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Introduction This book is a guide to Judo aimed at parents of children who have taken up Judo. This book will help you understand appreciate and assist your child’s Judo career History Judo was founded in 1882 by Professor Jigoro Kano. Kano was a propoent of Jiu Jitsu, Judo was envisioned as a distillation of the effective techniques from Jiu Jitsu. Kano's school was and is still called the Kodokan. Judo is to this day technically called "Kodakan Judo". Kano promoted Judo both within Japan and outside to the rest of the world. He sent instructors worldwide and managed to make Judo become the interationally popular sport it is today. Kano was a member of the International Olympic Committee and was instrumental in Judo being recognised as an Olympic sport, it has been a feature of all Olympicgames since 1964. Kano died in .????. leaving a wonderful legacy. Judo is now predominately guided by the International Judo Federation. What it is all about Judo is the art and sport of throwing another person onto the floor, then making them stay there. Judo is part martial art, part olympic sport. Judo teaches studets how to unbalance their opponent, then to throw them. Judo players are taught to use technique and the opponents strength to suceed. Terminology Judo is Japanese in origin and as such uses many Japanese words which at first can be intimidating. In this chapter we shall introduce some of these terms for you. Some common commnds: Hajime (ha-jim-me) - Begin Matte (mat-ay) - Stop Tachi Waza - Standing/Throwing technique Ne Waza - Ground technique Tokui Waza - Favourite technique Ippon - 1 Point, the winning score Wazari - Half point Yoku - Minor Score Koka - MSmallest score in Judo How clubs work Most clubs are charities, being run for love by the instructor. Very few are businesses or supported by local government etc. A majority of clubs are benevolent dictatorships, the instructor is the boss. Some have fully fledged organisational structures that you may be more familiar with, but these are the minority and often beurocracy kills clubs that go this way after a long period of dictatorship A club will normally have a single head instructor; luckier clubs will also have other instructors who will teach regularly or not. The instructor (or sensei) ill normally run the club and organise everything. They also tend to pay all the ills and keep clubs afloat by spending their own money on the bills. Unlike most martial arts, Judo clubs are often deceptively informal. With many clubs having only the most basic traditional bows being practised. This varies greatly from club to club. Judo clubs will normally have a large number of child members and a much smaller umber of adults. Many of the adults will be graduates from the children’s classes. A vast majority of adult Judoka started as children rather than as adults. This sadly means that experienced players often dominate adult classes with little planning for adult beginners. That said the parent considering learning Judo to support their child should not be put off. Every judo club I have ever encountered welcomes adult learners and parents are especially welcomed. One of the strong points of Judo is that a singe class can handle both learners and experienced players within a single format. Participation at any level is possible in a class. You should however be prepared for the fact that as the minority, the class will be focussed on experienced players. Having said all this, at kid’s classes the opposite situation exists. Judo takes many years to achieve a reasonable level of competence, so kids classes are normally almost entirely involved in teaching at a low technical level. Often a good way to learn Judo yourself is to assist in the instruction of children’s classes. I personally have met people who have been involved in national and international Judo following an initial start helping the kid’s class. You do need to consider if your child would want Mummy or Daddy there of course. Also as we will talk about later in the book, you need to possibly distance yourself from your own child to prevent you becoming the stereotyped "Pushy Sports Mum/Dad". A club session A typical Judo session will consist of seven parts: Registration Names will be taken and money collected, some clubs are very strict on the process, some not. It is important to ensure that you are aware of the correct "Protocols" in the class your child attends. Often clubs will want parents to fulfil certain tasks such as staying till the class starts or helping to lay Judo mats. Others will happy to see your child without you even being seen. Judo clubs are notoriously bad at making all this clear, so you will need to seek out those who look to be running things and/or speak with other parents. Bows Most, but not all clubs will have a formal bow to begin the session. This will normally consist of lining up all the children on one side of the Judo mat in order of their Judo grade. The instructor will be on the other side of the mat facing them. Many clubs will now sit in the traditional kneeling position before proceeding. Depending on the club, the class will bow first to a picture of Jigoro Kano the founder of Judo or to the picture of a similarly important figure