WHY DOES TRAINING MAKE YOU A BETTER PERSON?

     First of all, I'm making a big assumption as my premise.  I am assuming that the training we involve ourselves in does indeed somehow make us better human beings.  I assume this because it happened to me personally and I've seen it happen to others as well.  My assumption is that the act of physically, mentally and emotionally throwing ourselves into the hard training necessary to find success in the martial arts or combat sports gives us the tools to be better somehow and maybe even make this world a little better for having participated in it.

     Okay, for my sake, go along with my premise.  I bet you are willing to do that because you most likely agree with it wholeheartedly.  It probably happened to you too.

     So then, the question is "why?"  Why does hard physical exertion transform soft, goofy, undisciplined kids into better men and women?  I believe it's discipline. 

    Nobody is born with discipline.  We come out crying and looking for physical comfort the second we are born.  It's not natural to walk into a room full of sweating men and roll around the mat with them for 2 hours at a time, often getting your body and pride bruised more than you would like.  Getting up early to go run and lift weights aren't natural acts either.  But you know if you don't do this type of training, you'll take a beating when you walk on the mat with those sweaty men and engage in judo, wrestling, karate, aikido or any other combat sport. 

     There are a lot of people, in fact, most people, who think we're absolutely nuts for doing what we do.  I look at the people who train with me and marvel at the personal discipline each shows every time he or she comes to practice.  Here's a grown man or woman who just worked 8 hours (or more) that day, leaves a perfectly comfortable home and loving family to show up to a community center where there are about 25 other people just like him who want to sweat, stretch his arm, throw him hard on the mat and generally abuse him for 2 hours.  Through it all, he or she comes out of the whole experience actually feeling better about himself.  Why it that?

It's discipline.  We may not be born with discipline, but what we are born with the desire to attain it.  Just like a child seeks his mother's love, he also seeks discipline.  Of course, not everybody's the same, but my experience as a coach for more years than I care to admit is that people (of all ages) seek discipline in their lives. 
 

     It doesn't matter what culture or in what era a person lives, the concept of discipline transcends culture, language and time.  The training we do embodies the ethics of hard work, giving up comfort to attain goals, both short and long term, working with others to accomplish a common goal or good and the many other things that describe the best of people.

     Not all activities openly embody these virtues, but one in particular does. Prof. Jigoro Kano established specific virtues for his Kodokan Judo in the late 1800s that have stayed with the activity to this day.  Another martial arts master, Morihei Uyeshiba, the founder of modern aikido, also codified the ethical virtues necessary to achieve a real understanding of his martial discipline.  But the sports of sambo, boxing, wrestling and many martial arts (and even strength sports such as weightlifting) don't, in and of themselves, offer a moral compass to the people to train in them.  So if this is the case, why do these activities actually make someone better for having participated in them?

Again, it's the factor (in my opinion) of discipline.  The only way to be successful at any of these activities is to train hard, train smart and push yourself so you achieve your goals.  No one will do it for you.  You either succeed or fail on your own.  No safety net, no team to carry you if you have a bad day...it's up to you and you alone.
 

     I learned early on when I was a kid that if I took a beating from another guy on the mat in judo practice, I could either feel sorry for myself or I could suck it up, train harder, train smarter and do something about it.  Feeling sorry for myself never made me any better.  Maybe that's not politically correct to say these days, but it's part of my experience and that's why I didn't end up being a deadbeat like a lot of the young men who I knew in those days. 

I've told many people "judo was my ticket out."  It was the activity of judo, and my desire to be good at it that compelled me to achieve the discipline necessary to actually be good at it and, in the process, good at other things as well.  I bet each of you reading this can say the same thing (whether it was judo, aikido, lifting weights or any activity that you connected with) and offer the same assessment of yourself.

     In my opinion, the short answer to the question; "Why does training make you a better person?" is discipline.  The discipline we learn and develop in our training makes us better people in everyday life.  You can't disconnect what you do on the mat from your daily life.  You're a fool if you do.  I remember Chris Heckadon telling me about his job interview for where he now works.  Chris is a World Sambo Champion, a national-class judo athlete and was a varsity wrestler for Central Missouri State University.  After Chris got the job, he asked his boss why he hired him.  His boss told him (I paraphrase) "I prefer to hire former wrestlers.  I know they have a better work ethic than most people."  That says a lot for wrestling and that says a lot for the person smart enough to realize the benefits such an activity can do for a young man. 

