Deciding on a new Judo Club Logo

Some of you out there may know about graphics. I know a little bit, just enough to get by, really. Well, apparently in t-shirt printing and other wearable graphic arts, the source images need to be done in vector rather than pixilated graphics. This was where my difficulty began.

Originally, I designed what I thought was a way cool logo. I liked it. The printer didn’t.

So that was the original. I really think it’s cool…but when you make it really big, you can see the pixels.

So, since that wouldn’t work for the printers, for obvious reasons pointed out by the printers. So, I had to come up with something. The next iteration was this:

This version is a vector graphic design. What that means is that no matter how large I make the image, it will look the same. Now, savvy viewers will notice that the guys in the middle are pointing a different way. Judo savvy viewers will notice that not only are the guys in the middle pointing a different way, they’re doing a completely different throw!

To say the least, I wasn’t really satisfied with this particular version. It seems a little limp, doesn’t really have the same emphasis as the first one. So I kept at it. Today, I’m unveiling two new designs for which I’d like some feedback. Here they are:

What do you, my wonderful readers, think of these designs?

The Last of the Las Vegas Clinic

Finally, at long last, the remainder of the Las Vegas clinic! It’s been a long time coming, I know, but I’ve got my notebook, I’ve got some time, so here it is!

The afternoon session was the practical session. This is the mat time. This is when we get to throw and hold and learn how to teach better! Lynn Roethke was the lead-off and she was teaching tachi waza.

Lynn Roethke

Most of Lynn’s segment was about attacking. Keep constant pressure on your opponent. Make them work harder than you, and you better be working insanely hard. She taught us counters from popular throws and her own unique style of attack.

For the coaches, she recommends intense, short duration matches, about 10 seconds, with a break between iterations. She had ideas about doing a variety of “get-ups” to develop speed in getting from the ground to your feet from any number of different ground positions.

For the nage waza, Lynn demonstrated a beautiful counter to O soto gari with Seoi nage! I wouldn’t have ever thought it would work…except it does and so easily! She also demonstrated/taught her style of, what I call, “Backpack loading” Seoi nage.

Check it out here!

Another thing, all you would-be competitors, you need to work your fitness! If you want to run in the competitive arena and you aren’t fit enough to last…GET THERE!

Jim Pedro, Sr.

Probably the gruffest of all the clinicians, Jim knows his business and knows it well. I mean, after coaching Jimmy and Ronda to a collective three Olympic Bronze Medals, it should be obvious.

Anyway, Jim’s section was on ne waza. His first two points were interesting. The first is that Juniors are Juniors and Seniors are Seniors. This is a great point for all you coaches out there that want to teach 13 year olds armbars or 10 year olds chokes. If they can’t use it and aren’t near enough to the age to start using it, don’t teach it! You’ll only make matters worse.

The second point involves transitioning to mat work. Students need to be going to the mat when they finish their throws. I think he wants them to do it all the time, even when just practicing the throws themselves. Personally, I think it’s a great idea that should be done, but I’m not sure about when they’re learning how to do a throw.

After that it was all ground work, escapes, drills, transitions, what to teach first, body position, and when to not even bother. First the last, because it caught my eye when I wrote it: If you’re in the guard position and you’re in a judo match, don’t even bother trying to get out, you don’t have time. As for what to teach first, well Big Jim suggests, in his inimitable fashion, teach the Half-Nelson turnover first, but teach it right! And finally, when you teach and do Ude garami, roll your wrists! I like to think of it like riding an old Harley-Davidson motorcycle, the type where one hand is the throttle and the other adjusts the timing.

Gerry Lafon

By far Gerry Lafon is one of the most controversial figures in US Judo. He advocates many things, some outrageous by conventional US Judo ideologies and some progressive for US Judo. I’m not going to weigh in on most of that because that’s not what this blog post is about. Suffice it to say that he’s very strong willed and has some great ideas.

First off, DRILL! Drills are where skill development occurs. If you’re not drilling, you’re not learning and neither are your students! Drill everything. Drill throws, drill counters, drill ground work, drill sequences. Whatever it is you or your students want to learn, drill it!

