Judo Throws

JU-DO: literally, JU means gentle, soft, tender, pliable; DO means road, or way. This name, or term, is derived from the fact that the main tactic of judo throws is seldom to resist, but to yield to ones opponents force. In feudal days, the art was monopolised by the samurai class & was more often known as Ju-Jutsu, or Yawara: it then played a vital part in mortal combat; therefore the art included methods unsafe & harmful to be practised as a competitive sport. The late Prof. Jigoro Kano studied under various Ju-Jutsu masters & realised the merit of the art & the worth of its training in mental & physical culture. With the idea of making the art safe to be practised as a sport by eliminating all unsafe methods, & selecting the best of all schools, they formulated a system, & called it Judo. In 1882, they founded the school, The Kodokan. But to prevent the art from being abused, & to keep away from all undesirable elements, they made it a condition that the pupils admitted to the school must sign a declaration which includes the following:

Without permission of the authorities of the Kodokan, I won’t teach or divulge the knowledge of the art I shall be taught.
I won’t perform the art in public for personal gain.
I will lay no blame on somebody, except myself, in the event of accident, even if it ought to lead to my death.
I will conduct myself in such a way as seldom to discredit the traditions & honour of The Kodokan.
I won’t abuse, or misuse, the knowledge of judo.

Originally the art was invented purely for its usefulness but, as with plenty of other inventions, the human mind sought to create it in to an art satisfying both to the physical & aesthetic sense, thereby incidentally increasing its efficiency. Technically, judo throws is a scientific study of the weakness & strength of the body-mechanism & the most effective ways of applying this knowledge. The training, or practice of it for skill, provides a process for attaining all that is best in sport promotion of mental & physical development, gratification of the competitive instinct, & stimulation of the spirit of fair play. Then, the inter-relation between the body, mind & spirit imbues as acquires skill with the qualities of balanced poise, self-confidence, & the principle of non-resistance & calm alertness.
The efficiency of the art depends on the skilful application of theoretical knowledge developed on the experience of centuries. The skill consists of technical accuracy, co-ordinated movements & initiative. Therefore to attain a high degree of proficiency, must be prepared to devote lifelong study & practice, which entails attaining & maintaining physical vigour & progressive mental development. Light-hearted enthusiasm which fades in facing difficulties, slowness of progress or hard work, is a waste of time & energy for both the student & the teacher. The worth of judo throws however, like food, depends on digestion & assimilation: it can only be appreciated by experience.

The art of judo can roughly be divided in to six technical sections:

Nage-waza: Methods of throwing.
Osaikomi-waza: Holding.
Gyaku-waza: Locking.
Shime-waza: Strangling.
Atemi-waza: Striking, or kicking, the vital nerve centres.
Katsu: Resuscitation.
The aim of all these sections except the last is to put the opponent out of action either temporarily or permanently. Throws are applied when the opponent loses his balance, either voluntarily or involuntarily. In practice, the opponent is thrown to the ground on his back: in point of fact, it ought to be on his head or shoulder. Locks are applied on the arms, legs, body, in such a way as to produce dislocation of the joints. The purpose of holding is to keep the opponent on his back, on the ground, helpless. Strangling is applied to the neck, to reduce the opponent to a state of coma by stopping the blood-circulation to the brain. The aim of striking or kicking the vital nerve-centres is to paralyse the opponent. Katsu is the process of reviving a person from the state of the coma.

Practice & training in judo throws is conducted in forms:

Methods of Training

Kata, or forms: prearranged theoretical study & practice in a formal manner.
Randori, or casual, free practice: methods of assault & defence are practised in a competitive manner. In conducting randori, to keep away from accident & injuries, the contest rules ought to be carefully studied, when there is no experienced teacher.
Shiai, check match, or contest: this is not only for the purpose of testing the skill attained, but is an important kind of training for it will accustom the scholars to the effect of the nervous tension & strain such circumstances produce.

Balance

Judo, as a combative art, or a way of mental and physical training, or of moral and spiritual schooling, fundamentally evolves on the principle of balance, as do all things in the universe. Duality is the ordered state, and providential arrangement for animation and progress Life. Life is action action to attain the balanced state, or unity of opposites a state of non-action. As far as man is concerned, the worth and satisfaction of life are derived from that striving for unity with nature and God. So it is with judo.

In action, balance must be retained: yet to accomplish an object, must run the risk of losing it. In this enigma of the natural law, judo throws finds its life as a sport and combative art.

It may be said that a human body, in its standing position, is in a balanced state when the trunk of the body, in the upright posture, is held directly above the feet. However, the nature of the human body is such that, if pulled or pushed, the upper part, it is not an simple matter to retain that state of balance without moving the feet. For this reason, in judo throws the feet are kept about 18 in. apart, so that, while they form an appropriate basis for the body, they can be moved basically and swiftly, and the weight of the body can be transferred from to the other as circumstances demand.

