(Originally posted to the Judo List on 02/01/04 – I thought I’d post this to my blog as a tribute…)

My original sensei, George Hamm, passed away Jan 23 after a three year fight with multiple myeloma. He held the rank of Hachidan. He formed one of the only two High School Judo programs in the U.S. at Hueneme High School in Oxnard California.

Retired as a teacher, he’d taught choral music… he held one BA, and three MA degrees… he was working on his doctoral degree in music as well. I can’t remember many of the courses I took in high school, but I remember well a general humanities course he taught. For a student who was heavily into science and math, it was a real eye-opener!

The thing I most remember him for was his innovative way of looking at Judo. He would never have been called a strict traditionalist, even though his classes were taught that way. He often said that he wasn’t training competitors, he was training the next group of instructors. It was Mr. Hamm who first introduced me to the theories of Geoff Gleason. He constantly encouraged me to expand my knowledge of Judo, and look deeper into what I thought I already knew.

When I started training under him in the late 1960s he only held the rank of Nidan … he often joked that he was planning to author the book “How to be a Successful Nidan.” I also well remember the advice he once gave me… I told him I was thinking of writing a book on Judo… Mr. Hamm said “Be Original be unique be the one person who doesn’t write a book on Judo.”

He was quite proud of the fact that he’d served in the Marine Corps for several years doing service in Korea. When I went into the Marine Corps, I recall helping Mr. Hamm apply to the correct USMC dept. to receive the medals he was entitled to from the Korean War.

I last spoke to him a number of months ago, when he borrowed Don Cunningham’s Secret Weapons of Jujutsu from my library. (Don – He thought it was an excellent book!). He spent time researching martial art topics until his death. He changed the course of my life, and that of many other students. He’ll not be forgotten…

 

I was browsing through my stats on this website recently, and found that there’s alot of people searching on the term ‘BJJ’.

It has clearly become the ‘Martial Art of the Month’… although that’s not really an accurate phrase.  I think you understand my meaning, however.  Various Martial Arts seem to have periods of popularity… as I recall, it was Judo through the 50’s-60’s, then came Karate, Hapkido with a short run (’Billy Jack’ comes to mind), then Ninjitsu was the hot MA.  Kung Fu was of course in there too.

Even Aikido, which Steven Segal is largely responsible for – managed to make it to the top – albeit largely among the ‘new-age’ type crowd.

Sad to say, Kendo never seems to have gotten it’s shot at the most popular – at least here in America.  So I say: “Kendoka – go whack the next guy you see upside the head with a broomstick”… perhaps Hollywood will come up with a sword bearing hero.

But there is no doubt to anyone who pays attention, that the UFC’s have put BJJ right at the top of the popularity cycle.  Over on rec.martial-arts, the newsgroup forum, weeks can go by without a post on Judo.  Yet, it seems that not an hour can go by without someone discussing yet again how effective BJJ is in MMA competition, or some such topic.

Being a capitalistic society, BJJ has certainly taken advantage of the supply & demand – I’ve heard of prices exceeding $100 per month, and many classes are being taught by BJJ Blue belts. (Rather than the more traditionally accepted and experienced black belts.)

I say, more power to ‘em!  Many new recruits they enlist will find their way to Judo clubs – where we do much the same thing at a drastically lower price.  Their concentration on newaza can only improve the average Judoka’s newaza, so where’s the problem?

I’m amused that the MMA bulletin boards are filled with derogatory comments on Judo… for example, it was said that Yoshida’s MMA fights were “fixed” – as if a World Champion in Judo couldn’t ‘hang’ with the BJJ crowd.

This sort of attitude isn’t reflected in the minds of the more dedicated and experienced BJJ’ers, just as it’s not among Judo black belts… it seems that trashing other arts is pretty much a mudansha thing.

I have the sneaking suspicion that if you don’t trash all other arts beside your own – you feel disloyal to your favorite art.  Although everyone should know that Judo is by far the best martial art 🙂 – it seems that martial arts are just like ice cream flavors, everyone has their own favorite.

But I digress… I’ll say it now, though, that BJJ students are always welcome at our Judo club, and from the stories I hear from fellow Judoka, suggest that we are welcome at BJJ academies as well.

So let the mudansha sling the mud – the rest of us will continue to train and learn…

 

I can still recall my sensei’s words: “I’m teaching you to be Judo instructors, not competitors”… yet we did surprisingly well in competition. Our small high school club could boast several competitors who successfully competed at the national level.

Yet I still remember my amazement, all these years later, at a fellow Judoka sitting next to me at the High School Nationals in Chicago of 1974. We were both brown belts, and we had just witnessed a nice Kani Basami attempt that garnered a waza-ari on the mat in front of us. The guy turned to me, and exclaimed “What was that!”. I was dumbfounded that a brown belt would be ignorant of such a technique… but it appeared to merely be my sensei’s words coming back: “I’m teaching you to be Judo instructors, not competitors”.