in the clubs history. After this the class will bow towards the instructor. Many parents worry about the significance of the bows and are concerned about religious issues. Judo bows are not religious. Judo bows are an extension of the culture of the founding nation Japan. Bows are used to show respect in the first instance to the memory and works of Jigoro Kano without that there would be no Judo. The second bow towards the instructor shows respect to the instructor and their bow in turn is a way of showing respect to the students. Warm up Before launching into the vigorous sport of Judo it is important to ensure that the body (and mind) are suitably prepared. After the initial bows the club will have warm up exercises to increase blood flow to the muscles, to gently stretch the muscle fibres and especially in the case of children, to get their minds into the right attitude to learn or practise judo. The warm up will typically consist of some gentle running and/or physical exercises followed by some basic stretches of the main muscle groups. During or after the warm up, there is often a period where the important break fall techniques are practised to ensure all the students know how to protect themselves when thrown. Gymnastic movements such as cartwheels and handstands are often practised as well. These movements have some practical application in Judo but are also important tools in developing an awareness and control of the body when it is in movement and often upside down. Instruction Once the class has warmed up, the instructor will begin teaching the class. This teaching will normally consist of one if not several of the following common methods. 1. Technique demonstration. The instructor will show a particular throw, hold or other technique to the class, showing key elements. Students will then practise these techniques while the instructor observes and assists 2. Exercises To build core elements the class may practise exercises that build the elements. This ma be technique drills, physical strength, speed or endurance exercises. 3. Games Especially in the case of children, games are 0played that teach the students things required for Judo. Instructors to give fun breaks before continuing with activities that need more attention also often use games. 4. Randori (Free practise) In Randori, students will attempt to throw one another. It is up too the individuals to decide what to try and their opponent normally will be trying to avoid our counter their techniques. These are "play fights", where students get the opportunity to try what they have learnt. Normally, it is up t each couple to decide how hard to fight, often the intensity being first high, then low, then high again as the partnerships are changed during the session. The learning that takes place during Randori is considerable, students are learning by doing. Each failed attempt helps sharpen the skills, each time someone is thrown both people learn. Parents and instructors should try to ensure that children appreciate that it is important to both throw and be thrown in equal amounts. Cool Down Near the end of the class, the instructor will stop the class and together everyone will do exercises and stretches to cool the body down. This process helps prevent injuries and also improves flexibility and the ability of the body to recover from the exercise. Bows The bows from the start of the class are repeated at the end of the class, in reverse order. The Bows at the start and end of the class help to punctuate the training. It makes it very clear when the class begins and ends, so that the students know when they should be in “Judo mode”. Your Childs Safety Judo is a very “physical” sport, many parents worry about the safety of the children when they send them along to Judo. Judo is inherently dangerous Most clubs will include in every class a period where students learn and practise methods of falling without injuring themselves. Mastering these "breakfalls" (Ukemi in Japanese) is essentia for both the safe participation and for continued enjoyment in Judo. Parents can help ensure their children learn the breakfalls and that they practise them regularly. Knowing breakfalls allows your chilld to be thrown with very llittle chance of injury. This skill is usefull in the Judo club, but often proves its worth outside the club, for example when falling from a bicycle. Safety within the class is,maintained by the instructor who contros activities and monitors students to ensure nobody is injured. Instructors also keep a vigilant eye out for innapropriate behaviour such as bullying or reckless behaviour. Parent’s role Outside the Class: Your role as a parent of a child learning Judo is a varied one. The involvement of one or more parents can be very beneficial to your child, although it can also be detrimental if the involvement is the wrong type. We have all seen a “Pushy Sports Parent”, as have the instructors at the Judo clubs. This type of parent have made involvement by other parents difficult in many situations as club instructors fight to protect their students from their own parents. With this in mind it is important that you get to know the club and the instructor well and they you. As the parent, you have an opportunity to motivate your child, to assist their