Come join us for Old School Judo on Mondays at 7:00 p.m.!
Over the years the rule set for Olympic judo has changed and changed again. This has produced a very fast, explosive game at the very top levels, producing big throws and a very aggressive, attacking style of judo.
But, why should a 35-year-old beginner be forced to play judo in the same style as a 22-year-old black belt at the World Championships? In this class, we will throw out the current judo rule book and explore old school judo. Basically that means a less restrictive ruleset – leg grabs are allowed, more time for groundwork, less concern with avoiding penalties and more focus on self defense. We may also integrate some techniques from Brazilian jiujitsu.
Here’s an incomplete list of the techniques which are currently banned from mainstream competition judo, all of which we may explore in this class:
- Te-guruma aka sukui-nage
- Kata-guruma (classic version)
- Ko-uchi-gake with hand assist
- Ippon seoi with hand assist
- Kuchiki-taoishi
- Morote-gari aka the double leg takedown
- Kibisu-gaeshi aka the ankle pick
- Kata-ashi-hishigi aka straight ankle lock
- Hiza-hishigi aka the calf slicer
If you never train any of these techniques, then you also lose experience in all the defenses and scramble positions that are created by these techniques. You don’t want to be the judo guy who doesn’t know how to stop a double leg!
Learn defenses other than “hey that’s illegal!”
This kind of judo has been getting more popular in the United States since 2010, the year that the IJF banned leg grabs of any kind during standing work (tachi-waza). In the American South and Midwest there is a tournament ruleset called Freestyle Judo, which retains the ippon score but also awards numerical points. You can read more about Freestyle Judo on their website. In Georgia there is a tournament called the Kakuto Ippon Challenge that uses a unique judo-based ruleset.
In Japan there is a very old style of judo called Kosen or Nanatei Judo, which is practiced by certain universities. In addition to allowing leg grabs, Kosen judo is unique in that it allows hikikomi (pulling down). In other words, if you don’t feel like you can throw a person properly on their back, you can try to drag them to the ground and initiate groundwork any way you can. This means that you encounter a situation of one person standing and the other person sitting – in modern judo this position is almost never encountered, and if it is, it only lasts for a split second before the referee calls a stop to the action. There are a variety of wonderful techniques that have developed from this style of judo. In practice it may look a lot like Brazilian jiujitsu, but in fact it developed independently in the early 20th century in Japan.
Come enjoy this unique old school judo class, which will make you a more well rounded martial artist and grappler.
