The Importance of Uchikomi Drills In Judo

 https://youtu.be/wrx2X3-cQU4 

Outstanding Judo Lesson: Understanding Uchikomi.

In old school 1800s Judo they focused more upon drilling Kata and Uchikomi then did Randori which is why we see black & white films of lots of older guys training Judo in the older days but today it's mostly younger guys because the focus has shifted to competition so many dojos/clubs have become injury factories and we're told injury today is just part of the 'sport' when in the pre-war kodokan judo there couldn't have been a culture of injuries, it wasn't as overly competitive, because there never would have been so many middle aged judoka and senior citizen judoka as we see in old black & white early films. 

Uchikomi drills are key to mastering Kuzushi. One need not follow through with the throws and wreck the body to develop good throwing ability if one simply drills Uchikomi repetitively with intent to perfect posture breaking and destabilization. Just stop right before the actually throw. Of course this doesn't apply to many ashiwaza which require follow through. It applies to the more devestating turning throws across the body. 

Today, especially in the west, we're overly competitive, sado-masochistic and just want to fight so we've evolved into an injury factory mentality. It's sickness. 

In my opinion, Olympic competitive judo spawned this injury factory mentality because rather than training conservatively for the longivity & love of the arts of both Judo & Jiujitsu we became obcessed with winning. Every judo coach wants to create competitive champions & Olympic champions, at all costs, and to break a few eggs to make an omelate has become acceptable. So the obcession with competition has contributed to the dark side of the art and a long history of depressed, broken, athletes forced into early retirement. 

The stoics warn us to not let passion over ride logic. Logic is reason without emotion. Competition becomes ego and emotion driven thus illogical. 

We should ask ourselves, in our pursuit of glory, which is more glorious:

 longevity to train into our golden years 

or a brief competitive career followed by forced retirement, due to accumulation of injuries? 

Most of us busted up old guys wish we had trained for longevity now that life changing injuries have forced us into retirement from pursuing our passions. 

♣AnDrew Soldier♣