A team of twelve from our club travelled to Hereford for this tournment. Everyone gave of their best and once again, various of our team members were commented on by those high up in the BJC hierarcy. Everyone was a credit to the club.
Below are some of the highs and lows which have been uploaded so that we can study them and learn the lessons that they show. When viewing these, it is useful to consider the grips used, the methods used to break balance, timing of throws and in groundwork, the methods used to control the opponent.
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Video
Allen
Allen attacks his opponent with Tai Otoshi which fails, he reverses out and then as the opponent tries take control Allen gives a flick of the wrist which sets his opponent up to float whereupon Allen attacks with O Uchi Gari and takes the opponent to the ground for Wazari. There is a bit of a scramble in groundwork whilst Allen secures a strangle, adjusts it and his opponent submits.
Allen
Allen
In Allen's second contest he is taken down by his opponent with Ko Uchi Gari. Allen on the ground attempts to apply a strangle but can not get it on properly and they are called to standing.
Upon starting again Allen's opponent moves in for a throw and Allen counters with Tani Otoshi. Allen immediately moves into groundwork and gets a hold down which is not a proper Kesa Gatame but is what used to be called a 'pillow hold' because the opponents head is resting on Tori's thigh. This hold is not very strong but is good enough to last to 28 seconds, just 2 seconds short of an outright win! Having scored Wazari Allen is ahead.
Upon restarting the opponent attacks in the same way as before and Allen once again counters with Tani Otoshi and this time scores a Yuko. Allen is attempting to apply Tate Shio Gatame but has forgotten to remove his right leg from between his opponents legs and thus the hold does not count. The referee calls them to standing again.
Allen's opponent this time attacks and gets another Ko Uchi Gari which scores Yuko. So they now have two Yuko's each but Allen has a Wazari. Upon returning to standing Allen checks the clock and sees that he has eight seconds left. What he should be doing now is playing delaying tactics by using grip fighting and just keeping his opponent at bay. But he doesn't.
Allen
Allen's opponent attacks like before but converts to an O Soto Gari and takes Allen down in what would definitely be an Ippon. Luckily for Allen, the bell sounding the end of the contest goes just before Allen is thrown and consequently it does not count. This can be seen by the frustration of the opponent upon the score being announced. There is a strong moral here and Allen must take greater care to think tactically when one is ahead with just a few seconds to go.
What Allen should have done in those final few seconds:
• Be difficult about taking grip ie. spend a couple of seconds walking around.
• Engage in a bit of grip fighting.
• Go strong arm and not let his opponent in (this wouldn't matter as Allen didn't need to be able to turn in either).
• Go for a Tome Nage (this may well not work but is a good way to lose some seconds without much danger)
• Pull his opponent around in pointless circles.
Allen
In this contest Allen brings his opponent down with Tani Otoshi after his opponent makes an ineffectual turning attack. Allen then works on the ground trying to extract a strangle. Unable to obtain on in the current position he turns his opponent around and applies Okuri Eri Jime, sliding collar strangle and obtains the submission with this.
Allen
Ellie
Ellie appears to lack the confidence to actually attack with her normal skill and aggression. There are also instances where her opponent enters for a technique and Ellie breaks grip thereby depriving herself of the opportunity to counter. In the end Ellie is pulled down for a hold down. This is not strictly speaking correct by the contest rules of the BJC as all groundwork must start as a result of a clear standing technique. However, the clock is counting and the hold
down is decisive.
Ellie
Hannah
Hannah unfortunately is selecting a sleeve grip far to low down her opponents sleeve and furthermore, being on the top, she does not gain any control. Whilst a low sleeve grip can be useful, at this skill level it is best to go for a conventional under elbow grip so that one can better control the opponent and at the same time, gain better leverage when it comes to breaking balance.
Hannah is placed into a hold down, but does escape but unfortunately, all the throws, whilst only gaining minor points, are counting against her.
Hannah
Hannah
Hannah appears to be intimidated by the taller girl. Hannah behaves very defensively by taking lots of small steps to match her opponents to give the rather comical effect of going around in circles. The opponent puts in a lot of false attacks. There is clearly no real energy in these attacks nor is the balance broken. They are just for show. But the referee isn't fooled. The referee warns both contestants for being passive and then a minute later after a slight increase in work with Hannah putting in a couple of good attempts at Tai Otoshi, the referee has had enough and awards a Shido (penalty point ) to both contestants for passivity. The contest is eventually won on a decision by the opponent purely because she put in more 'attacks' albeit that they were mostly false. The lesson here is that the
contest was Hannah's for the taking if she had increased her work rate by being more positive.
Hannah
Jessica & Laura
Jessica and Laura face their first contest of this championship. Laura attacks but Jessica sees it and drives Laura to the ground with her on top. Whilst Jessica is dominant on the ground, she is unable to capaitliase on this and they both revert to standing.
