Practicing what I preach on transition

I am always saying that people don't teach transition from standing to mat work, they don't drill it and that is a great drawback in most judo, grappling and mixed martial arts programs.

Just to show that I do practice what I preach, I took some pictures of drills with  the littlest, cutest judo players I was working with at practice on Sunday and you can see this is how a person does a shoulder throw.

First, you get a grip on your opponent's right arm,  with your left hand about at the elbow and your right arm around her right arm. Both of your feet should be in front of or between your opponent's feet.

Next, you bend your knees, turn and throw the opponent.

Then, after you throw, you follow through straight into a pin.

If you teach people to follow up into a pin right from day one, they will learn to do it automatically.

I have been arguing this for years and have heard a lot of excuses why instructors don't teach transition, including,

• It's too difficult for beginners to learn a throw and pin all in the same day
• It's dangerous to throw and pin before they know how to fall
• People, especially beginners, don't like to take hard falls like they would if they were thrown and then their opponent went into a pin. Better to just start on the mat.

I think looking at this girls provides a good argument against all of those objections. Yes, it isn't a perfect throw and pin, but no one does anything perfect when they are a little kid, especially not on their first day. It is a perfectly respectable effort for a kid. Neither of them look like they are getting injured and they certainly don't look miserable. 

Not wanting to take hard falls is a reasonable objection, which is why we use crash pads.

Not only do I teach people transition from a throw to a pin on their first day, I also teach a follow up into an arm bar or two if they are adults.