A Beginner’s Guide To Learning Judo

Judo is a combat sport that originated in Japan. The mastermind behind it is Jigoro Kano, who envisioned it as a mental, moral, and physical pedagogy. Since then, this modern martial art has grown to become an Olympic sport with fans throughout the world. Judo combines power, strength, and technique. Here’s the ultimate beginner’s guide to learning Judo. 

Why Learn Judo? 

If you are looking to learn a martial art that can help you hone your self-defense technique and mental agility, don’t look beyond Judo. It builds not only your self-esteem, but also your fitness levels. The sport can be useful to kids, men, and women. 

In today’s tech-savvy world, most people do desk jobs, which entail spending endless hours in front of a computer. As a result, few people exercise regularly. Since it is a physically intense sport, Judo provides your body with the perfect cardiovascular workout that it needs to lose weight and strengthen the core. 

Practicing Judo can also prove to be the perfect stress burner that you’ve been yearning for. The sport helps you to relax and get rid of the pressures of everyday life. As you learn the basics of Judo, your self-esteem and confidence grow. Thanks to the skills that you learn, you will, for instance, be in a position to use a mugger’s body momentum against him/her if you get attacked in a dark alley. 

Contrary to public perception, anyone can learn Judo. You don’t need to be physically active or athletically fit to learn Judo. What’s more, you can learn the basic skills from the comfort of your home. 

Learning Judo At Home

To learn Judo at home, you need a training partner and lots of commitment. It can be challenging to learn the sport on your own without a training partner. Once you select a partner, choose a large room in your home, and get rid of all obstructions. Ensure that the floor is padded up since you cannot practice Judo on a bare concrete floor. 

Start your training with moves that don’t require you to have a partner. These include stances, chops, side and rear break falls, footwork drills, and forward and read ukemi. For a start, practice basic moves such as locks and throws with your training partner. These are the basic skills that you should pick up if you want to become an expert Judoka. 

While starting, you should avoid choking maneuvers since they are dangerous. Such moves should only be practiced under the supervision of an experienced Judoka. It is equally advisable to get an expert to supervise some of your training sessions. This way, you will get expert advice about your form and technique, as well as suggestions on how you can improve. 

Judo Techniques That You Should Master

Falling (Ukemi)

This is one of the essential techniques to master. You can experience injury resulting from violent shock or impact when thrown to the ground. Learning the art of falling helps you to avoid such injuries. According to Judo Info, you should only practice Ukemi on soft ground or a mat. 

Throwing

Judo mainly entails attempting to break your opponent’s balance. Throwing is the technique that comes in handy in this case. O-Soto-gari is among the most effective Judo throws, which you should learn right from the beginning. 

It entails breaking your opponent’s balance by pulling him to his/her right. After that, you place your left foot to the left of his/her right foot. A backward and outwards sweep causes the opponent to lose balance. 

Gripping Techniques

These are popularly known as Kumi Kate. In Judo, the basic grips are primarily taken from jigotai (defensive posture) and shizentai (natural stance). They entail grasping the lapel of your opponent’s jacket using one hand, and the sleeve with your other hand. There are several variations of the basic grips, including the double sleeve grip and the double lapel grip. 

Footwork 

From the beginning, you should perfect your foot movement since this will enable you to not only destabilize your opponent but also avoid getting held in a grip. Likewise, developing your footwork helps you move while maintaining your balance. It also enables you to learn how you can place your body weight proportionally on both legs during contests. 

Body Movement

Success in Judo is largely determined by the ability to change the direction and position of your body while staying stable. In perfecting your body movement, you also get to learn how you can easily keep your opponents off-balance by leveraging your weight, posture, gripping, and throwing techniques. 

Judo is an exciting martial sport to learn. You can start from scratch and become an expert Judoka within a short time. What’s more, you don’t need any special skills to learn the basics. This guideline can help you master the basic techniques that you need to perfect this martial sport. 

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