Speaking of counters, Gerry suggests that there are four opportunities for countering: Early technique, Late technique, Early movement, and Late movement. Each of these is specifically tied to timing. In both Earl and Late technique countering, you need to have body contact for the greatest effectivity.

Gerry suggests that judo coaches help their students by practicing “losing judo.” Why should one practice losing judo? Who wants to be a loser? I know I don’t, but think about this for a minute, if all you ever practice is winning and you never practice those precarious situations where you are in a losing environment, like being held-down or about to be thrown, how will you know when to counter the throw or escape the hold-down? Practice losing judo.

Another really interesting thing, this is part of the “outrageous” by conventional standards stuff (so was the last), is that he suggest that when you teach beginners, you shouldn’t strive for them to perform perfectly, strive for close. If they’re getting the gross movements, move to a finer level of detail. It makes sense to me; after all, you’ve got to have some comprehension to dial in the detail.


Another interesting tidbit is the concept of forward shaping and backward shaping. These learning sequences are quite useful for the average coach to develop a complete sequence of events. Each has a unique aspect of it, that sounds like it should be another blog post, don’t you think?

Oh, anyone who wants to coach: BUY SUCCESSFUL COACHING by Rainer Martens.

Hayward Nishioka

Hayward was the most cordial of all the clinicians. He seems to have a way about him that suggests kindly sensei. His clinic was the hardest for me to take notes because we were constantly moving! He covered teaching ashi waza. Let me tell you, it was much simpler the way he taught it!

It was a mad rush it seemed to write it all down, but it was so unrushed in the teaching time evaporated! We went from standing with one foot atop the other the hanging one foot. From putting our feet close together to their widest, all the while testing our balance.

Eventually we started walking first like narrow robots then big robots then walking and steering. It was amazing how easy it was when he showed us. Unfortunately it was like trying to take a drink of water from a fire hose on full blast.

It was fun. I learned a lot. I just wish I could see it again and again and again!

And one more thing: ALWAYS ENCOURAGE your students!

Bill Montgomery

Finally, the end! Bill taught ashi waza drills. Most importantly, ashi waza takes time to learn, so you should start early and practice often! There are lots of details to Bill’s session and I’m running long, so, unfortunately, this may not be a very complete section.

Some major details:

• All waza come from the hips

• Your hips move first, then the “sweepy” leg

• Once the attack starts, don’t stop attacking until you’ve achieved SUCCESS!

Finally, the most important thing for a teacher or coach to do before teaching any waza: Your body movement must be correct! If you have to, practice in front of a mirror to get things right. Your students, especially kids, will mimic every move you make when learning the throw. So if you aren’t doing it right, they will pick up on it and do it just the way you showed them!

I apologize to Bill for making this section so short.

Final Thoughts

If you ever get the chance to go to a clinic by any of these people, no matter what your particular judo ideology is, GO! Don’t let your hang-up on classical or traditional or competitive or whatever hold you back. They are wonderful instructors from whom you can learn something!

I liked going to the clinic. Vegas was good, but the clinic was Great!

Olympian Ronda Rousey to Teach Judo in Watts...Yes, that Watts

I just read on AnnMaria's blog that her daughter Ronda will be teaching judo in Watts, CA. Yes, that Watts. For more information go to her blog at drannmaria.blogspot.com.

I know I promised more about the Las Vegas clinic, but this is much more important than that!

Kodokan Judo Throwing Techniques – Tai Otoshi

Saturday, the 20th of February 2010, I taught my first clinic.

We started at 9:15 a.m. or so, waiting in hopes of more attendees, but alas it was not to happen. Two students, Eddy and Rolando, decided to sacrifice their Saturday to learn how to do my favorite throw a little better. And learn they did!

A little digression is necessary before we really begin this post. The United States Judo Association and the United States Judo Federation are working together to develop grassroots judo in the United States. One of the programs they are developing is the Modern Kodokan Throwing Techniques Certification Program. Basically the nut of this program is to increase a judo student’s understanding of how to apply the techniques they have learned in a dynamic, rather than static, environment. In order to best accomplish this mission, they have adopted Daigo-sensei’s book Kodokan Judo Throwing Techniques as the manual. Daigo-sensei’s book is an excellent resource and explicitly details how to perform the throws.