Under the circumstances of contest or combat, to judge clearly, and to command fast action, must have quiet mental balance. This mental balance depends, in turn, on the spiritual balance, or a clear conscience. Thus it will be seen that the study of judo throws does not stay solely on the physical plane; also, despite the extreme nature of its objectives, judo is not liable to be submissive to the influence of an evil power. In fact, the maxim of judo is:

The first thing to learn is never to oppose strength to strength. In case you do that the stronger man will inevitably win. Keep in mind that when he is on balance he is strong, but off balance he is weak, providing you have retained your own balance to take advantage of his weakness. A man is on balance, you will find, if he stands upright, and keeps his centre of gravity inside a small circle drawn round his feet. Before you execute a throw you must break his balance by getting his middle of gravity outside that circle. “Centre of Gravity” is a scientific term, and for those who are not familiar with it, it means the point at which a person’s or an object’s weight acts. The point at which you could balance him on a support, in plain language.

The basic principles of judo throws are simple to grasp and are essential for the person studying the method of judo. Judo throws enable a weak and small man to overcome a large and strong man because they are based on scientific principles such as leverage and balance.

Applying this to turning an opponent about a line drawn perpendicularly down through his middle, you will notice that the wider your hands are apart in gripping him for this purpose, the greater will be your Mechanical Advantage. It is possible for you to to see this applied in throws. Get the greatest Mechanical Advantage you can. Dr. Kano said the principle as “Maximum Efficiency, Maximum Effort”. Direction of pulls and timing of assaults are also supremely important to success.

The second principle you ought to understand and think about is the action of levers. You know the way much simpler it is to lift a heavy object by putting a crowbar under it. In case you rest the finish on the ground, have the object a small way up the lever, and lift the other finish of the bar, you are using your crowbar as a lever of the second class. In case you put a support under your crowbar, put finish under the object and press down on the other finish, you are using it as a lever of the first class. The work you use multiplied by the distance from the point of support (fulcrum) is equal to the resistance you lift multiplied by its distance from the fulcrum. The resistance divided by the work is called the Mechanical Advantage of the lever. (There is a third class of lever which does not have a Mechanical Advantage, but this won’t concern us.)

Forces in Judo

They know that there’s lots of kinds of force around us. How are they made use of in judo? Let us discuss of them. According to Newton’s second law of motion, you have an advantage over your opponent when your body is larger than his. Besides that law, however, there is another factor that gives you advantage over a smaller opponent. This is the giant muscular force with which a giant man is usually gifted. They can over a heavy block or lift it basically, whereas the same feat may be difficult for a smaller man. Although they can say that giant muscular force is convenient for breaking the opponent’s posture in judo, muscular force alone does not encompass all the forces used in judo.

To make use of muscular force normally and effectively, you must study its nature. of the important facts about judo throws is that successful employment of techniques is the result of total body muscular movement – as, for example, in the execution of seoinage. The same thing can be said about pinning or strangling. Defensively, , it might be difficult to save yourself from your opponent’s assault were it not for your ability to make use of all of your muscular force. They can therefore understand that the exertion of a powerful force means that muscles must act together by the use of the force of the waist and abdominal region. Specialist judo is characterized by a giant variety of techniques. As you observe, you will notice that the specialist makes lovely use of lots of kinds of forces. Since judo throws employs lots of forces, such as those of gravity, momentum, and friction, you must not mistake muscular force for the only effective. In case you do, your judo throws will become hard, heavy, slow, and ineffective.

It is important to throw your opponent by making use of his loss of balance. of the laws at work here is the law of gravity. All bodies in the universe attract another. Now let us think about the application of the law of gravity to judo. The heavier the opponent, the more difficult it is for you to move him horizontally. It is even more difficult for you to move him vertically. On the other hand, a bigger gravity acts on him to make him fall. In judo throws, gravity may be represented as a force pulling the opponent downward. In case you need to make him fall, you make him lose his balance; that is, you cause his middle of gravity to go outside the base. Then the gravity that acts on him works for you to make him lean or fall.

Let’s assume that you & your opponent are standing head to head. When your opponent advances towards you to take hold of you by the lapel. Simultaneously you withdraw as much as your oponent advances. If your oponent is mentally or physically unable to let his advanced foot advance again, they will lean forward, lose his balance, & it is possible for you to to throw him by taking advantage of gravity.

Also, it is apparent that the same thing will happen when the stability of the legs supporting the trunk is taken away. When your opponent takes a bigger step forward than usual, you may sweep his advanced foot away. By doing this, you will drop him with the force of gravity acting on him directly than muscular strength.

It may be difficult for you, because of the weight advantage of your opponent, to lift a bigger opponent together with your arms. But it is simple to support him at the middle of gravity together with your hips as they leans forward. Look at how a heavier person can be lifted on a seesaw seesaw in case you sit further away from the fulcrum. After making your opponent lean forward, support him at the middle of gravity together with your hips. No matter how much weight they may have, a slight pull can rotate him him over your hips. If your hips are lower than the middle of gravity, then your opponent will be top heavy & his own weight will work against him causing him to fall over you. To support your opponent at the middle of gravity together with your hips is the key point of such hip throws as o-goshi.