Trained Judo in Brazil last night

ive been at AKA since late summer, the first thing i noticed was that 20 years of judo newaza means its really hard to adjust to new rules and trying to sub somebody who isnt fighitng like hell to get out of a "pin" really isnt easy.

so.. in a nutshell, here's the newaz philosophy in judo.

in judo.. everything comes from the pin. pins win matches just the same as throws, chokes or armocks. they are the easiest to transition to and turn people over with. until you reach 13 you are allowed to do nothing but pin in judo (at 13 you can choke, in HS you can armlock). people fight like all hell to get out of pins or not get into them. when they fight the pin that hard, they give up their back or their arms.

there are no hooks in judo, so if somebody gets past your guard, there is no cute little hook to keep that 25 second clock in check before you lose by ippon. you either get them in guard, half-guard, trianagle or have one hell of a turtle to avoid a pin.

constant progress. same as instanding. judo penalizes stalemates on the feet and stands them up on the ground. your initial entry into newaza better be damn fast and effective cause most refs will give you maybe 10 seconds to show something positive, then maybe 10 more for some more progress and then maybe 10 more to try and finish it off. at the most! so, if you are going to invest the energy to really attack in newaza, youd better have a lot in the tank left once you get stood back up.

there are no subs to the neck (ie, cranks), wrist, ankles, knees or shoulders in judo. you cannot put your hands in the face at all. you cannot choke somebody with a belt or lower lapel. you cannot put on a choke across somebody's jaw. you cannot bend their spine into an arch.

"ive been at AKA since late summer..."

What's AKA?

"...the first thing i noticed was that 20 years of judo newaza means its really hard to adjust to new rules.."

Very true (I take it by new rules you mean BJJ-style?). It's not that everything that you've learned is wasted, rather, that those instinctive skills you've honed over the years now need to be modified... which is almost as hard as learning them in the first place.

"...and trying to sub somebody who isnt fighting like hell to get out of a "pin" really isnt easy."

Again, those from a Judo background who are used to non-combativity type rules find it difficult to understand that (potentially) the person in a dominate position during a BJJ bout could be penalised for not trying to finish the match, despite the likely 'cost' in terms of control. It took me years to get my mind into the right space in that regard.

"We were just training so I dont really want to get into how it went on the ground"

translation: i onwed them but oout of respect i wont say so -

***not saying bjj owns judo, just bjj = more focus on the ground (DUH!!)

AKA = American Kickboxing Academy

http://www.akakickbox.com/

lol@sreiter. :)