     That story pretty well answers the question that hard training does, indeed, make a person better.  The "why" is his motivation to succeed and the only way he can do that is to discipline himself to do the things necessary to achieve success and achieve it in such a way that he can be proud of having done it.  There are a number of ways to win at something and not all of them are good, fair or honest.  It takes discipline to know how to achieve victory honestly and strive for success from that point of view. 

     The first dojo I trained at had a saying right by the mat.  it said; "There is no learning without discipline."  I believe it was Confucius who first said it and I'll leave that with you as a last thought.

VINCE LOMBARDI...JUDO COACH

     Okay, Vince Lombardi really wasn't a judo coach.  But he did know a thing or two about the game of football, and he did know a thing or two about coaching.  I imagine Coach Lombardi didn't know the difference between judo and chow mein, but some of his major principles about coaching and winning in the sport of football carry over directly to judo and sambo.

     From my early days as a coach, I studied Vince Lombardi and John Wooden, the great basketball coach.  Two polar opposites as coaching styles go, but both had the fundamental philosophies that transcend a particular sport. 

     So how does Vince Lombardi have anything to do with judo?  Here's how I look at it.

Lombardi emphasized there were (and are) four major areas a football team must be good at to consistently win games.  They are the following.
1-A good ground game.
2-A solid defense.
3-Several plays that are simple in nature, but can be applied in a variety of situations and have a high ratio of success. 
4-Be in excellent physical condition.  A poorly conditioned athlete cannot perform skills to a high degree of ability. An athlete must be physically able to perform the skill to achieve a high degree of success.

     I used this formula for many years in coaching judo and sambo.  Here's how I adapted Vince Lombardi's approach to suit my sport.
1-A good ground game.  In judo, newaza, the groundfighting of the sport, is fundamental to winning.  If you are weak on the mat, you are weak in all phases of the sport.  If you don't have the confidence to go to the ground, then you don't hae the confidence to win.  It is essential to have fundamentally sound and effective groundwork skills.  Knowing position and how to use it to your advantage as well as effective breakdowns form the two major cornerstones of effective newaza.  Knowing how to throw and immediately follow up with a hold or submission technique is another skill that has to be part of your arsenal.  Effective holds and submissions and how to break an opponent down into them or roll an opponent into them is also vital to success. When Coach Lombardi talked of a ground game, he may have been thinking about football plays, but his philosophy certainly applies to judo and sambo!

2-A solid defense.  If your opponent can't score points on you, he won't beat you.  One of my biggest gripes about coaching judo in the United States is the lack of a serious, skillful and hard-core approach to defense.  Hip blocks, gripping, body movement, plus the many other skills and tactics necessary to keep an opponent from throwing you or getting you to the ground are vital to winning judo consistently and at a high level.  When I was actively coaching judo and sambo athletes for serious competition, I included hip block drills, body movement drills and gripping drills every practice so that my athletes would have a solid defense.  I recommend every coach do this as well.

3-Several plays that are simple in nature, but can be applied in a variety of situations and have a high ratio of success.  Every top athlete in judo or sambo has a core group of throws or takedowns that work for him or her and work well.  Koga's seoi nage may not have worked every time, but he had a tremendous ko uchi gake that he could pull out of his bag of skills as a solid "Plan B."  Robert Van Der Walle could double leg most everyone in the world, but if he couldn't make it work on a particular opponent, he had an effective sumi gaeshi (corner counter) or ura nage (rear throw) that flattened a lot of judo men.  My point is, every champion or successful judo or sambo man has a core group of fundamentally sound throws or takedowns that work for him or her.  They've adapted them to the degree that these moves or techniques fit these athletes like a glove.  In every case, the grip or body movement prior to a successful throw is very much part of that throw.

     Again, Coach Lombardi may not have been thinking about judo, but his philosophy of doing simple things with consistent excellence rather than complicated things done poorly is what I'm talking about.

