Ronda’s MMA Match (12 August 2011)

Friday night, Ronda Rousey had her third professional MMA match. Her opponent was Sarah D’Alelio. It was a very quick match ending in 25 seconds by “verbal” tap out. Immediately at the stoppage, D’Alelio and her corner were protesting, declaring that she didn’t tap. Instant replay and slow motion confirmed that there was no physical tap. However, Ronda reported that D’Alelio made some sort of verbal groan and fighters were told prior to the match that such noises were cause to stop the match. The color commentator queried both fighters at the end and D’Alelio’s response was that she said “Argh!” (It is a little difficult to write what she said because it was some kind of noise.)

According to Rhadi Ferguson, on his blog for ProMMANow.com, “if you scream, you tapped!” I don’t know if this is written anywhere (if you know, dear readers, let me know!), but this is certainly reasonable to me.

If you haven’t seen the fight, here it is, courtesy of YouTube:

I think it was a wonderful fight with a very beautiful and rarely seen from Ronda, “flying armbar” transition. I know Ronda and AnnMaria have so much experience with and know so many entries to juji gatame this particular entry should be no surprise, but it was. The biggest reason for my surprise was that Ronda hasn’t shown this in any of the judo matches or other MMA matches (granted the MMA matches have all been under a minute, so…) and the transition was pulled off so smoothly, you would have thought this was a regular “go to” move for her.

I’ve done a lot of reading about Ronda over the last four years or so and, personally, don’t think anyone she’s fought in MMA since she started is really up to her level of competition. I think she’s winning these matches so quickly out of habit, but perhaps she could play a little longer with her opponents? I think if she does that she’ll be more prepared for some of the variety she should be able to expect from Carano or Cyborg. On the other hand, I’ve seen her run the beach in Cali and I sure don’t want to be on the other side of the ring from her!

To Ronda, good on ya! Keep up the good work and I look forward to hearing great things about you in the MMA ring! (Maybe one day I can figure out a way to get you to come to Roswell to do a clinic?)

Judo as an Academic Pursuit

If you weren’t aware I just finished my Master of Business Administration degree (concentration in Marketing). It was a great experience, but let me tell you why I pursued it. When I started the Roswell Judo Club, I had no clue how to run a business or a club so I was just winging it. The first several years were difficult and I’m just now getting over that, but it is still slow going. About the middle of the third year I decided that I was ready to pursue further education and figured that if I’m going to run a judo club, then I should know how to run it as a business, especially if I’m going to run it as a non-profit.

Now that’s over and the real work begins. I’m planning on filing as an LLC (long overdue, I know), a non-profit in the State of New Mexico, and work towards 501 (c) 3 status with the IRS.

But what does all that have to do with “Judo as an Academic Pursuit?” A very little bit but it’s a little bit down in the foundation. In order for me to pursue judo as an academic endeavor, I have to be able to fund the operation sufficiently, which I haven’t been able to do to this point.

On to the meat of the topic!

As you may have gathered by now, Roswell is on the tail end of nowhere with a three hour drive to almost any major town and a lot further from many competitions. With that being said, I’ve concentrated on developing technically proficient judo players with a very broad base of knowledge. I’ve chosen to go this route because I feel that if I have enough people competent to teach judo, I can spread judo throughout Roswell and eventually create a significant population of judo players throughout the schools, and schools are the academic environment I’m targeting.

The first step is done. I have a college physical education class through Eastern New Mexico University – Roswell that is growing by leaps and bounds. (Perhaps in spring there will be enough to have two classes!) The second steps are classes at New Mexico Military Institute, which is proving a much harder nut to crack (a little alumni pressure might help – nudge, nudge). The third stage is involvement in either the elementary schools (which would require a lot of on-site instructors) or the high schools (which would only require two additional instructors). By that time we should have a very solid core of judo players in Roswell, but that will take time.

