Jared
12-07-2008, 09:58 AM
Sup guys, i stopped doing Pankration (boxing, muay thai, grappling) a few months back, and just recently, like....over a month ago i started Judo at the Hantokan club here in Redcliffe.
I really loved it from the first class, got through all the breakfalls quickly then got into sparring and learning techniques, i was actually surprised at how much of an integral part sparring plays in each lesson, it makes up around 85-90% of class.
I noticed some students will just show up week after week and never improve, but i can say for any willing student, progression comes quite fast, simply because it's immensely satisfying learning a technique, then applying it during Randori (sparring) and being successful. I feel more natural at Ne-waza (groundwork) because i have never done Tachi-waza before (standup grappling) and learning Kuzushi (throwing your opponent off balance) is relatively difficult to grasp early on.
There were two students from Japan at the Dojo visiting on a training holiday or something...Anyway, one of them was maybe...5'5 and around 120 lbs, and the other was around 5'8 and 190 lbs....I sparred both of them in Newaza and Tachiwaza, i consider myself a fairly decent athlete, i'm around 6'1-6'2 and just under 220 lbs.
Never in my entire life have i felt so abused as i did when i fought these two guys. I had sparred a black belt (Shodan) the week before and did okay due to my background, but....This was on a whole other level, apparently they were 5th dan, and were international competitors, and i can say the degree of hopelessness that i felt was astounding, and the speed that i was being submitted/thrown just blew my mind.
I was almost 100 lbs heavier than the small guy and he made me feel like an absolute rag doll. I started imagining scenarios of how to escape with dirty tactics (obviously i would never attempt such a thing, it was only a thought) and i genuinely believe with both of them, if i tried to gouge eyes and were successful, i would've still ended up with a broken bone or destroyed joint. Unfortunately at the end of class i sprained my ankle badly just while warming down, so i go back again tommorow for the first time in a few weeks, hopefully they haven't left the country, because i would love to spar with them again.
My intention is to compete in Submission grappling when my skills have improved, my friend does BJJ and we plan to cross train on each other in the near future.
Jared
I really loved it from the first class, got through all the breakfalls quickly then got into sparring and learning techniques, i was actually surprised at how much of an integral part sparring plays in each lesson, it makes up around 85-90% of class.
I noticed some students will just show up week after week and never improve, but i can say for any willing student, progression comes quite fast, simply because it's immensely satisfying learning a technique, then applying it during Randori (sparring) and being successful. I feel more natural at Ne-waza (groundwork) because i have never done Tachi-waza before (standup grappling) and learning Kuzushi (throwing your opponent off balance) is relatively difficult to grasp early on.
There were two students from Japan at the Dojo visiting on a training holiday or something...Anyway, one of them was maybe...5'5 and around 120 lbs, and the other was around 5'8 and 190 lbs....I sparred both of them in Newaza and Tachiwaza, i consider myself a fairly decent athlete, i'm around 6'1-6'2 and just under 220 lbs.
Never in my entire life have i felt so abused as i did when i fought these two guys. I had sparred a black belt (Shodan) the week before and did okay due to my background, but....This was on a whole other level, apparently they were 5th dan, and were international competitors, and i can say the degree of hopelessness that i felt was astounding, and the speed that i was being submitted/thrown just blew my mind.
I was almost 100 lbs heavier than the small guy and he made me feel like an absolute rag doll. I started imagining scenarios of how to escape with dirty tactics (obviously i would never attempt such a thing, it was only a thought) and i genuinely believe with both of them, if i tried to gouge eyes and were successful, i would've still ended up with a broken bone or destroyed joint. Unfortunately at the end of class i sprained my ankle badly just while warming down, so i go back again tommorow for the first time in a few weeks, hopefully they haven't left the country, because i would love to spar with them again.
My intention is to compete in Submission grappling when my skills have improved, my friend does BJJ and we plan to cross train on each other in the near future.
Jared