4-Be in excellent physical condition.  The truth is, if an athlete isn't in good shape, he or she won't perform the skills of his chosen sport well.  An athlete's fitness level is directly linked to the confidence he has when performing a skill and to the actual performance of that skill.  Basically, if you're in lousy shape, it is far more likely that you will lose. 

I can't think of any judo or sambo technique or move that can be performed well, in the pressure of a competitive match with a good opponent (or even an inferior opponent), if the athlete is not in excellent physical condition.  Doing an uchi mata or tai otoshi requires a high degree of flexibility, as well as a whole bunch of other physical abilities.  Bottom line is this...your technique is only as good as your fitness level, and the willingness to try your technique in a competitive situation is only as good as the confidence you have in your physical ability to make it work.

     Sure, Vince Lombardi may not have known much about judo, but his philosophy on coaching is the kind of stuff judo coaches might do well to study.

A FLAWED PREMISE By Steve Scott

     A few comments made recently by different people in different situations prompted me to write this article. The subject is "proper technique" and what that implies. I may get kind of opinionated on all of this, but keep in mind that I'm not really a bad guy, just one with an opinion based on objective criteria and a fair amount of experience.

     One of my black belts who lives in another state e-mailed once me and told me about a conversation he had with a judo instructor there. This instructor told my guy that he "would rather lose and place fourth in a tournament using proper technique than have to use competition-style judo."

     I also met another person who is a black belt in judo here locally and he told me judo in particular and the martial arts in general are in a sorry state of affairs and that his instructor "taught proper technique," and "not the stuff that it takes to win." Like the first guy I mentioned, this gentleman told me he would rather lose and use "authentic judo" than have to resort to "this new stuff they use these days." (Now here's a fellow, who by his own admission, has never trained outside of a few clubs in the Kansas City area, told me he hadn't put on a judogi in 10 years, but has the inside scoop on what's "authentic.")

     Another example. Some of you old-timers (like me) may remember this one. Back in the late 1960s or early 1970s, a gentleman who was the U.S. World Team Coach one year for judo was lamenting about the poor technique used by many of the European judo teams. He said something like (and I paraphrase from memory) "I would rather have my athletes lose and do correct judo than win and use flawed technique." It was also reported that he said he preferred "the U.S. team to do properly done breakfalls than improperly done throws."

     It's a flawed premise (hence, the name of this article) to assume that the only way to win at sport judo (or any other combat sport) is to not use "proper technique." Does that imply only "improper technique" wins? Does that imply that "proper technique" is not good enough to win in a sport (or realistic) situation?

     What is "proper technique" and who is the final arbiter of deciding what is? Jigoro Kano, the founder of Kodokan Judo, shook the jujutsu world in the 1880's and was criticized often for his approach to teaching jujutsu. It's my estimation that while Prof. Kano did his best to retain ties to the traditions of the older jujutsu schools, he wanted to develop a system of jujutsu (his Kodokan Judo) that would be utilitarian, functional and adaptable to every situation so it would work, and work with a high ratio of success.

     I would agree that poorly performed techniques or skills are not to be encouraged, and we've all seen some situations where one guy was "less bad" than his opponent and won the match. But if we assume that all matches are won in this way, then we are making a false assumption. But, good judo is good judo. It doesn't have to come out of a mold or mimic a Japanese master. There’s nothing wrong with the Japanese masters. I respect them. Anyone who knows me knows I'm a firm believer in giving credit to where it is due and the Japanese gave us a wonderful gift in judo, jujitsu and the other martial arts. If for nothing else, this deserves our respect and thanks. I'm not a fan of those who dismiss anything that is "old-fashioned" as ineffective. We see that a lot these days in the martial arts and it's not a good thing. (Bill West is using his Tai Otoshi on Josh Henges in this photo.  Bill used this throw on many opponents during his career.)