These plans require a couple of things. The first is a solid instructional program that is easily applicable throughout the programs. This is the hardest element to develop because of the great gaping hole in any universal curriculum plan based on educational standards and benchmarks. I have developed an entire set of standards and benchmarks based on the promotional guidelines I have.

Another element of the instructional plan, and one many experienced players/instructors bring up is what happens in a class with a lot of different grades? The solution for me seemed simple: set up multiple training plans with a similar thread for the different levels in any given class.

For example, on the first day of class, the population consists of brand new beginners, yellow belts, orange belts, green belts, purple belts, and brown belts. Obviously absolute beginners should be learning how to fall and be safe, perhaps even a simple throw to show what they can do. On the other hand, purple and brown belts should be working on harder techniques and applying them against significant resistance and drilling what they know. So a good instructor will organize the case with different objectives for every level while maintaining an overall cohesive theme.

So, one of the things that I did was to take my curriculum, the dates of the class as they’re spread throughout the, in my case, semester, and develop various training plans based on individual levels. Once that training plan is final, creating lesson plans that flow with the other levels is vital. Last semester’s Beginning Judo class at ENMU-R proved, to me, the effectiveness of this method.

So now I have the standards and benchmarks, a calendar for semesters 1 through 4 (for ENMU-R), and soon I’ll have the lesson plans for the entire spectrum. If you’ve got any ideas or suggestions, let me know!

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Judo Tip:

If you really want to be a good judo teacher, start going to coaching clinics and reading books about coaching. BUT! Don't forget to read about being a good teacher, studying learning styles, and planning lessons.

The Omoplata and the July Issue of "Growing Judo"

In the July issue of the USJA's "Growing Judo" e-magazine, I apparently made an error about the legality of the "omoplata" of Brazilian JiuJitsu and its legality in judo tournaments. The error was pointed out to me by "funjudo" of the JudoForum in the July Issue of USJA's Growing Judo now available.


Essentially the omoplata and sankaku garami are the same technique, but, like many other judo turned Brazilian JiuJitsu techniques, called something different. These techniques are much like a down-variation of ude garami (Kimura), however, instead of being applied with the arms, it is applied with the legs. If one peruses the internet in search of the joint to which the technique is applied, you'll find that if the exponent is a BJJ player, the joint is the shoulder. If you can find a judo exponent, the joint is the elbow. My personal experience was with BJJ players, so I believed it to be a shoulder lock. Turns out this is just how they roll...no pun intended.


None of the judo books I have discuss sankaku garami and the only BJJ book (Jiu-Jitsu University by Saulo Ribeiro) mentions the omoplata, but cautions "This move should be applied...to prevent damage to your opponent's shoulder." However, after watching several videos of both judo practitioners and BJJ players, I think the major difference between the two techniques is the ideology of application between the two activities.


And now for something I hope you'll really like:

The only judo sankaku garami I found on YouTube.

Georges St.Pierre teaching an Omoplata

Frank Mir demonstrating his application of the Omoplata

(You can hear him mention separating the shoulder after the first run-through)

Personally, I have no qualm with teaching any of the techniques in BJJ in a judo class, because, honestly, the biggest difference between the two are the rule and mind sets of the practitioners.


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Judo Tidbit for the Day:


If you are or want to teach judo, spend some time learning how to plan a class from beginning to end. That means lesson planning to start with, but if you're really serious about teaching judo as an education there's a lot more to it.


With my club what I like to do is take the promotional requirements, the date of the test, and the number of classes then figure out how much time I have to teach everything required for the test. Once I have all that figured out, I divvy up the material so that there's plenty of time to teach everything, plenty of time to drill everything, and, finally, plenty of time to review everything. This has worked well for me as an educator of judo, but if you or your club are extremely competitively focused, this may not work so well.


I would prefer to have an educational class and a competitive class. That way I can teach everything they need to give them a thorough understanding of the basics of the techniques, then, if the student wants, they can undertake the competitive class to become exceptional competitors.

