Basic Judo Concepts

When you begin studying Judo, you need to learn the basic concepts. These are the main principles that will take you as far as you want to go. They are also excellent principles to get you through your everyday life. These basics start with balance, grip and stance.

Basic concepts are the foundation for your judo journey and you will return to them over and over again. They are the essence of Judo and everyone should know them, as they are easy to learn and remember.

Grip

Basic Judo, 101, starting with your grip on your opponent. This is right side versus right side. Your two basic grips are collar hand and sleeve hand. You want your collar hand close to your opponent’s chin. This gives you the freedom to go underneath his other arm or move his left shoulder back and away from you.

Your grip on his sleeve arm, which is his right arm and his power arm. It’s the arm that controls your posture, so you want to grab near the bicep so you can pull it down, to minimize the power.

If you move your grip down to the wrist and grasp the cuff of his gi, and that allows you to remove his hand off of you. Once you do that, you are in a position to attack backwards.

Osoto and Ouchi

From the position you are in, you can now perform Osoto, the foot sweep with your right foot across to his right leg. When you wrap your foot around his, you can easily knock him off balance and take him down to the mat.

You can also do Ouchi, which uses your right leg to the inside of his left leg. These are both positions where you are moving backwards for the attack and your opponent will fall backward when he is taken down.

Taio

From the original position, you are also open to perform turning techniques. Taio is when you get your right leg in front of your opponent and turn yourself so you are bringing him forward and across your right leg. As you pull him forward, he can not get away with your leg blocking him and he will be taken down to the mat.

Right side versus left side works well because the right leg is forward for each opponent. Your dominant hand controls the posture. You are in a mirror image of your opponent.

Kenka Yotsu

This refers to left side versus right side grips. Each grip between opponents will be on the mirror side of each other, as opposed to opposite sides.

Starting with your hands on the lapel, you are both gripping each other on the same side. One person will have their hand on the inside, the other, on the outside. Both positions have their advantages and the first person to grip the lapel will generally decide.

Then, your other hand grips each other’s sleeves. These positions are somewhat unique, as you will both be turning in the same direction. You will want to be able to turn and go in for an attack from the back.

Uchi Mata

This is when you bring your right leg up and in between your opponent’s feet. You bring your foot around and sweep out your opponents left foot, and then bring him up and over your right hip, sending him out to his right and down to the mat.

It’s also possible to throw in the opposite direction. People will always have their preference, preferring to go with their dominant side. If you choose to use your less dominant leg to perform the throws, it means you have to perform the entire movement with your less dominant side.

Combinations

It will happen where you meet an opponent who is left side dominant and you will need to make adjustments. This can mean having to make broader sweeps, take a few more turns to get yourself into position and make a few more steps to adjust yourself.

It will be more difficult to win the dominant position, as you still will want to make your sweeps and takedowns from your strongest side. This could mean sweeping from your dominant leg to their dominant leg, which will be your mirror image.

This may require you to find the steps and movements to get yourself in to the position you need for the takedown. It will all come down to out-maneuvering your opponent to find your footing, so you can unbalance his.

People may choose to practice their Judo moves equally on each side, which will always be beneficial to them, but they will always have a preferred side. As Judo is a discipline that involves improving your balance, finding ways to make your practice more balanced is very wise.

It will enhance your moves and your Judo but improve the balance in your life, as well. Because so much of Judo depends on taking the balance away from your opponent, the more you have, the better you will fair.

Whichever side you feel most confident with, start with these basic Judo concepts to begin to grow. These will be used and relied on every day and become second nature to you.

 Please check out our video for more information and to watch these moves being performed.