     Fortunately, there are enough people who respect what has been taught and try to add to the body of knowledge that exists. Not dismissing it as old or ineffective, but not going to the other extreme and insisting that anything the deviates from exactly what someone taught you is not "proper." When someone does a hip throw when he's been asked to do a foot sweep, that's obviously not "proper" or "correct." He didn't do the right throw. When that same someone does a foot sweep, but does it so poorly that it doesn't work, even with a non-resisting partner, then that is also not "proper." The bottom line here is that the technique has to work. To make it work, the person doing it must perform the physical and mechanical skills of the throw to make it have the desired effect on his opponent or partner. To make that happen, the person doing the move must adapt all movements in the technique to fit to his body and fit to the situation at hand. No one does the same technique in the exact same way as another human being. These things are like personalities. We all have one, but they are all unique.

     But there is something definitely wrong when someone says that he would rather lose and do "proper technique." If his technique is "proper" then it should be good enough to win. Good skills will stand the test of time. That's why throws like uchi mata (the inner thigh throw), seoi nage (the "shoulder" throw) and o soto gari (major outer reap) work as well today as they did 50 years ago. It's simply common sense to acknowledge the fact that we study the basic skills of a move and if the technique suits our body type, strength level, attitude, style and other physical, mental and emotional factors, we mold it to fit our needs and make it work for us. That's simply human nature and that is very authentic. No one does a throw or hold the exact same way someone else did, especially in the realistic situations of competition or self-defense. I mentioned this a paragraph or two ago, but it's worth saying in a different way.

     Back in the 1980s, I had an interesting conversation with a referee at the junior nationals. Kenney Brink, one of my athletes, won his age and weight class and won all of his matches by ippon. He had about 5 or 6 matches. I remember this so well because of my conversation with the referee I mentioned.

     The referee told me he "hated to referee" Kenney's matches. I asked him why. The referee told me that Kenney had the potential to be a good judo man, but his technique was "so sloppy." I pondered that for a moment and quickly reviewed Kenney's performance that day. He won 2 matches with an uchi mata for an ippon, won another match with a seoi nage (shoulder throw) for an ippon, won another match with a juji gatame (cross-body armlock) and another with a kesa gatame (scarf lock) for an ippon. I listed all of this to the referee and he replied that sure, "Kenney is good, but he doesn't do judo like the Japanese." I asked exactly what did that that mean? The referee couldn't define it, but he insisted that Kenney didn't have "good technique." I mentioned that all of his opponents were other young black or brown belts, and Kenney didn't have an easy opponent all day, but it wasn't good enough for this referee. Now, granted, the referee had never competed in a national tournament himself and he readily admitted that to me.  (This photo is Kenney Brink throwing his opponent with referee Jim Schneweis scoring maximum points for his efforts in a national sambo tournament.  You can see how Jim, who is one of the top sambo referees in the United States,  looks at the throw with appreciation. The technique looks pretty good to me as well.)

     Seems to me that it's a lot easier to be critical of someone when the critic has never tried doing what he's critical of to begin with. I have found that, for the most part, people who haven't trained to the limit of their abilities (whether it be in the arena of competition or self-defense) are quicker to criticize others than someone who has put it on the line. I'm not saying that you have to have been a world-class athlete to offer a critique or make a comment. But, one can't have empathy unless he or she has at least made an honest effort and participated to his or her best effort.

     I sincerely believe that Prof. Kano stressed efficiency when he developed Kodokan Judo. Certainly, elements of older jujutsu schools were retained in his Kodokan syllabus, and any individual who wants to really understand Kodokan Judo should take the time and effort to study this phase of the art. An important part of the study of judo is the understanding of its "roots" and the concepts that form judo. "If we don't know where we came from, we don't know where we are" is an old mariner's saying that certainly applies here.

     However, what we often see are people who use the excuse of "proper judo" for lazy judo or inefficient judo. This is what I am addressing in this article. For instance, when someone practices nage no kata, he should actually do the throws and perform the skills in such a way that uke doesn't have to "jump for tori to make the throw look good" (as I once heard a semi-famous American judo instructor tell a young black belt at a kata clinic who was having trouble with uchi mata).

     Jumping for your partner isn't what doing nage no kata is all about. It’s the same with doing any technique or skill. The technique has to actually work.

     Judo has solid principles based on sound mechanics of human movement. This is why techniques like uchi mata, o soto gari, juji gatame and all the others continue to work. What happens is that each human being performing any of these skills will alter them in some slight (or significant) way to make the technique work for him. It won't work at all if there is no sound mechanical skill behind it. As John Taylor, one of my black belts, said, "Technique is the foundation, not the house."

