Crash Mats - Old Judokas opinion

    
CRASH PADS FOR THROWING PRACTICE (WHY I USE THEM)
     Somewhere about 1973 or 1974, Welcome Mat was the first judo club to use crash pads for throwing practice in the Kansas City area. In fact, not many people used crash pads anywhere in the United States. At that time, I was criticized for using crash pads by just about everyone (except the people in my club and other clubs using crash pads who had improved throwing skills)-By the way, I still pay about as much attention to critics now as I did then. That was back in the 1970s. Funny thing is, there are people who weren't even born then who say the same old tired criticism now that was said back then by people who are old enough to be their parents. Here are some reasons why I use crash pads to train my athletes.
Volume and Safety
     Crash pad training allows everyone on the mat to do more throws safely. Here are two important points. You can do more throws on a crash pad than throwing only on the mat (tatami). After a while, landing on the mat takes its toll on anyone-even tough guys who say otherwise. By using crash pads, everyone on the mat can perform a lot more throws-and the result is that the level of technical skill improves. An increased volume of throwing practice translates to an increased development of functional skill. 
     Anyone who says that power is not what judo is about simply doesn't know what the word power means. Power does not mean brute strength or lack of technical skill as critics contend. The ballistic effect generate by a throwing technique is tremendous and demonstrates the skill, movement and strength inherent in a good throwing technique.
     As far as safety is concerned, not only are there less injuries during practice when using crash pads, both in the short term and over the long haul of years of training, the body doesn't take as much punishment by landing on 8 inches of foam (in the crash pad) on top of the actual tatami than by landing only on the tatami. Sure, performing good breakfalls when taking a throw is important, but (as will be pointed out again later) the added level of safety in using crash pads definitely reduces injuries in practice.
Functional Skill
     Anyone who uses crash pads can (and will) develop harder and more effective throws. The 8 inches of foam certainly helps cushion the fall for your partner when you drill him with that Uchi Mata, O Soto Gari or any other throw and it will provide the same cushion for you when he takes his turn to throw you. This means that you can develop more plyometric (explosive) power when throwing. I don't care what anyone says, the idea of a throw is to finish the fight. Throwing an opponent softly (in a match or real fight) is the antithesis of what the concept of Nage Waza (throwing Techniques) entails. A good analogy is boxing. Boxers use a punching bag to develop their punches in the same way judo, sambo, jujitsu and grappling athletes use a crash pad to develop their throws. Boxers don't train to hit an opponent softly, they train to hit an opponent hard. Crash pad training allows us to develop the full ballistic effect of a throwing technique. 
More on Safety
     Some people will say that using Ukemi is sufficient and good breakfalls negate the usefulness of crash pads. Okay, learning how to land safely is a necessity-that is a fact. But anyone who has taken a lot of falls on the tatami quickly finds out that, even with perfect breakfalling skills, taking repeated throws from partners in practice takes its toll on even the toughest guys' bodies. After a while, people get gun-shy and avoid throwing practice or simply stop coming to practice and take up something more docile, like spending too much time watching Youtube videos of judo instead of actually showing up to practice. So, my point is that using crash pads adds another level of safety in training to Ukemi (this was mentioned earlier).
Use Crash Pads Wisely
     Do not limit your throwing practice to the use of crash pads only. By all means, work on throwing techniques and skills when moving freely about the mat to improve timing, spatial awareness and other important factors in throwing. In the same way boxers do not exclusively use heavy punching bags to develop their punching skills, judo, sambo, jujitsu and other grapplers should not limit themselves to exclusively doing throwing practice on crash pads. Like any training tool, use crash pads in an overall plan of training and development.
Uchikomi
     I don't care what anyone says. Doing a lot of Uchikomi (fit-in practice) instead of Nagekomi (throwing practice) is not a good substitute for actually doing throws to develop technical skill. I'm not against Uchikomi-I'm just against replacing throwing practice with a  lot of fit-ins. The old adage "do more Uchikomi" only works for a (short) while. That's been the advice given by people when they didn't have an answer to a question about a throw. I've been to clubs where they did lots and lots of Uchikomi and only a few actual throws. Maybe you've been to one of those clubs as well. Again, don't get me wrong. Uchikomi training has its definite place in any fighting sport, but too much Uchikomi training translates directly into athletes who do not finish their throws and (for the most part) have their throwing attacks more easily blocked by an opponent or do not follow through enough at the end of a throwing attack to get the job done. Others can do what they want, but I want my students and athletes to develop more functional skills in throwing, so we'll keep working on our crash pads

Jonesy wrote:I hate crash pads. The throwing experience is not the same, the positioning is always awkward and while the landing is softer for uke it is no substitute for a properly sprung floor..

