Japanese expression: 剛と柔(go to jyu) meaning hard and soft which I tend to think of water and stone in terms of jiu-jitsu movement. I have been hearing these 2 words a lot recently and most Japanese I speak to believe that the softer you are the longer you will go and get better in martial arts. This probably comes from this expression: 柔よく剛を制す (jyu yoku go wo seisu) which means that soft gets better than hard. In terms of jiu-jitsu to me this means be flexible, relax as much as possible, breath and flow around the opponent instead of meeting them head on. There will always be someone physically stronger than you so apply leverage, speed and tactics.
The mats had that warm baked feeling. Something you only get as Summer approaches. I always feel full of energy and my muscles move the way I want them to on days like these. At the beginning of the class there were just the 3 of us. F & K-sensei and myself. I asked if many had attended the Saturday night class to cause such a low attendance but it seemed not many turned up for that too. It's probably a deflation after the competition. Folks want to rest and recuperate.
F-sensei taught me the exact same techniques Marco Barbosa taught on Tuesday. From closed guard, the tight armbar using on the legs. Opponent pulls the arm out so I transition to omoplata, opponent resists by raising his head, so I change to triangle. All done with the legs, no hands. It's a real good workout for the inner thighs because you have to constantly clamp down with your knees to give no space. I really enjoyed these drills and see how they can promote better leg use during sparring.
As sparring started, Atsushi and Tsuzuki turned up. I'm becoming increasingly aware of how tardiness pisses off F-sensei. He never directly says anything to them (except when drunk at our barbeques) but he hates the fact that some guys come in for sparring only and don't want to learn the techniques. Perhaps they see it as an optional part, something they can skip. K-sensei also showed me an escape from the lockdown/Twister position by grabbing their far hip and kicking my legs over to roll over the top of them to take side control.
I also finally got my son to take up Judo on Saturday. He has been pissing and moaning that he doesn't want to do it but I've persevered and insisted he do it. I gave him no choice. We went to watch it last week and I think the physical contact and drills scared him. On Saturday I said I would get on the mat with him and he agreed to go. After the warmup in which he really tried hard to do the rolls and shrimping, an older instructor came over and basically gave him a one on one lesson. Showing breakfalls and o-soto-gari. He did a good job of calming my son's nerves and just showing a playful attitude. He kept saying to my son "It feels good to throw someone,right?" and I just thought "Hell, yeah it does." Later that night I caught my son doing breakfalls on the mats in my training room. I think he's hooked. Give him a couple of years of judo, build some muscle and he will be throwing me around. At least when I am old and feeble I'll have a bodyguard.
Sparring time: 5 x 6 mins = 30 mins
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