When I heard the AAU Grand National Judo Championships were in Kansas City this year, it brought back a lot of good memories. Not only had the judo rules been much different back then, but there were a lot of good friends around - like Steve and Becky Scott.
Well, they live in Kansas City and one of their students, Kenny Brink, is now all grown up, running his own club and the national tournament.
Some of the differences in AAU Judo - well, the last time I was in Kansas City and saw the national championships here a few years ago, I think I saw two penalties given all day. The referees tend to stay out of the way and let the athletes determine who wins the match.
There are no rules against touching the legs - a double leg take down, fireman's carry (kata guruma) and similar techniques are allowed. Chokes are allowed at 11, armbars at 15 years old.
The AAU rules are a little stricter than the freestyle judo I wrote about earlier , but both rule sets are FAR more applicable to anyone who wants to compete in mixed martial arts than the current IJF rules.
Here is a link to the entry forms. I couldn't find them on-line so I uploaded them to my company website for your downloading convenience.
Here's a link to my book so you can study up on your matwork to win (-:
How is it in AAY tournaments, do you see passive stalling with dominant grips and low positions, in other words do you see the things that were feared and led to current IJF judo rules?
ReplyDeleteOr do you see do you see full variety of throws and active, good, attacking judo?
In the last AAU tournament I attended I did not see any of what I would consider passive stalling. There was a lot more action than the typical tournament with IJF rules because the referees did not keep stopping the action to give penalties and have little meetings. I saw more attacking and active judo.
ReplyDeletePleased to hear that. I hope the IJF will recheck the current ruleset again. Not an easy task though.
ReplyDelete