Fun & Games from the West Coast Training Center

Pay attention to the first group to the left. I took this picture today because it illustrates a common problem for many dojos. That is, you have a group of people training but one person is the odd man (or woman) out. Here is one solution. Today we had enough people who were 48 kg and up but we had three smaller people. Two were about the same size but Erin was right in the middle. Too big for the smaller people and too small for the bigger people. In this particular drill, players are pulling their partner across the mat by pulling up their belt hand over hand. It develops hand strength in both players as well as developing the same muscles as rope climbing. This exercise is often preferable because:

A. Most dojos don't have a rope to climb.
B. Many people don't have the physical strength to climb a rope, they need to work up to it.

Since we didn't have a match for Erin, she is going two on one. She is pulling Bradley while Angel sits on him. When they get to the end of the dojo, they switch and Bradley and Angel pull together in a tug-of-war type way. Angel, who is the youngest and smallest, does the least work, Erin, who is oldest and most advanced, does the work of her two partners and Bradley, who is in-between does in-between in terms of work load. At the same time, everyone else has a partner and is doing the same drill.

ANOTHER GAME: A PUZZLE FOR THE EASILY DISTRACTED

Too easily distracted to ever do a puzzle with more than two pieces? Well, here is a judo puzzle just for you, then. Ronda throwing Allen Wrench with harai goshi



Print out this page, cut out the pictures and match them up. See, the USJA really does provide judo activities for everyone.



You're welcome.

P.S. Practice is 11-2 tomorrow (Sunday, November 29) 537 Vine St, West Covina, CA
Show up. You know you want to.