Laura then feints a leg sweep but instead of following through, transfers her weight back to the other leg, moves her right leg and then attacks with Tai Otoshi. This was her error. She should have made sure that her right leg was correctly positioned at first and then the fient would have been more likely to succeed as she could have switched through much faster to catch Jessica unawares.
As it is, Jessica saw what was coming, pulled and then swung Laura around who in her effort to recover her balance 'floated' herself whereupon Jessica immediately turned and threw her with her favorite throw, Morete Seo Nage for a decisive Ippon. It is worth noting that Jessica would not have 'thought' the above process through. It is a result of an incredible amount of practice that it becomes instinct and she just reacted correctly at the right moment.
Jessica
Jessica
In this, Jessica's second contest, she is up against Victoria from the St. Albans club. Victoria is shorter than Jessica which makes it hard for Jessica to move in for her favourite throw, Morote Seo Nage. She tries to use other techniques such as Tai Otoshi but these are not successful. As they are jostling for position, Jessica allows her right foot to stay in front as she transfers her weight. Victoria, seeing this instinctively reacts with De Ashi Barai, Advancing Foot Sweep and takes the leg away in a perfect technique leaving Jessica on the floor with an Ippon win for Victoria. Jessica now has her work cut out to progress in this tournament.
Jessica v Victoria
Jessica
Jessica's opponent manages to stop Jessica from properly applying a Tai Otoshi. She does fall down but it only scores Yuko. However Jessica turns into Kesa Gatame (Scarf Hold) and having securely entrapped her opponent, only has to wait out the 30 seconds to win, which she does.
Jessica
Jessica & Laura
This is the final of this competition. Jessica and Laura have already fought each other in the first round but because of the unusual way in which the fights unfurled they now face each other again.
Jessica brings Laura to the ground early on with a poor Ko Soto Gari to a Tai Otoshi attack. Laura goes face down and protects herself so they come back to their feet. Jessica attempts her Morote Seo Nage but does not have sufficient float from Laura to pull it off. Laura attempts a poor Uchi Mata and after a few moments Jessica tries again with Morote Seo Nage but quickly changes to Tai Otoshi to bring Laura down for Ippon. Jessica is now the National Champion in her category and Laura the Silver.
Jessica v Laura (Final)
Jessica
This is the final for the under 55Kg Junior Women. Jessica and Victoria have already met in the first rounds where Victoria caught Jessica with a perfectly timed De Ashi Barai (advancing foot sweep). Here Jessica is clearly not at her most confident. She is being very careful to not get to close to Victoria to avoid it happening again and as a consequence is being a bit stiff armed. Victoria on the other hand is going pretty much all out at least in the early stages.
Because Jessica is taller than Victoria, she is having trouble with her big forward throws like Morote Seo Nage and even Tai Otoshi is not working well for her. She is struggling to find a technique that will count. Victoria is not having much joy either. As a consequence, this is not actually a terribly interesting fight to watch.
Victoria does manage to pull of a Tai Otoshi of her own which scores Yuko thereby putting her even with Jessica's earlier throw of the same score. Victoria does get a hold on but Jessica has escaped within a couple of seconds.
Neither of the contestants have very good grip, both holding too far down the sleve and with poor collar grip. Jessica is bending down, whether to bring herself down to Victoria's height or to try and keep Victoria at bay. But irrespective of the reason, she is also making it hard for her to find a technique to count in this situation.
Jessica & Victoria - Finals
Victoria attacks with what looks like O Gurama (major wheel) which is not the right technique to use in this situation. It may have been that she was actually going for Uchi Mata but missed with her leg. But that was probably not a good choice either. At this point Victoria is given a Shido (penalty) for illegal gripping. It is not clear in the video if this is because she was gripping on the same side of the jacket for to long or if she had gripped the sleeve to low down or had scrunched it up. This adds a Koka to Jessica's score so she is now marginally ahead in points.
There are further attempts at techniques including a brave attempt at a foot sweep but times it wrong and they both fall over. Jessica is again bent to far over and Victoria is now looking very tired. Jessica starts an attack of Tai Otoshi which is blocked and ends up being a 'haul to the ground' where in her attempt to turn Victoria over one can see Jessica applying pressure on Victoria's shoulder. When they are called back to the centre you can see Victoria is in pain and works her arm in order to get the shoulder joint properly located in the socket.
Jessica wins this contest and the Gold medal essentially by virtue of the Shido given to Victoria. There are many message to learn from this but probably the most important is the virtue of a good upright posture which allows more free flowing moves.
Jonah
If only all contests would go like this. Within a few seconds of the start, Jonah's opponent attacks and Jonah counters with Ko Soto Gari to take his opponent down for Ippon and the end of this contest.
Jonah
Jonah
In this contest Jonah is faced by an opponent who has stiff arms in order to try and hold Jonah away. Jonah has to find a way to break this grip which he does by attacking with Ippon Seo Nage and as the opponent goes Jigoti Jonah combines with O Soto Gari to take him to the floor and then follows immeidatly into a Kesa Gatame hold down to win.