Ben Reinhardt wrote:

Jonesy wrote:I hate crash pads. The throwing experience is not the same, the positioning is always awkward and while the landing is softer for uke it is no substitute for a properly sprung floor..

I agree, although I wouldn't use the word "hate". They have their uses (crash pads), but are not a substitute for good flooring.

GregW wrote:I'm divided over the use of crash pads.  I trained briefly at one club that used them and sometimes tori missed the target and uke would land half-on and half-off the pad, which seemed more dangerous to me than just taking ukemi on the normal tatami.  However, I use them for teaching some throws like ura-nage because the fall is a pretty tough one. Once uke knows how to take the fall from it, we try it on the tatami.  

We're fortunate that our club trains in a rec center that has a gymnastics room that has a 4-inch foam floor under a carpeted surface.  We can take falls on it, but it's not good for newaza--rug burns!, so we put down traditional mats in addition.  It's a good surface for training, so we're lucky.

Jonesy wrote:I would go along with using crash mats for ura-nage, te-guruma and kata-guruma practice but anything else, that's what breakfalls are for.

BillC wrote:

Ben Reinhardt wrote:

Jonesy wrote:I hate crash pads. The throwing experience is not the same, the positioning is always awkward and while the landing is softer for uke it is no substitute for a properly sprung floor..

I agree, although I wouldn't use the word "hate". They have their uses (crash pads), but are not a substitute for good flooring.

But ... in the absence of sprung floors ... which must be the case in something approaching 90% of the judo clubs in the world ... at every group that has to drag its tatami out of the closet and set up on the rec center floor ... there is no substitute for a good crash pad.  There is no way to throw a sufficient number of times to learn that motion properly without nearly killing uke.

Yes, yes, yes ... back in my day ... uphill both ways to the dojo ... in snow armpit deep ... young people have it too easy ... etc.

Why are there so many experts at the "uchi komi bump?"  Because they, and their sensei, and maybe their sensei's sensei's sensei spent their judo life on wrestling mats on a gym floor.

Edit:  Ten year olds are made largely of rubber and can be bounced on poor surfaces yet get up smiling.  But into and past the teen years this becomes a painful limitation.  Thus, not only is the average mat surface responsible for bad uchikomi, it is also responsible for "obiwaza" and the "sensei doesn't fall down" policy.

BillC wrote:

Jonesy wrote:I would go along with using crash mats for ura-nage, te-guruma and kata-guruma practice but anything else, that's what breakfalls are for.

(My emphasis added to the quote) Are you sure?  A competitive judo player in training should be able to do somewhere over 25 throws per minute, full power.  In a given workout, they should do somewhere on the order of 300 throws at least.  Think that is going to happen on most mat surfaces without injury?

P.S. - The breakfall from kataguruma is over-rated.  Scary for the acrophobic, but not necessarily a hard fall.  Seoinage ... or sodetsurikomigoshi ... should be much worse.

Jonesy wrote:
Why the need for 25 throws in 60s - unless it's CV training. Throwing practice is about quality not quantity and I have never seen national squad level playes throw at full power in squad sessions.  In my years on the Welsh squad not once was there a crash mt in squad sessions.

Hanon wrote:Next subject the blue gi please  

Hanon wrote:Complex subject. There are so many answers all of them dependent on the situation in terms of teacher pupil club goals and direction etc.

Hanon wrote:IF one teaches a sporting dojo that is focused on championships and winning, the sport dedicated club then crash mat has a use.

IF you teach judo as Kano Shihan intended then there is no reason on earth to use a crash mat.

Hanon wrote:I have asked this question so many times. Can any poster give me a reason why I need a crash mat in my dojo? How would it benefit my pupils? If I can be educated and given solid reason to benefit my pupils I would be foolish and negligent not to purchase one.

BillC wrote:Edit:  Ten year olds are made largely of rubber and can be bounced on poor surfaces yet get up smiling.  But into and past the teen years this becomes a painful limitation.  Thus, not only is the average mat surface responsible for bad uchikomi, it is also responsible for "obiwaza" and the "sensei doesn't fall down" policy.

Jihef wrote:

BillC wrote:Edit:  Ten year olds are made largely of rubber and can be bounced on poor surfaces yet get up smiling.  But into and past the teen years this becomes a painful limitation.  Thus, not only is the average mat surface responsible for bad uchikomi, it is also responsible for "obiwaza" and the "sensei doesn't fall down" policy.

Hmm, call me stupid, but… whaddaya mean by "obiwaza" ??