The digression is over, on to the meat of this post!

We started the day with the usual ukemi, back, right- and left-side, zempo kaiten, just to get the blood moving a bit in a judo exercise. The usual ukemi was followed by the ukemi that uke should perform when Tai otoshi is performed properly. That was a bit confusing for Eddy and Rolando, though they picked up on it rapidly enough.

Eventually we began the building blocks of Tai otoshi, beginning with the proper foot placement and hand movements. I’m not going to reveal my secrets to teaching this throw online, but if you have questions, feel free to e-mail (sensei at roswell-judo dot org). Starting with the Tai otoshi stretch we began to understand how our feet were to be placed and the feeling it develops in our lower bodies. Once in the stretch, we began to work our hands in the appropriate motions for the kake action of our throw.

Finally, we were ready to practice Tai otoshi the way we knew how and work to improve it so we could really learn the dynamic applications of Daigo. Initially all of the throws thrown were standard but not good. After working on them for half an hour, we moved to randori. The randori was light one-for-one randori, but the attacks for the throws were not good enough to be of real use in shiai. When randori ended it was time for lunch. I admonished Eddy and Rolando to read the handouts provided so they could see what was to come.

The afternoon session consisted of the three variants discussed by Daigo-sensei in his book. First up was Sono Ichi, which is a standard variation of Tai otoshi, consists of withdrawing from uke and encouraging him to voluntarily withdraw setting him up for the throw. After forty-five minutes of practicing this, Eddy and Rolando’s Tai otoshi was light years ahead of where it was when we began the clinic.

Sono Ni, a cross-grip variation of Tai otoshi, took less time to practice to understanding, though there was some confusion about the placement of tori’s cross-gripped arm. Once the placement issue had been settled, the waza became very simple for the two to understand and perform.

Sono San, a variation where uke’s arms are crossed up, was a bit more difficult but much more devastating in application. The greatest bit of confusion in this technique is the proper gripping and encouragement of uke to attempt to remove the grip of tori which lets tori perform this variation. Once the proper gripping was understood, this variation came together so smoothly it quickly became the favored variant of Tai otoshi.

The last bit of teaching during this clinic was grip fighting. I’m not a big proponent of grip fighting, but it is necessary to perform these throws, especially considering the preference toward the last variation. To start the grip fighting we began with the basic “Climb the Rope” style of attaining the lapel. Once both were achieving the lapel consistently we moved to achieving a cross grip. Again this was similar in style to the “Climb the Rope” but with the opposite lapel as the goal. Finally, the goal was to achieve a single side, almost kenka yotsu, grip in preparation for Sono San.

By the end of the clinic both Eddy and Rolando were well on their way to being able to do this technique at will. Both are looking forward to the Southwest Championships in March to see how well they will do with this throw.

I didn’t forget the remainder of the Las Vegas clinic…I just can’t find the notebook right now!

Sunday’s Events (As Promised)

Sunday was a long day! Eight different topics were covered by eight different clinicians. That may sound like a lot and if it doesn’t, I don’t want your idea of a lot! Each clinician spent about 45-55 minutes on their topic and covered it as thoroughly as possible within the allotted time frame. The morning was broken into a more academic side to clubs while the afternoon was dedicated to helping those coaches in attendance learn how to be better coaches.

The lead-off clinician was Paul Nogaki of Temecula Valley Judo started with how to run a judo club as a business. Mostly the early aspects covered keeping the dojo doors open. After all, if the doors aren’t staying open month to month, where will you do judo? The deeper the topic went the closer we came to discussing ideal business structures for judo clubs. Paul appears to be of the opinion that the average judo club should never be run as a partnership or a sole proprietorship, but as a corporate entity, an LLC, S-Corp, or C-Corp with LLC being the easiest to become. Finally, Paul closed out his session by discussing Risk Management and independent insurance policies even suggesting that a $3,000,000 should be the minimum a club should have.

