Me training with Paweł Nastula

So in January one of the biggest TV networks in Poland searched for someone to train with Paweł Nastula. I decided to apply. After a week or so a very nice lady called. I t was Agata, the journalist who was preparing the coverage. We spoke she asked what my occupation was. When she heard I worked as a librarian she thought taht was it. It doesn't fit together to well... Tatami and a library. So I went to Warsaw to train with one of my nations biggest sporting legends of all time. I was really exited. The thing is, I twisted my knee in September while playing rugby. I was totally oout of shape and it was over two years since I last did any judo. Here's the coverage...

Linky

PS I was throwing the Paweł Nastula. How many people can say that?

JakubMB wrote:So in January one of the biggest TV networks in Poland searched for someone to train with Paweł Nastula. I decided to apply. After a week or so a very nice lady called. I t was Agata, the journalist who was preparing the coverage. We spoke she asked what my occupation was. When she heard I worked as a librarian she thought taht was it. It doesn't fit together to well... Tatami and a library. So I went to Warsaw to train with one of my nations biggest sporting legends of all time. I was really exited. The thing is, I twisted my knee in September while playing rugby. I was totally oout of shape and it was over two years since I last did any judo. Here's the coverage...

Linky

PS I was throwing the Paweł Nastula. How many people can say that?

Congrats, good for you !

Nastula still looks very fit, not the kind of guy you want to make angry, me thinks !!

He's a real nice gentleman to be frank. After the training we had some time to speak. Humble, polite... Gentle. We were talking about judo in general, his MMA career. The nicest thing was that for him judo is still a top priority, and that MMA is partly for the thrills and partly to pay the bills. Anyway that was a real dream come true! He's still running judo classes in his gym (that's where we trained obviously). I really wish everybody could meet their heroes like I did . He's kind of a 'celebrity' thanks to MMA, but every time he's on air he tries to bring judo into the spotlight.

That was awesome. Did your session really go on for 3 hours or was that a joke for the camera? Do you know if Nastula actually runs the judo program at his club? Next time I make my way over to the fatherland I plan on stopping by "Nastula Club", bo on wszystkich zaprasza!

Yup. They have judo classes everyday, I think. It lasted only about 100 minutes though . He was kidding because I was so gassed. In fact the workout itself wasn't too tiring. It was just me being fat and out of shape . Some of the exercises were tough though. In the beginning I was a bit overenthusiastic too. I wanred to do everything atr 120%. I was practising with one of the legends! And thus I ended up totally gassed after the warm up . We did mostly uchikomi and some nagekomi. I really wish they had inserted some of the technical tips Mr Nastula gave me. It would add even some more value to the feature, apart from the obvious promotional value it carries. I'm glad I did it. If I were to move to Warsaw I would certainly enrol in his club.

You are one lucky bastard! lol So, what were these technical tips? He mentioned something about you lacking coordination, which is an issue that most of us need to work on...Did you guys talk strategy or mental preparation?

No strategy as I'm no competitor. He spoke of my coordination problems as a result of a long break in training. He said it's normal when you get back to training after a long period of time.

As for the tips, he basically made some adjustment of positioning and told me aboiut small details. We basically did two techniques : sasae tsurikomi ashi and ippn seoi nage. With sasae he told me to pivot a bit more on the supporting leg. He described my seoi nage as not too bad, but I forgot to get my hips a bit more into. The drill where I rolled over the blue mattress was all about getting more drive and hips into the throw. It was an awesome day.

I also id some randori with him. No too long, but it was very fun. No grip fighting just me attacking with the two techniques we drilled.

Thanks for elaborating. Wesołych Świąt

Ah, very good! That must have been awesome.