Don’t continue to make the same mistakes in 2023!
Are you one of those people who approach their randori (free practice/sparring) in the same way every session?
Do you have one go-to move? Is there a position you favour most?
Always get stuck in the same scenario …
Ever wondered if things could be different?
Now you are not alone! I see this happen all the time.
And there is a different way—one where you can improve much faster.
Want to know the secret? … well it’s not a secret. But you know what I mean.
First Mindset.
Most people see randori as one part of training that is varied by how long you practice for or if it is standing or groundwork.
But like there is static uchi-komi, moving uchi-komi, speed uchi-komi, uchi-komi on the weaker side, one for one uchi-komi, uchi-komi against same/opposite sider … we can go on, but you get the picture.
We need to think of randori in the same way.
Randori is a crucial aspect of training and improvement.
It is important to focus on different aspects of the training to get the most out of it.
So what are the different aspects we could be focussing on?
1. Time/Tempo
2. Gripping
3. Space/Distance control
4. Scenario – Up a score, down a score, using the area
5. Different styles of opponents
6. One objective
So let’s go into a little more detail to give you some ideas for your training in 2023.
Time/Tempo
Most of you will do randori for different periods 2 minutes, 3 minutes and so on …
But you need to focus on the desired outcome of the time limit.
For example, longer randori, like 5-10 minute practices, are good for building base-level fitness in the same way a long run would.
But it is SLOW.
You have lots of time to think and set up your preparation to attack.
I remember training in Japan. 10-minute practices were very common.
But it wasn’t great preparation for competing in Europe as the fighting style is very different.
European fighters tend to work a lot faster, breaking preparation time, and before you know it, you’re disqualified from the contest through a lack of attacks!
So ensuring you change your practices’ tempo/work rate (as well as time) is just as important.
Don’t be afraid to do some practices that are 1-minute long but keep the work rate high!
Try to attack 4-6 times in that time.
Doing shorter and longer randori rounds can help to improve your endurance and overall fitness, as well as your ability to maintain focus and intensity for different lengths of time.
Varying the tempo of the sparring can also help to keep things interesting and challenging, as you will need to adapt to different speeds and rhythms.
Gripping
Possibly … the number 1 thing that will increase your throwing ability and decrease your chances of being thrown.
And yet many people need help understanding it.
Where you grip, how you grip, in what order to get a grip … pinning the sleeve … when to cross grip, when not to cross grip … All of these things can and should be routinely practised in randori.
When I was about 18, I struggled to get my head into gripping. I used to practice with my coach Luke Preston who was unbelievable at controlling your sleeve hand.
As a side note, I thought I had broken the sleeve grip for the first time while practising with him. I was pretty proud of myself until I looked down and saw the sleeve had just ripped off my judo suit! The sleeve was still in his hand!
I asked him how I could get stronger (better) at controlling the sleeve.
He said, “try harder to keep hold of it.”
This might seem like a throwaway comment, but he was 100% correct.
So many people look for a specific exercise to get stronger, but nothing will beat focused randori practice on keeping a sleeve.
I went through hundreds of practices just trying to focus on keeping hold of the sleeve. Being thrown did not matter in my head, just did the other person break the sleeve or not!
You can even remove throwing from the practice … focus on intense grip fighting.
This can also be beneficial to build fitness and muscular strength and be a great way of getting beginner adults to feel like they’ve had a great workout without the fear of being thrown whilst ‘getting to grips’ with break falls.
Space/Distance control
To attack and defend effectively, being able to control the space is so important.
As a rule of thumb, if you want to attack, you close the space and create distance if you want to defend (this is not true in all cases, but the majority).
Setting out sessions where people play specific roles, e.g. closing the distance or keeping the space, can be a great way to change your focus within a practice. Most people will have a natural inclination one way or another, especially against weaker or stronger opponents.
As coaches, this is an excellent tool for encouraging potentially risk-averse athletes (not wanting to attack through fear of being countered or losing), as the other person’s task is to avoid danger at all costs and keep the space.
You could also agree with your partner to take two hands on the belt with no space at all throughout the contest, so you constantly have to engage. Again, this is great for building strength and an effective jigotai posture.
It is important to control the distance between you and your opponent and the angle at which you are positioned relative to them.
By focusing on this aspect of the training, you can improve your ability to close the distance, create openings, and change the focus of your practice.
Scenario
This is great for preparing for competitions or working on specific situations from a previous competition.
Having practices where you are winning or losing in the match, with a specific time frame constraint, is an excellent practice.
Working on defending a score without being penalised or chasing a score without wasting time or being thrown is a crucial skill, yet only a few people practice this type of training.
Developing frameworks for you or your fighter is essential for development.
It will also help them keep a cool head under pressure as they will have gone through this situation before.
We can develop this further by using the mat area to create defensive and offensive reactions.
Even the types of techniques we use in these situations can significantly impact a match’s outcome.
For example, if you are down a score and on the edge of the mat area and incorrectly do a tomoe-nage or sumi-gaeshi, you allow your partner a chance to get on top and run the clock down.
You can even look at contests on YouTube and use different scenarios from major events with elite fighters.
Different Styles
Only some people are going to be able to practice against judoka all around the world.
But in every judo club, there are people who fight differently.
Some like to do drop techniques, some love tani-otoshi, some attack all the time and some only attack at the last second.
It is essential to fight different styles of fighters, but you must have a plan if you want to get the most from it.
If they don’t like to attack often, make sure you pick up the pace …
If they only do tani-otoshi, don’t attack with a turning technique. Use only ashi-waza …
If they do drop techniques, pin the sleeve and ensure they always move towards you and not away!
These little objectives will help you have a much more productive randori session and improve your judo much faster!
It can also stop you from getting frustrated or disheartened with your training if your favourite technique is not working against a certain opponent.
One Objective
Having one objective is simply that.
Forget everything else you know about judo and focus on that one thing. It could be a throw, a gripping or a movement pattern but focus on that one thing.
Some criticise this strategy as you miss or do not see opportunities to do techniques that may be better suited.
But this practice aims to assert your judo into the contest.
It will also allow you to find reactions and start to help you build your ‘if this, then that’ strategy … some people might find it easier to think of their judo tree.
Where techniques branch off your primary technique or strategy.
The way to think about this in your randori is to try your one technique or strategy and note all of the different reactions … did they jigotai or move in a specific direction?
You can easily visualise this with ippon-seoi-nage and ko-uchi-gake.
If you focus on trying to throw your opponent with ippon-seoi-nage, they will naturally sit back or move around the side to avoid being thrown forward … this sets up ko-uchi-gake … your techniques and strategies will quickly develop from here.
In conclusion, randori is an essential aspect of training.
But you can quickly plateau or feel like you are not progressing.
You will improve faster by focusing on the above-mentioned points, but more importantly, you will enjoy it!
So don’t get stuck in the same old … and enjoy trying something different. Let me know how you get on.
Check out this YouTube Clip where I go into more detail on the points above!