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    38 Yr old woman - two years in but still feel like a beginner, frustrated!! Hope to get some advice!

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    karsalis


    Posts : 2
    Join date : 2016-12-22

    38 Yr old woman - two years in but still feel like a beginner, frustrated!! Hope to get some advice! Empty 38 Yr old woman - two years in but still feel like a beginner, frustrated!! Hope to get some advice!

    Post by karsalis Thu Dec 22, 2016 3:59 am

    I started training almost two years ago as a way to get in shape, and also because my kids are learning so I may as well join them. I am a 38 yr old, and the only woman in the judo club, with mostly teenagers and 20-somethings. After 2 years in I still feel like a beginner. While my techniques have improved when doing crash pad, I am feeling frustrated that I cannot seem to apply anything in tachiwaza randori. Other students are either much bigger and stronger, or if they are my size (5"2 52 kg) they are teens who compete provincially and nationally. I can't seem to get anywhere. I am still an orange belt and feel myself stagnating. I really want to improve and train about 3-4 days a week but feeling really frustrated. If I go hard in randori I tend to get injured, so I wonder if I should just even bother with tachiwaza and focus on just the techniques for fitness purposes. I am resigned that I will probably not advance belts as the club I go to advances those who go to tournaments and win. At this point I don't know if I should bother continuing or just quit. Any advice is welcome.
    Y-Chromosome
    Y-Chromosome


    Posts : 200
    Join date : 2015-06-02
    Age : 58
    Location : The Great White North

    38 Yr old woman - two years in but still feel like a beginner, frustrated!! Hope to get some advice! Empty Re: 38 Yr old woman - two years in but still feel like a beginner, frustrated!! Hope to get some advice!

    Post by Y-Chromosome Thu Dec 22, 2016 4:32 am

    What is required in your case is a more cooperative, guided randori that is focussed (as randori is supposed to be) on learning rather than winning.  Sadly randori turns into a defacto shiai much of the time.  This is not too bad when partners are evenly matched but can create difficulties if one partner is always at a severe disadvantage.
    What we will sometimes do are things like Yakusoku geiko, a compliant style of randori, in which neither participant offers resistance to their partner's attempts to throw. This is often taken in turns and is sometimes known as "throw for throw". Also Sute geiko in which an experienced judoka allows himself to be thrown by his less-experienced partner.  These types of practice allow you to develop the speed and fluidity randori seeks to instill without getting hammered or exhausted physically.  Naturally your instructor is the best one to introduce such concepts and they work best with willing and capable partners.  Discuss your concerns with your sensei, and see if he is willing to help develop you.  The tools are readily available in the Judo pedagogical toolbox.
    If he knows his business he should see you as an ASSET rather than a liability.  An adult can be brought along relatively quickly, compared to kids, provided they are healthy and appropriately guided.  In turn, you're the kind of person who could become a leader in your own right, helping to attract and retain more girls (a perennial problem in judo) and perhaps becoming an assistant with the junior program or even a referee.  There are many more paths to a judo career than Provincial Champion.
    Judo can be rewarding but is not without its frustrations.  They do tend to be overcome in time, even though they may seem insurmountable when you're in the thick of it.
    Best of luck.
    avatar
    karsalis


    Posts : 2
    Join date : 2016-12-22

    38 Yr old woman - two years in but still feel like a beginner, frustrated!! Hope to get some advice! Empty Re: 38 Yr old woman - two years in but still feel like a beginner, frustrated!! Hope to get some advice!

    Post by karsalis Thu Dec 22, 2016 4:49 am

    Thank you for your reply! It certainly does feel like shiai each time as I randori. The partners I get paired up with are teens who are equally sized in weight but use me as their throwing dummy to help them improve their techniques, for competition. I will suggest this as I think that the sensei has focused so much on improving his "elite" fighters that the rest of us just fall by the wayside.
    Jihef
    Jihef


    Posts : 222
    Join date : 2013-09-06
    Location : Brussels, Belgium

    38 Yr old woman - two years in but still feel like a beginner, frustrated!! Hope to get some advice! Empty Re: 38 Yr old woman - two years in but still feel like a beginner, frustrated!! Hope to get some advice!

    Post by Jihef Fri Dec 23, 2016 3:02 am

    Y-Chromosome wrote:What is required in your case is a more cooperative, guided randori that is focussed (as randori is supposed to be) on learning rather than winning.  
    (…)
    What we will sometimes do are things like Yakusoku geiko, a compliant style of randori, in which neither participant offers resistance to their partner's attempts to throw.
    This is often taken in turns and is sometimes known as "throw for throw".
    Very well explained by Y-Chromosome.
    Indeed, there are many different ways possible in the judo “Toolbox”… the only problem being, are these known and or used by the instructor…
    This problem is really the same all over, when beginner adults find themselves drowned in a sea of enargy and testosterone-filled youths…

    Good luck.
    Fritz
    Fritz


    Posts : 121
    Join date : 2013-01-16

    38 Yr old woman - two years in but still feel like a beginner, frustrated!! Hope to get some advice! Empty Re: 38 Yr old woman - two years in but still feel like a beginner, frustrated!! Hope to get some advice!

    Post by Fritz Mon Dec 26, 2016 11:07 am

    karsalis wrote:I think that the sensei has focused so much on improving his "elite" fighters that the rest of us just fall by the wayside.
    Thats not so good.
    Normally the younger ones should be able to know the difference between themselves and an older person.
    And so they should be able to do randori with you, so that you get some benefit from it too ...

    The feeling of stagnation is a well known one, the best way to deal with it is not to spend to much thoughts on it ...
    Jonesy
    Jonesy


    Posts : 1070
    Join date : 2013-01-02

    38 Yr old woman - two years in but still feel like a beginner, frustrated!! Hope to get some advice! Empty Re: 38 Yr old woman - two years in but still feel like a beginner, frustrated!! Hope to get some advice!

    Post by Jonesy Fri Dec 30, 2016 2:41 am

    Hi Karsalis. Are there other clubs nearby for you to practice at? I am sure that a change of instructor and visiting other places with a more balanced approach to judo would be beneficial. It seems to me like your club is a gung-ho contest club which certainly does not suit everybody. Good luck......

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    38 Yr old woman - two years in but still feel like a beginner, frustrated!! Hope to get some advice! Empty Re: 38 Yr old woman - two years in but still feel like a beginner, frustrated!! Hope to get some advice!

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