One thing I’ve noticed after going back to Judo: there’s a tendency for seniors to over-explain throw variations + counters + combinations. I guess when you love a sport so much, you can’t help but share everything on a technique.
But I don’t think it’s pedagogically effective.
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I’ve been thinking a lot about this because there are parallels to a lot of other things in life.
You often can’t learn a high-level combination until you master the fundamentals. The meta skill involved here is breaking the skill into smaller sub-skills in your head.
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Your brain can’t handle an information dump without internalising lower level skills.
When I reflect on my Judo, I realise that so much of my knowledge builds on a deep understanding of a single throw. (This is called a ‘tokuiwaza’, or favourite technique.)
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The tokuiwaza is the core of Japanese Judo instruction. You’re expected to pick one at yellow belt. After you master that one technique, and after you are able to use it to win in competition, you begin layering on additional throws, combinations, setups, etc.
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Eventually, your entire knowledge of the sport is built like a tree from that one technique.
This is so widely known that Judo teachers often describe the learning experience as 'before tokuiwaza' and 'after tokuiwaza'. The experience of Judo is fundamentally different at both.
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dang, i really wanna take up judo again (did it for a few months in JC, and managed to learn ogoshi). i have a judo place right next to my house!
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I was going to say “go for it!” But the truth is that I’m taking it really easy with Judo right now. Problem with it is that it’s really for younger people — contact sports are scary if you’re old!
I think maybe this is why so many people do BJJ instead 🤔
As a follow up, have you seen kljudo.com and their blog: kljudotraining.blogspot.com
I really want to drop by KL to train under sometime.
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