18th-19th June 2011 Clinic

It’s been a little bit since the clinic. It’s been busy around here. Here’s a little clip and the write-up submitted for the July issue of Growing Judo (http://www.usja-judo.org/GrowingJudo/GrowingJudo2011_07.pdf).

The 18^th of June was blistering hot with temperatures reaching past the century mark, yet 19 judoka travelled to the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, NM for a day long clinic on topics like warming up, kuzushi and body movement, the basic reaping techniques, and groundwork flow and submissions. Three clinicians covered the four topics in detail.

Warm-ups and conditioning for judo are very important to judo students as they help the student’s body prepare for the ensuing workout. Our clinic began with emphasis on proper warming in a group and as an individual. One aspect that hit me as interesting was a 10 minute warm-up routine designed to increase the strength and endurance of the student and consisted of four rounds of push-ups, sit-ups, burpees, and squats starting at 1 minute each and decreasing by fifteen seconds once each set was complete. After the warm-up portion, Oscar Tinajero, the clinician for this section, covered flexibility and movements common to a ground game including various rolls and positions frequently experienced on the ground.

Figure 1: Flexibility Drill

Kuzushi, tai sabaki, debana, and other critical topics typically find themselves discussed as afterthoughts. The second section of our clinic covered these topics as a primary concern. Loren Bentley, the clinician for this section, began with a brief discussion and demonstration of the happo no kuzushi and soon had the students applying it in linear and circular movement in both jigo and shizen hontai. Once the basics of kuzushi and tai sabaki saw glimmerings of understanding, the concept of debana came forth through a game based on pressure applied to a partner’s palms. This game helped students understand how to move for a technique when their partner applied pressure on their hands.

Figure 2: Palms Game in Action

Everyone is familiar with a number of variations of the four basic gari techniques. For our third section of the clinic, Loren Bentley, clinician for this section, covered one variation from Daigo’s Kodokan Judo Throwing Techniques for each gari. Several of the variations were sufficiently different from the students’ experience to require extended practice of which they received plenty. The final variation, a retreating variation of O soto gari, received the greatest understanding by the students.

Figure 3: Demonstration of O Soto Gari (Retreating)

The final clinic was on ground work and flow drills. Here the students learned about continuous motion on the ground from one submission to the next to the next from Tim Smith, our clinician for this section. Starting with the basic legs around in the bottom position (guard), the first element was juji gatame. Operating from the idea that uke foiled the attempt; the technique flowed into sankaku jime by repositioning the legs. Again assuming that uke foils the attempt, the technique flows into the Brazilian JiuJitsu technique known as an omoplata, which, while certainly not legal in judo, is perfectly applicable to MMA or submission grappling events.

Figure 4: Demonstration of Sankaku Jime

In all the event ran for about seven hours and a great time was had by all. We receive many compliments from students, clinicians, and family members about the quality of the instruction, the facility (although it was warmish), and the organization. All three clinicians taught well and thoroughly ensuring all students spent more time doing than hearing.

Roswell Judo Club would like to thank Ron Wade and the New Mexico Military Institute for the use of their martial arts room with the brand new mats; Oscar Tinajero and the Red Spyder Martial Arts club and Toby Rue and the New Mexico State University Judo Club for bringing so many students to the clinic. For more information about the clinic or the Roswell Judo Club visit our website (www.roswell-judo.org) or our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/pages/Roswell-Judo-Club/125588979566).

And here's a brief clip from the clinic video:

I know, I know, I take forever to write my blogs. I must apologize, but it’s been rough, I’m trying to finish my Master’s (4 weeks left!), get a job that pays well enough for me to support everything, and, well, the whole ball of wax. Well, suffice it to say that things are getting better.