My sensei demanded that we know the entirety of Judo, not just the few techniques that are so powerful in shiai. He was indeed, training us to pass on Judo as a traditional martial art, and not merely a few sport moves…

I’ve tried, down through the years, to emulate my sensei, George Hamm, who sadly passed on not long ago. I keep in mind that just because a technique is rare, difficult to use in competition, or simply difficult to do – doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t introduce it to the class.

Just for the fun of it, a few weeks ago I introduced Hanegoshi to a class of largely adult white belts, most with no more than a few months of Judo – and I told them it would be a difficult throw, and wasn’t generally introduced so early. Yet not only did many of them manage it in uchikomi, I continue to see several of the white belts trying it in practice.

It’s never safe to assume that a given technique is ‘too difficult’… and if your Judo class spends all of it’s time on Seoinage, Tai Otoshi, Osotogari, and Ouchigari… you’re going to miss out on the rich variety of Judo throws and skills.

 

A common saying among experienced Judoka is that the secret of Judo can be found in the little fingers and little toes. A somewhat mysterious saying – but simple when explained.

Gripping, as key to Judo as virtually anything else you could think of – depends on technique as well as simple strength. If you grip a gi using your little fingers, and keep your index finger and thumb relatively loose, and pointed somewhat toward uke, you’ll discover that pulling on the gi merely tightens the grip… but if you grip using your index finger and thumb, any pull at all will break your grip.

I showed this simple concept to one of our women Judoka, as the men kept pulling out of her grip at will… as soon as she saw that it was with the little finger, and not the index finger, that the grip should be held, suddenly her grips became quite difficult for the other white belts to break.

So even such a simple thing as gripping has technique involved that can vastly improve the efficient use of your strength (hmm… that sounds familiar… 🙂 ) Judo often has very small points of knowledge that can increase your power and efficiency dramatically and noticeably… the correct grip is one of these little ‘tricks’ of knowledge.

Another bit of knowledge is the concept of the little toe… the little toe is what will make your ashiwaza efficient and smooth… just make sure that it’s touching the mat as you sweep… and only your little toe. If you can master where your little toe goes, you can master the correct positioning on ashiwaza… (now all you have to do is spend 40-50 years to get the timing down…)

Almost the whole of Judo can be learned in just a few years, but it takes a lifetime to master the small things that so dramatically change the power and efficiency of what you do. That’s the real meaning behind the saying. Look for those small changes that dramatically improve your technique. If you like to do Morote Seoinage, for example, your grip on uke’s lapel must be just a tad lower than average – and such a simple change can dramatically improve your Morote Seoinage.

When you have a favorite technique, ask your sensei to help you improve it – and then go to other Judo clubs, and ask their sensei to help you improve it. Wearing a black belt doesn’t mean you know everything (yes, shocking, but true…) – and different sensei have different tokui waza. I have a horrible time teaching the fine points of Haraitsurikomiashi – but ask me about Kannuki Gatame sometime …

Now you can walk around, sound mysterious and knowledgeable, as you expound to fellow Judoka that the real secret of Judo is in the little fingers and little toes…

 

Far too often, we teach a single set of techniques, when what we should be teaching (or if you’re a competitor, training in) is a set of combinations that all stem from a single technique. The single technique that is used as a base technique is always one of the main, power throws of Judo. Throws such as Osotogari, Uchimata, Taiotoshi, are all very suitable candidates for this type of training.

This is commonly referred to as an Integrated Attacking System I’d like to provide one example, just so you can see how it works:

We’ll start with a right-sided Osoto Gari… let’s see what a typical ‘Integrated Attack System’ might look like:

1. Uke defends by stepping back with his right leg (the attacked leg) – Tori, rather than reaping, simply places his reaping right leg so that his right foot is touching uke’s right knee, and turns into Ashi Guruma. (Some Judoka prefer a very similar Harai Goshi here)

2. Uke defends by stepping back with his left leg (the non-attacked leg), preparatory to an Osoto Gaeshi counter – Tori, instead of reaping, puts his right foot down on the ground, stepping forward, and brings his left leg across to attack uke with Nidan Kosotogake. (This isn’t really a combination – since Tori’s driver leg is rarely in the correct position for this to work… this is, rather, a feint at Osotogari, and an attack … after noting what defense uke likes to use.)

3. Uke defends by getting all his weight off his attacked leg – Tori hops into a left-sided Sasae Tsuri Komi Ashi. Another nice throw from here is a right-side Ouchigari.

4. Uke defends by attempting Tani Otoshi – Tori immediately shifts to Ouchigari, and keeps a rotation to the left, both to stop the Tani Otoshi, and to ensure he’s on top when both Judoka hit the mat. 