     And because Kodokan Judo is based on sound principles, it has the capacity to accept new techniques and skills. The only condition is that these new skills must be based on the same, solid core values that have already been established and have stood the test of time. These core values are the mechanics (kuzushi, tsukuri and kake, among others, for instance) that make judo a workable and effective system of physical education, sport, recreation and self-defense. This is because of the utilitarian concept and philosophy of "ju." This is a brilliant concept. We see "ju" in many things in life. This is why "ju" is so much more than "gentle".  (Throws like the "Kharbarelli" done by Chris Bartley on Brian Lepic seem to be one of the techniques that critics call "improper" or judo that isn't considered "authentic."  These critics don't take into account the difference between the martial art of judo and the performance-based sport of judo.  The aggressive over-the-back grips and close distance fighting that is common in competitive judo today is different than the physical education and martial art that was developed initially in 1882.  Judo, as a sport, has changed through the years because of the many people from the many varied cultures who now do judo.  The International Judo Federation has 178 member nations.  Prof. Kano's dream of making judo an international activity a reality.)

     Sure, there is lousy judo seen in tournaments. But, there is also excellent judo seen in tournaments. The flawed premise is that anytime we change a technique to make it work in a competitive situation, it is not "proper judo." Kodokan Judo is such that it can, and does, accept new innovations and stand the test of time as I said before. A good example is the great judo champion Toshihiko Koga and his unique way of doing seoi nage. He took a judo throw that novices learn, seoi nage, and clearly mastered the mechanics. He then took it a step further. He did what is natural to every human being who does judo...he made the technique work for him. He altered so that it fit his body and made it so that he could throw opponents with a high ratio of success.

     Now, that is Kodokan Judo in action. Was Koga's seoi nage the standard textbook approach? No, but he applied all the concepts of Kodokan Judo when he altered it so that it works for him. And, believe it or not (this is why I use Koga as an example), I actually heard a person (of limited experience and understanding) say back in the early 1990s that Koga's seoi nage was "lousy technique." (Apparently because it wasn't the same cookie-cutter approach to seoi nage that this person had in his limited experience.) It's this type of thinking that prompted this article on the flawed premise.

     I guess what the upshot of all this rambling is that there will always be those who view anything new as not "authentic" and there will always be those who view anything they consider "old-fashioned" as ineffective. Arrogance is a good companion for both those who lack knowledge and those who lack experience. To equate "proper technique" with something that doesn't work in a realistic situation is missing the point of why we train in judo, jujitsu and the martial arts. These things should be functional. Their function separates them from dancing, aerobics or other methods of physical education or recreation. If we're learning (or teaching) how to fight, then let's learn (or teach) how to fight effectively. Good technique is fundamental, but if it doesn't work, then it's not good technique.

SHINGITAI APPROACH TO THROWING TECHNIQUES
By Steve Scott

     Our approach to throwing and taking an opponent to the mat or ground in Shingitai Jujitsu is based on the various elements presented in this section.  Function dictates form and good body mechanics are fundamental to making any throw work effectively.  Once you have mastered the basic movements of the technique, you can then devlop if to fit your body, style of fighting and other factors.  Make the throw work for you.  Also, how you grip your opponent is vital to the success of the throw.  Make it a point to experiment with the many ways of gripping the uniform and of using grips without the use of a uniform to make the throw work best for you.

The Four Elements of Throwing

     Prof. Jigoro Kano, the founder of Kodokan Judo, originally developed the three elements of throwing to explain the mechanical skills necessary for every successful throwing technique.  These three elements are: Kuzushi (Unbalancing), Tsukuri (fitting the body in proper position) and Kake (Execution).  A fourth element, Kime (Focus or follow-through) has been added since that time.  The three elements Prof. Kano devised, along with the fourth element, Kime, form a rational, effective and coherent approach to the application of the body mechanics necessary to perform throwing techniques.