Jonah
Jonah
Jonah is faced here with an opponent who appears to be more experienced. He makes repeated attacks with Tai Otoshi which Jonah manages to hold off. However, the opponent then switches to a Hiza Gurama attack which Jonah attempts to counter with Ko Soto Gari but does not have his balance correct which leaves him wide open for the then inevitable O Soto Gari attack where Jonah losses to Ippon.
Jonah
Jonah
This is another example where Jonah manages to resisit varied attacks and ends up on the ground where he defeats his opponent by quickly applying Kesa Gatame (from the right side) and holds for 30 seconds to score Ippon
Jonah
Jonah
In this contest both Judoka are fairly evenly matched. However, towards the end Jonah in an attempt for Ippon Seo Nage turns in but fails to break his opponents balance which coupled with his upright stance leaves him wide open for a rear throw, which he is take with by Ko Soto Gari for Ippon
Jonah
Jonathan
Jonathan has two problems here. The first and most serious is that he is letting go of his opponent with his left hand when his opponent turns in for attack. As a result, he is unable to control his opponent or create a counter. All he can do is try and stand upright.
The other problem is that the contest is won with what looks like a Tani Otoshi. This is a sacrifice throw and is not allowed for juniors of this weight category. It is possible to argue that the throw is a Ko Soto Gari but in my opinion that would be a long shot. However, it is probably fair to say that the opponent did not intend to attack with a sacrifice thrown but that this is just 'what happened'.
Jonathan
Jonathan
In this contest Jonathan is being very defensive. His arms are held straight and stiff. Whist this makes it hard for his opponent to attack him, it also makes it hard for Jonathan to do anything useful. The opponent is dominating Jonathan and with the lack of positive Judo, the referee stops the contest and gives Jonathan a Shido (penalty point) for passivity. With this Jonathan tries much harder and is doing better but is eventually thrown by an O Soto Gari counter to Jonathan's attack of the same throw. This scores Wazari and gives the contest to Jonathan's opponent.
Jonathan
Laura
Laura attempts a Harai Goshi but fails due to her opponent being fully on balance. Her opponent does what can only be described as a 'trip' and as it is forwards fall, it doesn't score.
Laura however quickly dominates the ground and gets her opponent in what is not a terribly good Tate Shio Gatame (note the failure to properly trap the legs or to control one of the arms with her own head) but nevertheless, her opponent is not getting out of it and this contest puts Laura into the final.
Laura
Molly
Molly attempts an attack with Tai Otoshi but is slow in executing it thereby allowing her opponent the time to react. The opponent carries out the classic counter as she steps round Molly's outstretched leg and attacks with Uchi Mata, perfectly executed and scores Ippon. This is a counter that every Judoka should learn.
Molly
Noah
Noah's opponent makes several attacks but they are mostly ineffective. When they go to the ground, Noah is dominant but is unable to capitalise on this in the early stages. However, Noah fails to use the correct techniques to turn his opponent over and makes hard work of it.
When he does turn him over, he obtains a hold down but only for a few seconds. In the final stages of the contest, Noah pulls off a weak O Soto Gari to score Koka. Enough to win the contest.
Noah
Noah
Noah appears to be well matched with his opponent and they are both making heavy work of it for each other. However, in the final moments the opponent goes for a Tai Otoshi attack and brings Noah down for a minor point (David Sensei was a corner Judge in this contest but can not remember what score was given). The opponent attempts to place Noah in a hold down and fails and then time runs out. But it was enough to deprive Noah of a place in the medals.
Noah
Noah
In his final contest, Noah stumbles and falls down without any points being given whereupon the opponent attempts to gain a hold down. Noah recovers and places his opponent in Kuzure Yoko Shio Gatame. The opponent attempts to escape forcing Noah to use the same hold down but the other way around. Once gain the opponent escapes but this time Noah gets a Munae Gatame hold. The opponent is able to escape from this. As a general rule, Munae Gatame is not the strongest hold.
Upon the contest restarting the two contestants waste some time spinning each other around until Noah falls again. The opponent once again tries to gain the advantage but Noah is to quick and puts the opponeent on his back and enters into Kuzure Kami Shio Gatame, a much stronger hold (note the trapped arm of the opponent) and from which there is no escape as the 30 seconds tick away.
Noah
Shona
In the first two seconds Shona executes an almost perfect O Soto Gari to score Wazari. However she fails to properly capitalise with this on the ground by finishing her off with a hold down. The contest goes on with her opponent and Shona both scoring a Yuko apiece and with other unproductive forays into groundwork. However it is the Wazari that counts and Shona wins this contest because of that first two seconds. The throw is repeated again in slow motion at the end of the video.
Shona
Shona
This contest is, to be frank, not terribly interesting. Both Shona and her opponent have a good go at each other but neither of them manage to make their throws count and their forays into groundwork are equally unproductive.
Shona needs to have a few more tricks in her 'toolbox' in order to deal with these situations. At the end of the match there is no score so the referee has to make a Hantai (decision) and he gives the match to Shona's opponent, probably because she put in the greater number of positive attacks.
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