technique development and to ensure that their attitude towards the sport and its many aspects is a healthy one. Children will often start with enthusiasm but slip away from the sport later on. There are many reasons for this, and parents play a key role in preventing children from giving Judo up too soon. Judo is the classic cliché, easy to learn difficult to master, children often lose their enthusiasm when this becomes apparent. Initially children’s progress is quick, but it will plateau off for a period before noticeable progress is made again. These “plateau” periods are often when kids decide Judo is not as much fun or that they are not “any good”. It is at these stages that parents positive encouragement can keep the child in class until they start enjoying the next period of improvement. Parents are often essential to the smooth running of clubs and club activities. Parents often help with administration of the club and with events such as attending tournaments and social gatherings. Each club is different and you should speak with the instructor and other parents to find out if you can be (or are expected to be) involved. Inside the class: Inside the Judo class, there is one boss, the instructor. This single point of authority is essential to maintaining class discipline and to the learning process. Parents need to be aware of this relationship and should always make it clear to their children that when they are at Judo, the instructor should be listened too. Some clubs encourage parental encouragement during the classes. Some permit or encourage parents to step on the mat and assist the children, most do not. Before you start helping your child, either with verbal advice or by actually physically coming on the mat; you need to understand the clubs attitude to this and also speak specifically about this to the instructor. Please do not be offended if the instructor asks that you do not give suggestions or come on the mat, they are only trying to maintain a good environment for your kids. I would encourage all parents to stay and watch their children do Judo. You will be able to see things that your child is doing that after the class you can feedback to them, this all helps them progress. You should always look for and comment on the positive things your child does. Congratulate them on the great throw you saw, ask them what the throw was called, how do you do it, etc. Attending a coaching course or attending an adult class yourself will help you learn the terminology, rules, principles and sensations of Judo which will help you help your child. Do remember of course that the instructor should never be contradicted, so whatever advice the instructor gave your child should be agreed with even if you disagree. You should not reprimand either your child or any others in the class. This is the instructors responsibility. If the case warrants it, it may be worth catching the instructors attention and having a quiet word with them to ensure they are aware of something they may have missed. Generally however it is best to leave this till after the class when you can mention it privately to the instructor away from the children and other parents. Accidents and injuries are often situations where parents will involve themselves inadvisably. You should always stay off the mat and out of the situation unless the instructor asks for your assistance. Later in this book we will cover some of the techniques of Judo. Parents can help ensure that their kids learn correct technique. However, it is important that you should watch classes carefully and communicate with the instructor. This is important so as not to contradict or confuse the teaching methods of the club. The Exception to the rule: Sadly not all Judo instructors are perfect. As the parent of a child your first priority is to protect and nurture your children. If you strongly disagree with what is happening in the class you should say something. Depending on the situation you may leave this till you can speak privately with the instructor or say something immediately. 99% of the time I would suggest waiting until you can talk privately. You should only ever speak out during the class if something seriously wrong is occurring. By this I mean something that will injure one of the students or is illegal. If your child is seriously at risk or is seriously injured, then of course you should worry first about them and second about etiquette. The key here is to be able to correctly identify situations where you should interfere and when to allow the instructor to deal with the bad behaviour or injury. Judo techniques The main idea of Judo is to throw your opponent of their back, obviously there is more too it than that but that is the primary goal that as a parent you should be promoting. As your child learns Judo they will be taught many many techniques and variations of technique, they do not need to become expert in all of them, but do need to proficient in them all. The great champions of Judo are all discernable because they all have distinct styles, when learning Judo your child will copy existing styles but eventually this should turn into their own distinct way of executing techniques. Good instructors will teach your child a variety of techniques and styles, then over time