KUZUSHI Unbalance the opponent upset or overturn your opponent by use of body control and movement. This also involved breaking or controlling your opponent’s posture. This starts with a good grip, proper space between your body and your opponent’s body, and timing and explosive power.  You don’t only use your hands and arms to break his balance and posture.  Use your whole body and the movement of your body (as well as your opponent’s) in good kuzushi.  In this photo, Bryan is breaking Drew’s posture and balance with a looping belt grip.

 


TSUKURI Fit into proper position to throw your opponent, to make, form or build a technique.  Bill is fitting in to throw Josh in this photo.  At this point, total commitment into the throw is necessary for the whole action to flow together smoothly. 

     








  KAKE  The part of the sequence of events when you attack your opponent and execute the technique.  This is the throw in action.  Kelly is fully committed to the throw and has complete control of his partner Nikolai during throwing practice on the crash pads in the photo.

 KIME Finish, focus, follow-through and make sure the technique is completed.  It’s recommended that you usually follow your opponent to the mat after throwing him to apply a finishing technique such as a submission technique, pin or (in self-defense) punches and kicks.  Warren has thrown his opponent and is immediately follow through to the mat with a hold in this photo.  This is a good example of Kime in action at the World Sambo Championships.

The Importance of Gripping

     In every throwing or takedown technique, how you grab your opponent dictates the success of the action.  Basically said, the better you control your opponent with your grip, the better you throw him.  Before you can put the Four Elements of Throwing into action, you must have a grip that works for you.  In other words, before you break your opponent’s balance and try to throw him, you have to grab him effectively first. There are three primary gripping situations.  They are:

Neutral Grip.  You and your opponent are on even terms and have a lapel/sleeve grip.  This is taught to beginners so they have freedom of movement and can work on equal terms when learning new throwing skills.  For recreational practice or learning purposes, this is the ideal grip to start with.  Bill and Steve are using the kumi kata, the basic grip of judo and jujitsu.  This is a neutral grip and gives neither fighter the advantage.

 Dominant Grip.  When fighting an opponent, your goal should be to dominate the gripping situation and control his movements as much as possible.  You can assert yourself as well as nullify his movement and attacks with an aggressive, dominant grip.  You want to fight him on your terms, not his.  
 

 Defensive/Counter Grip.  If your opponent has managed to dominate or control the grip or how you grab each other, you must work to defend yourself and counter with your own grip.  Do everything you can to avoid fighting on his terms.  
 

     Any grip that works for you with a good to high ratio of success is a good grip.  In most cases, the throw you choose to use is designed from the grip that you control your opponent with or counter with.  Knowing the many ways to grip, grab, manipulate and control your opponent’s jacket, belt, pants, shorts, head, shoulders, arms, hands, legs or any body part or any part of his clothing is essential to knowing how to apply an effective throw.  Remember, everything is a handle to grab your opponent with.

     Using your hands to grab your opponent is the primary way of connecting your body to his, but you should learn how to use your arms, elbows, shoulders, hips and any part of your body possible to control him.  Generally, is you are a right-handed thrower, your right hand/arm is the “steering hand/arm” and your left hand/arm is the “leading hand/arm.”  The Japanese consider the right hand the “tsurite” or “lifting hand” and the left hand the “hikite” or the pulling hand.   If you think of your grip on your opponent’s jacket in the same way you would think of wrapping a rope around him, you have a good concept of how to control your opponent with your grip.  If you successfully control your opponent’s grip, you are “tying him up” with the grip, controlling and breaking his posture, controlling his body movement, controlling the tempo of the action and ultimately, controlling how you throw him to the mat. Your grip is the first link in how you throw your opponent.  Your posture, and your opponent’s posture, is part of how you grip with him and dictates the type of throw you will choose to attack or counter with.  The space between your hips and your opponent’s hips dictates the posture and often dictates whom you will choose to grip fight with him.

The Difference Between a Throw and a Takedown

     The primary function of a throw is to throw an opponent hard onto the mat or floor with control, force, speed and impact.  In other words, your goal to throw your opponent to the mat in such a way that groundfighting may not be necessary.  It’s advisable to follow-through to the mat after a throw to insure victory and further control of your opponent, but in many cases, a good throw can end the fight, match or encounter right then and there.  This photo shows Steve throwing an opponent in the early 1970s and is a good example of throwing an opponent to the mat with control and force with the intention of the hardest impact possible.

