Tris’ Blog

It’s that time of year when Judo winds down a bit. People stop training due to the temptation of mince pies, and clubs close until the New Year.

It was hard to leave the house now that the heating is back, but I went along last night to a club I rarely get the chance to visit.

It was a great session. Constant activity throughout, and a good combination of static and moving Uchikomi, fitness and Randori. I think it was the energising sort of session that I needed. There wasn’t any technique training, but you pick up a LOT by working with higher grades, and there were a fair number present.

It was very cool for there to be a genuine cage fighter present - Gary Turner. And he is probably one of the nicest, down to earth and helpful people I have met in the sport. I have recently switched to more Judo-oriented fitness training (such as Interval training and weight movements which mimic those of Judo), and he has a lot of experience and recommendations in this area.

In particular, I should be looking a little into Tabata.

My current aim is to focus on conditioning as opposed to strength (I am carrying too much useless weight right now). A loss of 10kg should fix it, nothing major. I rarely think to myself, “I did badly because I’m not strong enough”. It’s getting tired and technique that lets me down.

Working on these should also increase my speed, as I am too static sometimes.