Ippon!

This blog has been a long time coming....I apologise, life got in the way of my free time, and I also had to miss two lessons as I was unwell. Don’t worry; I made up for them anyway!

Last blog post I promised I’d explain how the scoring system in Judo works, or what I understood of it anyway. If any Judokas are reading this, feel free to correct any errors I may have made, I am very willing to learn!

A Judo fight known as a Shiai is 4 minutes long and the scoring system has recently been updated so that it is only possible to score in two ways, by scoring an Ippon, which means that the fight stops and the Judoka who has scored the Ippon wins, or by scoring a Waza-ari. If after 4 minutes nobody has scored an Ippon, the judoka with the highest number of Waza-aris wins. If one of the contestants commits a foul s/he gets a penalty known as Shido.

An Ippon may be scored by completing a throwing technique which results in one contestant being thrown on the back, maintaining your opponent pinned down for 25 seconds, applying an effective armbar or strangle, earning two Waza-ari points or when the opponent gets three Shidos. A win may also be obtained by submission; that is when the opponent cannot continue and gives up.

So that just about covers the basics of Judo scoring, which trust me, I had been struggling to understand for years, possibly because I never really took the time to do proper research about the subject.

I also learnt a couple of cool new tricks and tips...basically...it’s all in the wrist. Many of the Judo movements in the execution of a throw start by moving your wrist in the direction you want your opponent to go. Contrary to what I thought, though it does require strength, it is not your strength that is the main requirement for a good throw but rather a good execution of the technique which includes what is known as the breaking of balance; that is moving your opponent in such a way that s/he can no longer stay upright. Of course this is easier said than done, especially for someone who like me has little to no experience with throws, but a helpful tip which was given to me by Sensei Mario Giuliano who I had the pleasure of meeting during a joint session between Kin Su Dojo and Kamikwai Judo Club, is that Judo has no corners. The movements must be flowing, if for some reason there is a break in the technique, then it is not being done right.

After 4 sessions, I finally managed to grasp a couple of words in Japanese, though to be really honest...most of the terms just kept reminding me of the names of the types of sushi printed on the wall at my favourite sushi place (dan il-blog fih it-tqieghed tal-prodott). Well...I suppose they’re both Japanese, so I could be forgiven. My favourite (probably because it’s the easiest to remember, and also because it was my favourite type of exercise) is ne-waza­ meaning ground techniques. Nage-waza would be throwing techniques, tachi-waza meaning standing techniques, tai-otoshi meaning body drop and uchimata meaning inner thigh throw, also one I really liked. Of course a list of all the techniques is freely available on the internet for anyone wanting more information.

Since the previous martial arts I tried were both of Korean origin, and therefore had some degree of common ground with my own sport of Taekwondo, Judo, which comes from Japan, is the first one to really push me out of my comfort zone...not that the others didn’t, but this took it to a whole new level, different language- Japanese terminology, completely different style. Even though I was completely out of my element I did really enjoy the experience and for this I would like to thoroughly thank Sensei Gaetano Scerri for his excellent instruction and all the Judokas at Kin Su Dojo for being so hospitable and helping me out during the many times I was at a loss as to what I was supposed to be doing! I’m also deeply touched by the certificate of appreciation which Sensei Tano presented to me and it is surely something which I will always cherish and which will keep reminding me of the fond memories I formed at his dojo.

Since April is proving to be a rather busy month for me, I’ve decided to take the rest of the month off. I will resume with a different martial art in May. No clue what the next one will be just yet, so stay tuned!

To train judo at Kin Su Dojo you may visit their website http://kinsudojo.com/ for more info

#ippon #judo #judoka #kinsudojo #newaza #wazaari