Adults' Judo Class


Judo consists of throwing techniques and ground fighting techniques. Our adult class puts equal emphasis on both aspects. We spend more time on ground fighting than some judo clubs. Every class includes sparring both standing up and on the ground.

A typical class starts with a warm-up followed by stretching. We sometimes incorporate some conditioning work into warm-up, but students are encouraged to do extra conditioning outside of class. The beginning of class also includes sport-specific movements such as break-falls, crawling and shrimping down the mat, bridging, etc.

The stand-up half of class includes time for technical instruction, free drilling with a partner, and sparring. Focus is sometimes spent on developing a single technique, or a combination of two or three throws. Throws can be practiced to completion on our tatami mats, or especially hard throws can be practiced on our crash mat for safety. Just the entry into throws can be practiced without completing the fall in order to get more repetitions done. Sometimes time is spent on isolation sparring to practice a specific aspect of judo such as foot sweeps, turn-around throws, or grip fighting. New students can try out their throws in sparring as soon as they demonstrate that they can take a fall safely. We do free sparring every class.

The ground fighting half of class also includes time for technical instruction, free drilling with a partner, and sparring. New students are first taught the dominant positions of ground fighting (hold-downs) and are invited to spar right away to try out these positions. They are then taught the defensive positions of judo (guard and turtle) and spar again. They are taught escapes from hold-downs into defensive positions, reversals from defensive positions into dominant positions, and finally submission holds (chokes and arm locks). Experienced students continue exploring all the aspects of ground fighting in drilling, free sparring, and situational sparring.

Our members are encouraged to go to competions to challenge themselves, to test their judo and to have fun. There is usually opportunity for car pooling and shared hotel rooms if necessary. We mostly attend judo competitions, but some of our members also like to enter brazilian jiu-jitsu and no-gi submission grappling tournaments for additional challenges.