Judo Debrief - 3/10

We got a really good workout last night. We started with a bit of shiai, modified to match the new rules that will be going into effect during the next state championship. There will now be both a standing and ground portion of a match. Instead of automatically winning with an ippon, you will instead score points, and the judoka with the most points at the end of both portions wins the match.

I fought two matches in the shiai. In the first match, I went against one of the white belts. I didn't do too well in the standing part, stumbling around and being thrown for a yuko or wazari (I don't remember which). I did much better in the ne waza portion, quickly putting him into kesa getame and holding him down for ippon. In the second match, I went up against one of the brown belts. His favorite move is drop seoi nage, and sensei even whispered that to me right before the fight began. I tried to take him off of his game, catching him with a poorly done yoko otoshi for wazari. When we got back up, I went after him leaning forward and walked right into his drop seoi nage. Ugh, that was dumb. On the ground, he aggressively jumped around me and attacked me from the rear. We rolled around for a while, with me trying to work my way up his arm and him trying to choke me. I decided to tap out just as sensei was calling matte. Rats! (He was actually putting pressure on my windpipe instead of the artery, but I should have never let him get there in the first place.)

After the shiai, we did some more walking drills. Then one sensei took the kids to do standing randori while the other took the adults to do ground randori. I went up against the white belt again. We started with the "standard" type pushing match, but I was able to work my way around to rear control. I managed to set up a sliding lapel choke, and I could see his face turning red, but couldn't quite get him to tap out. He managed to escape and get on top, but I was able to reverse it as sensei yelled matte. My second partner was Sensei Tom. He tried to put me into the guard but I was able to keep pressure and get past it. I had a controlling position on top, but for some reason I decided I wasn't making any progress and went for rear control and the choke. I couldn't quite get it set up right, and he reversed and put me into an arm bar. Afterward, he wasn't really sure why I left the top position. He mentioned that I was mostly in control, and should have worked for a hold down. Sigh.

I learned a couple of things last night. I'm still leaning forward. I really have to work on that. I also need to get better at "countering my opponent through movement". Looking at the fight with the brown belt, its impossible for him to do a right drop seoi nage if I am moving to the left. Of course, it makes the left throw easier, but that's another lesson. I also got some pointers on my choking techniques. Overall, it was a very good practice.