Gary Goltz filled the middle of the morning sessions with a wonderful presentation of marketing. The PowerPoint presentation Gary used was shameless self-promotion and a fine example of how he and Goltz Judo Club have made use of marketing, networking, the internet, and all the aspects of his discussion. Besides, what is marketing besides shameless self-promotion? Gary appears to be a master of this as he has one of the largest judo clubs in the United States Judo Association! If you’re interested in the PowerPoint presentation, Gary may be willing to let you in on it, but you’ll have to ask him. Maybe you can suggest that he put an article in Growing Judo! (I highly recommend the PowerPoint and going to any kind of seminar or clinic where Gary is presenting!)

The final morning presenter was Hal Sharp presenting the USJA/USJF’s new Modern Kodokan Throwing Technique (21st Century Judo) Certification Program. (That link is a pdf file discussing the program.) Hal discussed the book upon which this is based, Daigo’s Kodokan Judo Throwing Techniques, and what makes this book so different than every other judo book out there. This book, according to Hal, is a book not of how to do this or that technique, but when to do this or that technique. Every judo student begins by learning a rote technique in a static fashion. Eventually the student is lead to randori but not taught how to apply techniques in a dynamic or randori fashion. This book, if used by competent instructors and students, overcomes that obstacle. The problem becomes a concern when people buy this book and let it collect dust up on the shelf (I’ve been guilty of buying really neat judo books and never getting around to them, myself!). The USJA and USJF decided that this book could be a foundational book helping students to learn how to apply techniques. Thankfully somebody understands American motivation and decided that just having a book that helps someone to learn is fairly pointless in the US, but if you create a carrot, in this case a certification program, then some people will head toward the book and what it has to offer.

Okay, I thought I was going to be able to cover the whole day’s events, but I’m out of space for now. Next time I’ll try to get through all of the afternoon events, but I might not be able to…or it’ll be a really long post!

Websites, Manuals, and Writing Stuff

For those of you who visit my website, at all, you may have noticed the very long time it’s been under construction. I apologize. That being said, if you’ve never tried to develop a website, especially on a shoestring budget, you can’t imagine how difficult coming up with content, be that interesting information, pictures or graphics, or any of that other stuff that people go to websites to see, can be. For me, it’s hard to do.

Recently I’ve been concentrating on learning how to be a better instructor and coach for my judo club. The clinics I went to in January were very enlightening. Some things happened that I hadn’t even realized if you read the JudoForum or Gerry Lafon’s blog. I’m not going to bash Gerry or his ideas; I think he’s got some very good ideas, especially when it comes to coaching competitors. I would love to go out to Judo America and spend some time learning from him and his organization! He even brought up a great book for coaches by Rainer Martens called Successful Coaching (the Third Edition!).

Let me talk about Las Vegas first. The events started Saturday morning about 9 am, Las Vegas time. The referee’s “meeting” lead off the affair and they talked about a variety of things, specifically emphasizing the new rule by the IJF regarding the leg grabs. Following the referee’s “meeting” was Lynn Roethke (Silver Medalist at the 1988 Olympic Games) and her clinic on footwork. Mostly the participants in the clinic were females getting ready to compete after the clinic. It was an incredible clinic by an incredibly athletic woman! After the clinic came the tournament. An All-Women’s Judo Tournament!

The tournament has gotten some flack by a wide range of people. I don’t get it. If you follow my posts on JudoForum (RoswellJudoClub) you might see that I did some arguing about it. Simply enough, I don’t care one way or another; however, having watched the tournament, I think it’s a great idea for there to be All-Women’s events. Some people argue that it’s not fair for there to be women’s only events if there aren’t men’s only events. I say, hold your own tournament and decide who gets to show up.

Following the tournament was the USJA Board of Directors meeting. It was a much better run affair than the NMJI meeting, but I wasn’t much involved with either. Least said on that regard the soonest forgotten.

That’s the end of the first day. In my next post, I’ll talk about Sunday’s events…if I remember!