Do you see the difference here? Instead of teaching combinations (Renrakuwaza) in the traditional form of technique 1 – technique 2, technique 1, technique 2, and so forth…  you start with just one technique, and cover all of the common defenses – and what the attack can shift to. This is a wonderful way to bring up throws that aren’t used nearly as often, such as Nidan Kosotogake.

 

Ran across a wonderful set of linked techniques in a seminar by the Sensei Kazuo Shinohara from the Kodokan… We were playing around with this in training, and I thought I’d pass it along.

1. Start in right-side Kesa Gatame. Uke will reach with his left hand to grab your obi, and attempt to roll you over him to his left.
2. You will now post your right hand (that was wrapped around Uke’s head) far to the right to stop Uke’s rolling escape attempt
3. Uke takes advantage by grabbing your outstretched arm, and slamming it over his head and to his right (so that you cannot re-engage uke’s head, and prevent a bridging attempt)
4. With that right arm, you tightly hook uke’s right arm that you were holding for Kesa Gatame, and turn your body counterclockwise into Ushiro Kesa Gatame – and with your left hand grab uke’s far side, pants or jacket.
5. Now, Uke tries his next escape attempt, by placing his left hand on your right shoulder, and successfully pulling his right arm out of your grasp.
6. You will continue your counterclockwise turn a tad more, shifting into Yoko Shiho Gatame
7. Uke begins his escape by pulling his hips away from you, creating space, then spinning to his left, away from you. You’ll hook his right arm as he spins away…
8. You may now circle around Uke’s head to his other side, pushing him back down into Yoko Shiho Gatame.

Now, let’s look at a few modifications of this set… For example, after number 7, you’re in a perfect position to slide your left leg over Uke’s head, and sit back into Juji Gatame. Another possibility is to make sure your right hand is hooking Uke’s right arm from underneath, keylock his right arm, then move into Kami Shiho Gatame.

You can also bring in another complete set of skills by changing uke’s number 7 escape to pulling his hips out, creating space, and then shifting his right leg back in, thus going into the guard. Now you can work a new set of linked techniques either for Tori to pass the guard, or for Uke to turn tables, and sweep, armbar, or choke…

When I was much younger, I used to have quite a bit of fun on the trampoline at the local military base gym… we had a game we called “Add-on”. The first person would perform some move – say, for example, a simple bounce to the back and up. The next person would ‘add-on’ another technique – he’d do the simple back, then, a 180 rotate to the back again.. the next person would do those two techniques, and add a third.

Something similar to this might prove to be an interesting game in Judo. See how long a set of linked techniques you can do. Preferably with a counter by Uke at each step of the game…

Somewhat along the same lines, I like to challenge students to rotate all the way around uke, holding uke for 5 seconds or so in all pins that they know. It’s a fun game for Judoka, and gives uke plenty of opportunity to practice his escapes.

 

Feet, more correctly, your opponent’s feet, are apparently the most fascinating objects in all of Judo.  During every practice, I can look around at Judoka doing randori, and they are all, almost to a man, looking down at their opponent’s feet.

What is the fascination with feet?  Do we wonder if our opponent has properly clipped his toenails – prior to being attacked with De Ashi Barai?  Do we suspect that our opponent might be going somewhere – and we need to watch his feet to make that determination?

In all the years of Judo that I’ve done, I’ve convinced myself of one fact beyond any dispute… my opponent’s feet are below his body.  In fact, I frequently use various ashiwaza – as I’m getting too old and tired to throw with spectacular throws anymore – and prefer the small and effortless throws… and although I virtually never glance downward … my foot invariably contacts my opponent’s foot in just the right place.

I could begin explaining to others that my mystical insight and psychic powers have developed as I’ve trained through my black belt ranks… allowing me to accurately know where my opponent’s foot is… or I could be honest, and simply admit that I never can seem to find my opponent’s foot other than underneath him.

In the Marine Corps, we used to have a ‘running chant’ that had the verse: “Ain’t no sense in looking down, ain’t no beer can on the ground…”  In Judo, I’ll argue the same thing… Ain’t no sense in looking down, your opponents feet are still on the ground.

In looking down you also destroy the perfectly upright balance that you should have for rapid speed of movement.  One of my favorite thoughts about Judo is that we should always strive to help our opponent.  If he’s got his head down – we should immediately reach over his shoulder, and help him put his head where he so clearly wants it.  (Hikkomi Gaeshi seems to work nicely here…)

But what we shouldn’t do is help our opponent by staring at his feet – for the only help we’re offering is a weakness in our posture that will make it easy to throw us.  Try locking your eyeballs right into your opponent’s eyes – and see if your techniques still continue to work just fine… I suspect they will…