     The primary function of a takedown is to take an opponent to the mat or ground and finish him with a submission or other technique.  Consider a takedown as a means of getting an opponent down to put him in a position so you can immediately follow-through with a finishing hold, submission technique or striking technique.  This photo shows John doing an ankle pick on Frederic with the intentin on keeping hold of the ankle and going for an ankle or leg lock as soon as Frederic is taken to the mat. In this case, John is more interested in taking his opponent to the mat or ground for control and using a finishing hold.  The primary focus in a takedown is to get your opponent down to beat him once you've taken him down.

Body Distances in Throwing

     The distance between your body and your opponent’s body is important in terms of what type of attack or counter you may use or how you defend against your opponent’s attack.  The body distance often dictates how you grip fight with your opponent and how you ultimately choose to grab him in an effort to control his posture, movement and balance.  There are four distances or ranges to consider in terms of body contact.  The best way to judge Body Distance is how far the fighter’s hips are from each other.  They are as follows.

 No Contact Distance.  You and your opponent have not made physical contact yet and are more than one or two steps apart from each other.   It’s a good idea to keep your hands up and ready to grab your opponent or keep your opponent from grabbing you.  Get your hands up and pretend you are looking through a television screen at your opponent.  This will keep your guard up and your hands in the ready position.

Long Distance.  You have gripped your opponent’s sleeve and may have gripped his lapel with your other hand.  Your grip is generally neutral.  Throws such as foot sweeps and attacks where you need some space to work with are done from this range.  Generally, the tempo of the fight is a fast one when this distance is used and if the fighters are in an upright posture.  In many cases where the tempo is slow, both fighters are bent over in a low, crouching or defensive posture. They can be fighting at a long distance in this case if they’re hips are far apart from each other.  

Short Distance.  Also called “tight or compact distance.”  You and your opponent are very close to each other and there is little, if any, space between you and your opponent’s hips. 

One Body Mass Distance.  This is when you have attacked your opponent and have locked onto him in an effort to throw him.  You and your opponent are basically one body mass connected together and the attack is most often in full force.   

Effective Use of Posture

     “Lead with your hips” is the best advice that can be given when talking about posture.  If you have your hips in good position to attack and defend with, you will be better able to control your opponent, the grip and how you throw him or defend against this throw.  Often, the posture of your opponent (and you) dictates the type of grip you will use, which often dictates the particularly attack you will choose to throw him with.  As discussed in the Body Distances, how close or far your hips are in relation to your opponent’s hips dictates the action of the throw.

     Your stance is important.  You will usually lead with one foot or stand “square’ when facing your opponent and fighting him.  When you lead with one foot, this is called the “sugar foot.”  Generally, if you are a right-handed thrower, you will lead with your right foot/leg.  If you are a left-handed thrower, you will usually lead with your left foot/leg.  Important aspects of your stance is that you never cross your legs unless you have a very good reason for it and make sure your feet and legs are usually directly underneath your hips so you can move freely and attack or defend quickly.  Basically, there are two postures used. 

 Upright Posture.  You are standing with your back mostly straight and leading with your hips.  You can attack or defend freely from this posture. Your weight isn’t too far forward and your posture is upright.  Your shoulders go in the same direction that your hips do so they work in unison to attack and defend freely.  This is called Shizentai in Japanese, which means “natural posture.” 













Crouched Posture/Low Posture.  You are bent over or crouched low keeping your hips at a far distance from your opponent.  It is important that if you choose to fight from this posture that you lower your level with your legs and don’t bend over at the waist.  By bending over too much at the waist, you are putting too much weight forward in your head and shoulders and off-balance to your front.  Also, don’t put too much weight in your backside/buttocks, as you will be off-balance to your rear.  Often, in this posture, you have a wide stance and it’s usually a square one.  This means that the tempo of the action will be a slow one.  This posture is called Jigotai in Japanese, which means Defensive Posture, but it isn’t always a defensive posture, but can be used as one and often is.   