encourage them to modify what they learn to develop their own individual style of playing Judo. As a parent, you can and should encourage you child to learn the method being taught, but also to work on their own style. In this next section, we shall cover what are generally considered the core techniques of Judo. Each technique will be described broadly and a short list of key elements will be given. These key points are worth learning as a parent as they are almost universally accepted by instructors and will help you as a parent to give worthwhile advice. Standing techniques and defences Ippon Seoi Nage One armed shoulder throw This throw is done by turning your back on your opponent, whilst pushing your arm under your their arm. While keeping your back straight bend your knees and then tip forward. As you tip forward and your opponent comes over your body, twist your shoulders and drive your hands down to the floor, taking your opponents back firmly to the ground. The temptation is to lift the opponent off the floor vertically, this is incorrect. One should imagine the hips as the pivot point, when the body tips forward, the person being thrown flips over the throwers hips. Taio Toshi Turning your back on your opponent, make your legs as wide as possible. Lift your opponent up and over your leg in a circle that ends with your opponents back landing on the floor. Your hand holding their sleeve comes around behind you, the hand holding their chest pushes your opponent onto to the floor firmly. When doing this throw, there are several points that need to be remembered. The throwers feet must be as wide as practical. The arm that holds the opponents lapel is important, the wrist shoud remian straight and the arm should not be allowed to be pulled behind the line of your own shoulder. Osoto Gari Step your foot parallel to your opponents, keeping your leg slightly bent. Your foot, hips, chest and head should be in a straight line leaning slightly forward. Your chest should be in contact with your opponents, swing yoour inside leg forward, keeping your head down. Swing yur leg backwards, as it comes straight with our back your chest should swing forward as the leg swings backwards. Drive your hands to the floor to place your opponent on the floor and also to help you balance. Balance and forward momentum are essential in this throw. The supporting leg should be slightly bent and you should look forward and down, at a spot on the floor approximately one yard behind your opponent. You allso need to ensure that your chest is inn contact with your opponrent so that you can apply the throwing motion. O Uchi Gari Tomoe Nage Tomoe Nage is done by pulling your opponent as you swiftly sit on the heel of one of your feet, whilst placing your other foot in their stomach area. Your opponent pivots over your foot landing on their back with their head cose to yours. Tomoe Nage is seldom successful and can often leave the person attempting it in a very bad stratgic position. To help increase the odds, the thrower whilt sitting, should be pulling their opponent forwards over them. The thrower will often continue the sitting motion into a backwards roll, finishing onto of their opponent. Uchi Mata General tips for Tachi Waza 1. You should try to be on balance at all times, ESPECIALLY when trying to execute a throw. 2. If your opponent is moving towards you, you should be trying to throw by bloking their hips. 3. If your opponent is moving away from you you should try to throw them by blocking their legs. 4. All throws should be executed with urgency. 5. All thows should end with your pushing your opponent "into" the mat with both hands. 6. Look where you want your oppoent to fall. Ground Techniques and escapes Kesa Gatame Mune Gatame Kami Shiho Gatame Tate shiho Gatame General tips for Ne Waza 1. All ways try to put the centre or your chest directly above the centre of your opponents chest. 2. Allways try to control your opponents head, lift it off the mat. 3. Always try to secure and arm of the opponent. 4. Relax and allow your body to do the work, dont become tense and make yoour muscles work too hard. Judo strategy Strategy in Judo plays a large part and affects the long-term development of your child. For all beginners the strategy employed should be to try and throw your opponent for Ippon. From the Hajime call from the referee, the players should be aiming to throw for Ippon. Initially, you must secure a strong grip that allows you to make your attacks. Although grips are important and often focussed on, children should be encouraged to fight from a simple grip. As soon as they have a grip children should start trying to throw. The "grip and throw" approach is a simple strategy that encourages positive attacking Judo. Although not sophisticated this strategy works well and is very effective. Offence is often the best defence and a good way of preventing a more skilled opponent from throwing you. Judo training for kids Most children and most clubs provide two sessions per week, this is a good level for beginners and children at low to mid level. More sessions per week should be carefully considered as the negative impacts can out weigh the positive. Children are very different to adults and this should be considered when looking at the number