Old Man Judo

I saw a thread on the old Judo Forum about 'old man' Judo. I would like to continue that discussion here.

When I say 'old man' Judo, I mean about what a veteran Judoka does in terms of tactics and techniques. I know they adapt their Judo because they cannot always reply on superior strength or quickness anymore. Therefore, I would imagine they tend to rely more on intellegence, timing and technique.

What say you?

As an middle age judoka (41) I find that I hit a lot of sacrafice throws. I also find myself waiting on my opponents attack to set up a counter rather than attacking first myself (mainly as this gives me a better opportunity to hit the previously mentioned sacrafice throws).

OldeEnglishD wrote:As an middle age judoka (41) I find that I hit a lot of sacrafice throws. I also find myself waiting on my opponents attack to set up a counter rather than attacking first myself (mainly as this gives me a better opportunity to hit the previously mentioned sacrafice throws).

What sacrifice techniques do you generally like to use?

When I was young, I envied those older more experienced Judoka who could be doing randori with me without breaking into sweat. I swore that I would train and train untill I could do randori with them so that they would, not only sweat but get really tired. Now when we do randori I notice that I have achieved my dream.

I rely very much on ashi-waza and to a lesser extent on sutemi-waza. Direct attacks almost never work as I have no speed and so setting my opponent up is critical. Counters work at times , but there again I find lack of speed a factor.
Newaza is still fun but I run out of gas.
It just comes with age for some of us.
Teaching judo is what I find most rewarding now.
I am 70.

ashi waza, a lot of tape, not settling for, "Well, I've almost got the kuzushi I want". Mess with the youngster's timing. Do subtle things to frustrate your partner. All of these things work to help create the throwing opportunities you used to get via youthful exuberance.

I don't do a lot of sacrifice techniques because I don't like getting up off the floor. Getting up off my partner is a different matter - he keeps me from having to get up an additional 6-8 inches.

Never underestimate the power of a time out, or an opportunity to "educate" somebody - it gives a nice breather. Once you've got 20+ years in judo, there's always some kyu around who needs a bit of help. Then again, I notice that when somebody's got 40+ years of judo under their kuro obi, they are always willing to "correct" me. Might have something to do wiht the technique, or the splotchy skin, or both

rjohnston411 wrote:

OldeEnglishD wrote:As an middle age judoka (41) I find that I hit a lot of sacrafice throws. I also find myself waiting on my opponents attack to set up a counter rather than attacking first myself (mainly as this gives me a better opportunity to hit the previously mentioned sacrafice throws).

What sacrifice techniques do you generally like to use?

Yoko otoshi and tani otoshi generally, the occassional sumi gaeshi, but only if someone shoots in for legs (during randori).

I'm 53 and I still hit seoinage and taiotoshi often enough to keep them in my repertoire. Since a knee injury a couple of years ago, I've worked on ashi waza a lot. Osotogari is still a good one after all these years. Counters are nice. I do well with kosotogake as a counter to forward throws and use yoko guruma as well. I started using ura nage more late last year as a counter with some success. I do get winded more easily because I don't do as much cardio training as I should. It's just a time thing. There are only so many hours in the week when you have a career and family.

This is an interesting topic. I'm 46 and struggling with many injuries (knee, ankles, back, the list goes on) I have found some of the forward throws difficult because i am getting slower and i am struggling with flexibility. I have been trying to improve my ashiwaza. The tani otoshi is one I will look at.

"Old man Judo"......Old age and dirty tricks beats Youth and exhuberance, every time !!

Cheat.. and then cheat some more

One picture speaks a thousand words ...

I started a Geezer group at our club. So far we have only met once and didn't have a great turn out, most of the people who qualified were out with injuries!! But, we are giving it a try again to see if people like it.

We will meet occasionally on the weekend and either have free practice or have a guest instructor who is older. I'm inviting people over the age of 30 because I think that most of the 30 year old experienced guys won't be interested, but it might encourage some newbies to give Judo a try in a less aggressive environment. Then maybe they'll come to the regular class.

I already gained a 50 year old newbie guy into my Judo class because of creating the group on facebook!

Cichorei Kano wrote:One picture speaks a thousand words ...

I remembered seeing this when I first started judo. I thought it was all exaggerations. here it is a few years later (and I'm far from a veteran compared to many here) and much of that already applies to me. scary stuff.

Steve Leadbeater wrote:"Old man Judo"......Old age and dirty tricks beats Youth and exhuberance, every time !!

Dream on, Steve, Dream on!

I am 72 and rely on sen-no-sen to survive by randori matches.Not always easy to do multiple randori but very exciting to pursue the development of my abilities to read the human signals. Having fun while I pass along the tricks of the trade to others.

Udon wrote:I rely very much on ashi-waza and to a lesser extent on sutemi-waza. [..........] I am 70.

The last line of this post is true awesomeness. And the post of the person who is 72.
I am 40, and when I read such posts, I feel I too will do judo at 70.

I fucked up my knees as a wee green belt doing lots of drop seoi (please let's not start the drop seoi vs seoi otoshi thing) and now rely on ashi waza to set up sutemi waza for the most part with an emphasis on playing conservatively in randori. I'm a lot more old man than some old men I know.

hedgehogey wrote:I fucked up my knees as a wee green belt doing lots of drop seoi (please let's not start the drop seoi vs seoi otoshi thing) and now rely on ashi waza to set up sutemi waza for the most part with an emphasis on playing conservatively in randori. I'm a lot more old man than some old men I know.

I stopped doing drop knee anything a few years ago and I'm glad I did.

The only "drop" I do these days is when my opponent gets his throw in before me

I really admire people who are able to do judo at such an age. I too want to train when I reach my sicties, so no dropping for me . Never did any apart from ukemi, so taht won't be tough. I also screwed my knee playing rugby, so I need to look out anyway.

Due to my aches and pain, my ashi waza techniques are definitely my to go moves!

Udon wrote:I rely very much on ashi-waza and to a lesser extent on sutemi-waza. Direct attacks almost never work as I have no speed and so setting my opponent up is critical. Counters work at times , but there again I find lack of speed a factor.
Newaza is still fun but I run out of gas.
It just comes with age for some of us.
Teaching judo is what I find most rewarding now.
I am 70.

forgeron judo wrote:I am 72 and rely on sen-no-sen to survive by randori matches.Not always easy to do multiple randori but very exciting to pursue the development of my abilities to read the human signals. Having fun while I pass along the tricks of the trade to others.

you guys rock.

That's awesome. I hope I can still be training at 70! That's inspiring.

At 38 nearly 39 I'm quite possibly the fittest in my class. There aren't many twenty year old etc. but nonetheless I don't shy away from anything in class from the warm up to Randori.

However...I do find myself always countering and I just can't pull the trigger and attack. It could be that the Judoka I'm playing are all 14 stone plus (I'm 11 stone). I find that it drains my energy very quickly if I initiate the attacks and I end up being more or less rag- dolled. :lol:I definitely am fit but my stamina is very poor and this makes randori quite frustrating for me. Countering seems to be frowned upon but it seems that is how I get most success.

I really like Osoto Gari but it is nonsensical because I've never once thrown anyone with it, I just feel like it is the technique for me if only I could capitalize on the moment when I need to execute the throw instead of wait, wait waiting.