Please…Stop sending me this video

I basically agree with the guys sending you this video.

Techniques are taught to white belts in a certain way; not because that way works, but because it's the way that the instructor learned to teach. He teaches the techniques way he learned to teach them. However, when he has to actually use them, he uses them in the way that he has learned through trial and error will work best against the way uke really respond. White belt techniques fall into 4 categories:

(1) Some of the techniques taught to white belts work perfectly against the way uke responded a hundred years ago (but not against the way anyone fights now).
(2) Some of the techniques taught to white belts work perfectly against uke who are intentionally cooperating (but not against someone committed to fighting back).
(3) Some of the techniques taught to white belts look cool, but don't really do anything useful.
and finally
(4) Some of the techniques taught to white belts are awesome, and are the exact techniques that work best for black belts.

Part of your journey to advanced black belt is learning which techniques fall into which category. Some martial arts throw anything into the trash if it doesn't fall into category 4, and they steal other arts techniques when those techniques fall into category 4. Those are the martial arts that (not surprisingly) work best.

Meh, the point remains:

BJJ, all wrestling styles and boxing and various kickboxing styles drill using movement deliberately as close to live work as possible.

Judo and shotokan, among others?, have a tendency to pay homage to the kata gods or arcane movements, and then stuff that’s quite different when going live.

We can break down uchikomi and randorii into a list of pros and cons.

UCHIKOMI:

Pro:
– easier to replicate
– good warm up
– allow focus on certain movements (the squat for seoi nage, head direction for sasae, leg position for ouchi gari etc.)
– good judo specific work out (work out certain muscles, build a sense of balance when working with a person vs drilling on a tree)
– provide a generic shape that you can start with -> ah, this is the difference between an ogoshi and an uki goshi

Cons:
– can't be easily applied to randorii or sparring -> waste time, it's inefficient etc.
– distract you from things that work (kuzushi for this in sparring is different than in uchikomi etc.)

RANDORII

Pros:
– live resistance training -> as close to real life as possible -> things that work here are more likely to work "in the streets"
– good judo specific work out -> stamina, balance training etc

Cons:
– injuries/tiredness might prevent you from randorii but not uchikomi -> you can still do uchikomi
– harder to focus on specific aspects like spamming seoi nage -> would not work on someone after the 2nd or 3rd time.
– harder to drill certain reactions since each person react differently

I'd like to bring up flow judo/scenario sparring as a bridge between the two:
– start with a specific grip
– tell uke to react in a specific way ("when I feint, do this so I can follow up with another technique")
– still move around and provide resistance like randorii but without the full intensity
– drill that for 5 reps then switch

I think practicing these 3 together would be the best. They all have a place in judo 😊

On another note:
– I'd love to hear a response video from Chadi on Armchair Violence. Some, not all, of his points make sense. We can build a more transparent and resilient community when we acknowledge our strengths and weaknesses.
– For people who always say newer is better, know that the original founders don't have uchikomis but later students develop them. By that logic, shouldn't uchikomis be an improvement on the older methods?

If competitors are literally never doing the "basic" form in randori then I'm not sure the basic form is actually the basic form. I think that's the point of their video, whatever is actually happening in randori should be the basic form. When the discrepancy between what's drilled and what's actually mechanically different the correlation won't be as strong as if you drilled what you actually did live. Also, I wonder if the oldest videos we have of Judo kata record this "exaggerated" kuzushi. That wouldn't been an interesting comparison seeing as how in some notable old demos and books they aren't doing or teaching that upward pull.

I did enjoy the presentation! I apologize for sending you the video. 🙁 I do think that when you are training the average recreational judoka, which is 95% of judokas, who only train 2 to 3 times a week, you should be more direct with instruction of technique, They don't have the same time of self-discovery as someone who starts at 5 years old training most of the days a week. Also, why is Judo so unique in teaching this way? Boxing, kickboxing, every form wrestling, BJJ, Sambo, Bokh or any art/sport that spars? I did not like the title either, for I have a deep belief in the "basics" when it comes to techniques. Training methods are another thing entirely. We should always be striving for a "better way", avoiding the disease of "because it's always been done that way". (I'm glad Kano never suffered from that) Again, wonderful presentation as usual. We should not always have to agree. But we should always listen. Growth.

Some people are looking at this the wrong way.In my opinion, We learn the waza the way that we do as beginners to know what to aim for in randori. Of course, additions or minimalisations will be created to make the move easier or more pracitcal for you,(based on your body type), But you walk away from first learning the move having seen and understood the standard that it CAN be executed at, the best case scenario,and you train your body and your mind for that. and from then on you have something to work towards- perfecting your technique in your journey. It's the same with a closed guard armbar in bjj. You never face the resistance when first learning. But thats not to say you cant pull it off when the opponent adds alot of pressure. You are just adapting to that pressure, which is part of the essence of these respective Martial arts.

similar problem has been brought up for kendo years ago, ie why do the wide long swing when the short narrow one is what is used in shiai, whether training or competition. and yes many people defended the wide one with similar reason as stated in this video. but a lot also rebuked them saying the mechanisms of the wide and narrow are different, including the body parts and muscles used, the strategy, the timing etc. think of boxing cross punch vs jkd 1-inch punch, that's how different they are. meaning both swings should also be taught as basic practice instead of focusing on one only and expecting the students to "realize" how to do the other. nowadays, we can even see schools that teach wide swing only for warm up and kata, and focusing on narrow swing for drills etc.

This reminds me of the judoka I see so often saying that kata is useless. I even heard people who sort of practice Judo say, "Oh, that is not "real" Judo, "real" Judo is fighting." Listen to modern US judoka talk when either Ju no kata or Koshiki no kata are being performed. There are always some who claim that it is not "real" Judo. I no longer even discuss it with them. I just pity them.

I think I watched one, maybe two, Armchair Violence videos in their entirety at which point I came to the conclusion that he represents the negatives of social media where someone woefully under qualified dogmatically speaks on a subject matter where they neither have personal experience nor expertise.

Imagine you're training for the 200m and someone only teaches you to run the 400m. Will you be good at the 200m? Sure, but you need to do both.

Same goes with JoshBeamBJJ, He thinks that sparring can increase the knowledge but not uchikomi. The main purpose of uchikomi is repetitions, to make it better and make muscles memories. Someone that good at uchikomi, can do throws far better than someone who dont.

Anyone who has done Judo under a decent coaching staff would never put together a video like that. The mentality is similar to the BJJ indoctrinated jiujitsu player. They never call throws ‘throws’, but rather ‘take-downs’. As if the sole purpose of O-Soto Gari or Ippon Seioi Nage is that of taking uke to the ground for some newaza. Several of the major throws were, in the original Japanese Jiujitsu, that both Judo and later BJJ evolved from, were meant to incapacitate or kill. Have you ever seen a Judoka get thrown onto his head without hikite or proper turning? I have. I have seen men knocked unconscious instantly, and worse things…. Newaza, according to my sensei, is the Foundation of Judo, but training to successfully throw an opponent. It requires the big movements and repetition to gain muscle memory. Judo is dynamic…. OK, Rant over. Sorry Chadi.