and type of Judo sessions and also when considering supplemental training such as running. Children’s bodies are still growing and developing, so “hard” training needs to be a minority of training. Similarly running and weight training should be restricted as it can cause injury very easily. For children, the best training for Judo is Judo skill work. Judo needs to be fun, yet educational. It needs to be good exercise, but not lead to overexertion. Supplementary training such as running should primarily be used to give the psychological impression of putting in extra effort rather than actually making the child work harder. Allowing and encouraging your child to do more learning of the complex skills of Judo will help them in both the short term and in the long-term. Much like building a house, solid foundations are essential. The key to long-term Judo success is enthusiasm and regular Judo lessons over time. So Weight Control Judo competitions are fought in weight divisions, which leads to the common practise of players working hard to stay under the maximum weight for the division. This should never be encouraged, it should be actively discouragd by both parents and clubs. Weight control is generally achieved in Judo through food and fluid restriction over a should period leading up to the competition. This is not healthy and can cause great harm to your childs health. It can also promote serious long term eating disorders, which again can be very damaging for your childs health. It is also detrimental to performance. Food restriction leaves you without energy, fluid restriction causes dehydration. Dehydration has been rpoven to lower performance. If a player has dehydrated themselves to "make their weight" in the morning, they will not be rehydrated that morning,nor in most cases that afternoon. So performance is affected for the whole day. No club or instructor should encourage your child to lose or control their weight, ever! Judo competitions Judo is a competitive sport, participating in a competition is both a rewarding and a harrowing experience for most people, including children. In competition all competitors will at some time or another lose a fight. There are not too many Judo players out there who can rightfully claim to have won more fights than they have lost. Children are often very upset when they lose, this is natural but can be tempered by instilling the right attitude towards competition. Competition is a testing ground for Judo players. It is when we get to try what we know on others and see if it works on them. It is also an opportunity to experience firsthand the techniques of other players from other clubs, areas or countries. It is an opportunity to learn more Judo by being attacked (or thrown) by another player. The standard Judo tournament will consist of a selection of weight divisions, typically in 5kg groupings. All the entrants will be weighed by tournament officials and allocated to their divisions. Each division will be divided into “pools”, a pool will consist of about 5 players. All the members of a pool will fight one another, and the two with the most wins will go through to the “knock-out phase”. In the knockout phase, the players are placed on opposite sides of the competition “drawsheet”, the first two players will fight who ever wins will fight again. Then players three and four will fight and the winner would go forward and fight the winner from the first match. This continues until there is one player left on both sides of the “draw”, these two then fight the final, the winner being the champion. Those who lose at any stage to the two finalists are placed in a repecharge knockout, which operate the same way, until there are two remaining players. These two do not however fight and considered equal third place getters. This is the most common format for tournaments, but different formats are common and used depending on local preference and situations. A Judo fight is won in one of three ways: 1. Throwing the opponent for Ippon 2. Scoring Ippon by holding your opponent on the ground for the required amount of time (presently 25 seconds) 3. Earning more smaller scores than your opponent by the end of the contest. Ippon is scored for a throw that is executed with Force, Speed and Control, with the opponent landing largely on the back. An Ippon score stops the fight immediately. An Ippon is the goal that your child should be trying to achieve at all times. If the throw is lacking one of the 4 elements for Ippon, (force, speed, control, on the back) it is awarded a score of Wazari, equivalent to half and Ippon. Scoring two Warazi earns an Ippon. Should two elements be missing a Score of Yuko is awarded. Unlike Wazari, these scores are do not eventually earn a Wazari or Ippon. Should three elements be missing, then the technique will be awarded the lowest score, Koka. Again Multiple Koka scores do not become Yuko, Wazari or Ippon scores. The referee can also award no score at all. Judo in the long term The future for any child in Judo is both a long and potentially very rewarding and exciting one. Your child’s path could lead them to international competition including representing your country at the Olympics. They may also become coaches or instructors, training a new generation. Or they may