This Sunday (3pm at St Marys) marks the completion of our exploration of the Gokyo. This I hope has been an enjoyable learning opportunity for all that have taken advantage of the time. It seems to have brought some higher grades out of the shadows to help the lower grades, which is always a good thing.

As discussed in the sessions, the objective of this exploration is not to perfect all the throws rather to gain knowledge the techniques and principles and to experience throws you don’t know well. We want to have a wide vocabulary of Judo techniques, so that you know what you like and dislike; what you are good at and not good at. You never know which technique clicks. For me personally uki waza has been the one that felt nicest, most enjoyable. What has been your highlight?

Judo is not just about physical capabilities (as we’ve discussed); it is about learning. Coaching you the gokyo is good for me to learn as much as it is for you. I have been preparing for every session by reading up on the techniques, watching videos, even discussing with colleagues.

A big help has been the resources on Judospace.com. It has an entire course on the gokyo as part of of the EJU coaching level three. All you you could consider signing up to this course to help you learn more Judo, even if you never see yourself as a coach. It’s 68 quid, but worth it http://www.judospace.com/moodle/.

For full disclosure, I am the IT director of Judospace, but I am mentioning it here as I really think its worth your time to consider studying Judo both physically on the mat as well as academically via a programme like the EJU one. The process of completing the assignments I can assure you will help you get better at Judo.

See you on Sunday, don’t forget to be early and to enjoy it!

Lance.

p.s. Don’t forget to enter the Hampshire Closed which you can do online at https://www.onlineentries.co.uk/events/hampshire/20150301a.php . Full details at http://hampshirejudo.org.uk/competitions/hampshire-championships-closed/