 Physical Fitness

     To perform a throw against a resisting, skilled, motivated and fit opponent, you should be physically able to do it.  Physical fitness is necessary to perform and ultimately master a throwing skill.  A major aspect of Shingitai is that you are physically fit enough to defend yourself and perform the skills necessary to defend yourself.  From a recreational standpoint, your fitness level doesn’t come into play as much as in a competitive situation or in a real fight.  Being physically able to perform a technique is an important part of the skill.  Skill is the practical application of technique and to be able to apply a technique practically (with skill), fitness is vital.

  FLYING (JUMPING) JUJI GATAME  By Steve Scott
 
     This is a bold move, and because of that, has caught some good atheltes in judo, sambo and other combat sports.  Basically, it's a jumping juji gatame, more than a "flying" juji gatame.  I've always heard ot this armlock as the "jumping" cross-body armlock in sambo, but it's been named "flying" by most judo and jujitsu people.  Bill sets the move up by jamming his right leg in front of Josh.  Bill's right foot is located at Josh's right hip as shown.

     Bill shrimps up and swings his body so that the right side of his head is placed against Josh's left hip and Bill's right leg is jammed across Josh's mid-section.  Bill's right leg is bent and at this point, Bill swings his left leg up and over Josh's head.








     Bill is curled up and has rolled onto the mat as he pulls Josh to th emat with him.  Notice that bill's left leg is hooked over Josh's head.  Bill has stayed round and the weight of his body has started the rolling action to get Josh into the armlock.  Josh will be forced to roll over his right shoulder and into the armlock.







     Bill has rolled Josh over and into the armlock.  This move works  because of Bill's explosive action in jumping on Josh and the immediate roll that takes place getting both of them down to the mat.  Gravity works and this armlock proves it.









     Bill finishes with the juji gatame.  This move is good because it allows Bill to get his body shrimped up tightly and close to Josh when applying it.  This move works well from a situation where Bill is on his back with Josh in his guard as well.  Think of this "flying" juji gatame as an standing version of doing it on your opponent on the mat.

  GET HIM TO THE MAT AND ARMLOCK HIM!  TOMOE NAGE TO JUJI GATAME (CIRCLE THROW TO CROSS-BODY ARMLOCK)

    This is a great "transition" move from standing to the ground and used in about every style of sport combat there is.  The Soviet sambo men introduced this move to the world back in the 1960s and won a lot of judo matches in the process.  The rules of judo require you to actually attempt a throwing technique to take your opponent to the mat.  This move not only looks like a throw, it could actually be used as a throw and if that doesn't work, then your back-up move is the armlock.  However, in sambo this isn't the case (as in submission grappling as well) and you can use this move to get your opponent to the mat with every intentino of straightening his arm and getting him to give up. Either way you approach it, it's a great skill and many Welcome Mat athletes have use did with great success for many years.  In fact, Bill West, who is demonstrating this move, used it during his career and won several matches with it.  Welcome Mat athletes Sandi (Quenelle) Harrelson won National Championships in both sambo and judo with this very move and Randy Patton won the gold medal match in an international judo meet in Canada using this particular technique (he won the match in 3 seconds, completely surprising his Canadian opponent).  Bill and Josh are in a neutral grip and Bill places his right foot on Josh's left hip to start his tomoe nage (circle throw) attempt that ultimately will get the armlock. 

     As Bill jams his right foot in Josh's left hip, he rolls to the mat, landing on his right hip as shown in the photo.  Bill quickly pushes wit his right foot in Josh's left hip to open some space and push Josh down flat onto his front.









     Bill pushes hard with his rigth foot and leg on Josh's left hip and drives him to the mat.  At the same time, Bill has opened a lot of space between their two bodies and has room to swing his left leg over for the armlock.  Notice how Bill is controlling Josh's right arm with both of his arms.







     Bill swings his left leg over Josh's head and drives it under Josh's head as shown.  As he does this, Bill rolls over onto his front and pulls with both hands on Josh's outstretched rigth arm.  Bill finishes with a belly-down juji gatame to get the submission.  World Judo Champion AnnMaria (Burns) Rousey won many matches with this move and this has been a favorite of aggressive judo, jujitsu and sambo athletes for many years.