become involved in the important work of administering the sport; organising competitions or refereeing. In any of these eventualities, the parents support is essential. Encouraging your child to explore the full range of Judo activities will help them choose the path that suits them best. Competition is only a small aspect of a greater whole and should not be considered the most important element. I have met many players who have happily stayed within the walls of their club from childhood through to adulthood. I have also met child players competing internationally. The most important consideration is enjoyment, if your child enjoys doing Judo they will stay in the sport and enjoy the benefits and opportunities. If the fun is removed, so is their motivation and the chances of them achieving the loftier goals in the sport reduced. Judo injuries If your child does Judo long enough they will get injured eventually, it happens to all Judo players. As a parent it is important that you are aware of this and prepared for when it happens. Injuries in training Club instructors are/should be trained in first-aid and experienced in the specific injuries that occur in Judo. In the event of an injury in a club, they should be allowed to take the lead in dealing with the situation. As the parent, you are entitled to be involved, especially if you do not feel happy with the way the injury is being dealt with, but if at all possible it is best to allow the instructor to stay in control. Common injuries in Judo classes are sprains (ankles), bruises, being winded, cuts/scratches, broken bones, dislocations, concussions and loss of consciousness. In the event of a serious injury such as a break or dislocation, the class will be stopped and the student treated. In minor injuries often parents or club officials will treat the student on the side of the mat whilst the class continues. In the case of a serious head, neck or back injury, the class should be stopped immediately. The student should be left where they are and an ambulance called. This is also the case for a serious break. In the event of cuts and scratches, especially those that bleed, the player should leave the mat and have the affected wound dressed. Any blood should be cleaned from the mat with appropriate cleaning agents. If a player loses consciousness either through being thrown on the head, stangled (adults only) or for any other reason, they should not be allowed to continue. Injuries in Competition. There should always be ambulance or St. Johns staff on duty at competitions; they will be called by referees in the event of an injury. Recuperation Parents will play a key role in the recuperation from injury of their child. All sprains, strains and bruises should be treated with the “R.I.C.E.” method of REST, ICE, COMPRESSION, ELEVATION. All injuries should be treated with respect and appropriate monitoring, treatment and rest should be provided. Its not that bad. Having scared everyone with the above section on injuries, it is important perhaps to note that Judo has a very low injury rate. Judo mats coupled with good regulations and thorough learning of breakfalls remove most causes of injury. Parents should be happy to know that Judo has a much lower injury rate than the more common sports such as Football. Judo Grades and Belts Judo students are grouped and also rewarded through the awarding of coloured belts representing their Judo “Grade”. Belts/Grades generally start with white for beginners and progress through the colours to the coveted Black Belt. Different countries, organisations and clubs have slightly different systems but generally the core grades of White, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue, Brown and Black Belts can be expected. Especially in the case of children, “in-between” grades such as White with a Yellow stripe are used to reward progress. Generally belts are awarded with some ceremony to increase the sense of achievement, but this is not always the case. Some systems involve strict testing and others are rewarded simply on the opinion of the instructor. On the whole, even with systems using tests, the grading is for show. It is normally an opportunity for the child to display their skills. Instructors will normally have decided what grades each child deserves beforehand, based on their efforts within the class. The older the child gets the more stringent the testing aspect will become. How long does it take? Each grading system puts different times in between grades. Typically though children would be awarded their first belt within a month or two of starting. (often the first belt goes along with the first Judo uniform) As a general guideline the length of time between grades is roughly double that of the grade before. There are often age requirements that can slow progress. A good quality Black Belt grade would expect to take between 6-10 years to achieve, Judo is not the martial art to take up for a Black Belt in a year! Parents should remind children that this will take a long time, they should also make efforts divert attention from grades. It is achievements in progress that they should look for. The focus needs to be on improving all the time and being a better Judo player rather than on when they get the next belt. In closing
