your weight is supported with a very narrow base.  That narrow base will decrease your upper body mobility, and make you suceptible to a pre-grip throw!  That's embarassing.
• ... But Not Far Apart:  My students have heard me yell "Too wide!  Too wide!" thousands of times.  If your feet are too far apart, then you are very sweepable, and not that mobile.  I'll catch someone with a pre-grip Deashi at least once per month because people are taking big steps towards me, and they can't recover.  So no long steps, no wide stances.
• Tsugi Ashi:  Tsugi Ashi (following foot) is a style of walking that involves doing all of the stuff I mentioned above, and walking by first sliding the foot that is closest to the direction you want to move, then sliding the trailing foot into place.  For instance, if you are standing with your right foot forward, and you want to move backwards, you would first slide your left foot further back (because it is the closest to the direction you want to move), and then slide your right foot back.  Read this post to find out more about the benefits of Tsugi Ashi.
• Hands Up!:  Keeping your hands up won't change much about how you move, but it will keep you ready to grip and defend while you move.  Remember, you are moving to get a grip, and having your hands up (in front of your shoulders, let's say) will help with that.
• Pace Yourself:  Depending on where you want to go (and many other factors), you may want to move at a faster or slower pace.  There are situation-specific advantages and disadvantages to both... Just give it a thought.

OK... You know how to move.  But where should you go?  Well...  That depends on a number of things:

• Your Grip:  You can try to position yourself at the right angle to take your grip.  Also, if you assume that your opponent will be moving in reaction to your movement, you can use this reaction to help set up your grip. 
• His Grip:  Are you playing someone that will nail you if he gets his right hand on your back?  Then keep your back away from his right hand!
• Your Throw:  You'll still probably want to move again after you grip, but you should be thinking about your throw from the get go.  Do you need lots room to your left side to execute?  Then you probably don't want to have a sideline to your left.  Do you need uke to be reaching forwards?  Maybe you should back away a bit. 
• His Throw:  Same points as above, just this time, if he needs room to his left, you may want to pin his left side to the line.
• Penalties:  Is he a sucker for stepping out of bounds?  Then get him over that line!  It may not be beautiful Judo, but it is a way to win.  And reverse applies if he is great at making others step out...  Stay away from that line!
• Time:  As time starts to wind down, the player who is ahead starts to get a little wild, and sometimes unpredictable.  If you're ahead, you want to avoid getting boxed in or taking any penalties, so you may want to stay near the center.  And if you are behind?  You get the idea... 

OK... that should cover the basics...  What did I miss?

Throwing Principles: The Following Foot, or How Big is Your Butt?

"How big is your butt?"

Anybody who has come to at least 2 classes has heard me ask this question.  The ladies in the class really appreciate it.  But it's because, as we are doing some drill that involves positioning yourself for a throw, I often instruct folks that you want to target having one foot under each butt cheek.  This helps you check that your feet are lined up right and are about at the right distance apart from each other.  But then I'll see someone damned near doing the splits try to load someone with Ogoshi...  Not impossible, to be sure, but not what you want to train for.  So, "How big is your butt?" reminds them to put their feet under those cheeks!

This brings me to my point:  Why are they so frequently standing so wide?  Because when they set in for their throw, they only took one step when they should have taken two! 

But let me back up again... First, the case on why you want your feet somewhat close together:

• Your lifting ability comes primarily from the straigtening of your legs.
• By widening your feet you reduce the max height of your lift.  That is, the wider your feet, the lower your hips.  In fact, I think the reason that people like their wide feet is because it makes it "easier" to get lower.
• By widening your feet, you greatly reduce the upward force that you can generate.  If you were to draw a line between the ball of your foot and your hip socket, that is the direction that your leg is applying force.  With normal feet, you have two parallel lines pointing up (and forward).  With wide feet, you have perpindicular lines that have much less "up" to them (and the crossing shows that they cancel out each other's power).
• You are more mobile from a normal stance (which I am defining as "feet are less than shoulder-width apart").  Test it out: it is easier to move (and therefore generate power) in just about any direction from a normal stance.
• A wide stance is much easier to sweep. A normal stance is harder.  But don't go too narrow;  I can't think of a situation where you would want your feet touching each other.
• There are probably other advantages.  (I'm hoping that you are convinced already, because I realize this last one may not push many folks over the line).

Ok.  So now that you are all geeked to put your feet closer together (but not too close), let's look a  mechanism for that.  We call it "Tsugi Ashi" - "the following foot."  In normal walking, you put one foot in front of the other.  In Tsugi Ashi, after you step forward with the first foot, the second one slides forward to close the distance, but doesn't pass the first foot (and usually will stay slightly behind the lead foot).  Kind of like how they teach you to walk down the isle at a wedding - but slide your feet, if that helps.  We use it a lot in Judo... I've never actually done a study, but I would guess that the vast majority of body movement in shiai is done with some form of Tsugi Ashi.

Most people end up with wide feet for their throw because they are just taking one giant step in their set-in.  How many times have you seen this:

1. Noob has a waist grip on his opponent, and he's standing on their left side, facing their right side (perpindicular).  
2. He wants to throw Ogoshi, so Noob steps with his right foot to the opponents right side.  
3. His feet are maybe double shoulder-width apart, and he tries to throw. 
4. And fails. 
5. And he probably got swept before he got to the "try to throw" part anyhoo. 

What he should have done is:

1. Starting from the same position...
2. He steps with his left foot to his opponent's right side (I'll do another post on why I like that better).
3. His feet are, for an instant, maybe double shoulder-width, but he immediately slides his right foot to be in line with his left foot (probably still facing perpendicularish).
4. He throws.
5. His opponent lands on the mat.  And explodes, due to the awesomeness just applied to him.

Now, there are other ways to get butt-cheek feet other than Tsugi Ashi.  My guess is that the top folks will "hop" both of their feet into place more than we mere mortals.  But it is easier to learn with Tsugi Ashi.  And not every throw requires butt-cheek feet.  But most do.

By the way, a quick disclaimer:  If I haven't said these already, these "principles" aren't in any particular order, and aren't necessarily gospel, either (as another FYI - nothing I say/write is gospel... in fact, I make most stuff up on the spot, so always question me).