Yesterday on a judo forum (not the JudoForum) someone posted a video of some wonderful ukemi. So without further ado, here it is:

My thoughts on the subject come down to:

1.      I really need to practice my ukemi so that I can do this.

2.      I really need to get good mats for the club.

3.      I really wish I had enough people to get that guy to come down and teach!

Don’t forget, June 18-19 we’re doing a promotional and clinic at the New Mexico Military Institute. All packets are available on the Events page of Roswell-Judo.org.

Las Cruces

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go to Las Cruces and help out at a tournament. I’ve been to a few so this wasn’t that big I thing, I thought. However, it turns out that I was running a scoreboard, brackets, and helping others learn how to keep both match time and osaekomi time! This I had never done before.

Thankfully I paid attention when I went to Denver for their tournament and discovered how simple the quarter, dime, nickel, penny method of bracketing was. I used that and ran through all of the divisions pretty seamlessly. The matches went well with only one disqualification, which was because one individual though it would be good to taunt his competitor.

I also had the opportunity to work with a very diligent student from the NMSU Judo Club. I’ve worked with her and chatted with her a number of times and have been consistently impressed with her willingness and dedication to learn judo no matter who is teaching it.

We worked on Sunday for about an hour and a half on a variety of topics. Thanks to AnnMarie DeMars, Gerald Lafon, Paul Nogaki, and others for teaching me that a clinic should be limited to only a handful or less of topics. We started working with some basic conditioning drills and exercises that she can do solo. After that we talked about Tai Otoshi, a turnover, and an armlock from guard. It was a very fast hour and a half and I believe she came out of the session with a fair amount of information that she can use!

I have to say, all in all, it was a good weekend! Many thanks to Oscar, Toby, Nadia, and Ashley for letting me bend your ears a little bit and help out where I can!

What's Happening Now!

The latest and greatest from the Roswell Judo Club!

It’s been a hectic few months for me. All the classes are going wonderfully. The college class has only lost one student, but that’s because he moved; all 7 remaining are doing wonderfully and progressing right on course. The adult program seems to have fallen by the wayside for people not involved in the college class. The youth program is doing wonderfully!

Since the middle of March to yesterday, we’ve been to two tournaments and on the 16^th we’re headed to Las Cruces for one more. We might go to New Mexico State Games, but we’ll have to see about that. On the 19^th of March Eddy and I went to the Denver Spring Tournament in Denver where Eddy had his first tournament experience. It was a good experience with Eddy placing second in his division in some very hard fought matches. He also fought in the advanced division fighting five more incredibly tough matches.

Yesterday, 2 April 2011, we took four kids down to the LC Grappling tournament in Carlsbad, NM. It was a long day starting at 7am to drive down there. The tournament started about 10:15am and lasted until almost 1 pm. Everybody had at least two matches, many having more. We came home with 3 medals, one gold medal (Go Gabriel!) and two silver medals (Yea Joel and Xavier!). Loren IV fought hard in his matches but was a little undersized losing to throws both times, though his hold-downs were good when he got the chance.

  

The April 16^th tournament is with Guzman’s down at Mayfield High School in Las Cruces. I don’t know who exactly is going yet, but I expect to take at least two or three.

What’s in Store?

We’re gearing up for summer! Expect more information on the summer programs we’re going to offer in the next few weeks! I expect that we’ll start a new class of beginners starting in June, so current students recruit your friends! If you want to try judo, summer is just the time to get started! We expect to offer a judo activity during the Yucca Recreation Center’s summer program which will be taught by Alana. Parents, that’s a great way to keep your kids busy during the summer, enroll them in the Yucca Recreation Center’s summer program where they’ll get to try a lot of activities and not be at home vegging out on the couch in front of the TV/Wii/Xbox/PS3!

We’re trying to get Tony, Daniel, and Cody back again this summer for another wonderful clinic! Last year was wonderful and it would be great to have them back for our senior students to have some fun learning from different instructors!

Also, if anybody’s headed to Roswell and you think you’d like to give a clinic on something, feel free to drop a line to our instructor!