Sat 8th Feb - Turnover - Hard to describe this one! So here is a brief description. If you were there you 
will know what I mean! You put the hand nearest the head and take hold of your partners forearm. Pull it into 
their body. Now stick your hand out the gap and turn it over. Then use your other hand to feed the jacket into the
one hooked around your partners arm. Get this as tight as you can get it. You can also use the belt for this and as
a result your partner can end up tucking their own hand down their own belt! (nifty hey?), but I prefer not to use 
the belt as the knot often moves or comes lose and means the grip isn't as tight!  Now walk round the head and 
use the knee on the opposite side of the head to guard the body. Take both hands on the arm you've tied up to roll 
them over. Then sit up into a hold, keeping everything tight. 

Working from behind your partner - Your partner is on all fours and you have tucked both legs
inside their legs and possibly rolled them over. From here you can do Hadaka Jime, which we did last week, 
or other strangles include Okuri Eri Jime or Kata Ha Jime. Whenever you do these strangles you must use your 
other hand to take the slack up in the lapel before you take hold. Get you hand as deep as you can, then the other 
hand, which should be under the arm, takes hold of the opposite lapel and pulls straight down. All that hand is 
doing taking the slack in the lapel so you pull down and not round with it. The strangleing hand pulls round, but 
make sure you keep your wrist straight or the strangle will not work. Kata Ha Jime begins the same, but the spare
hand lifts your partners arm and you place the back of your hand against the back of their head. It is illegal to use
the palm of your hand against the head as that places pressure on the spine. But you will find the strangle is much 
stronger if you use the back of your hand anyway!
You can also get into Juji Gatame from that position. I find this works best if you feel they are likely to turn away 
from you. You should have hold of at least one arm. From there you take the opposite leg and throw it over their
head. You can iether let them keep moving onto their front and apply the lock face down, or use the leg over the 
face to push them backwards onto their backs. Although both are just as effective, your partner will find it harder to
gain balance while on their backs, so technically that is a safer place for you. If they are on their fronts there is a 
chance they may be able to stand up. The key to stopping this is not letting them get enough balance to do so.
Another strangle. If you manage to get a good grip on the lapel with your hand tight around the neck and under
the chin,, and your partner rolls onto their front, roll with them. From there put your forearm onto the back of the
neck and push down while pulling up with the hand around the neck! If your hand is in tight enough it will virtually
imposible for them to resist this strangle as it is very strong.

Escape from Juji Gatame - If your partner is attempting Juji Gatame on you and you have managed to 
resist by gripping your arms together, but you feel you are not strong enough to hold them off, you can try this 
escape. You need to pull your shoulder away from your partners body and roll up towards them at the same time. 
This can be very difficult if it is applied correctly but I have found this to work time and time again. An action is 
quicker than a reaction, so if you let go of your grip on purpose with the intention of doing something you know 
when you are going to let go. (I also think that maybe as you let go and your partner thinks they have got you, 
they are at that second not mentally ready for your escape.) So you let go of your arm and as it straightens out 
you need to roll towards them and with a very swift "jerk" try and pull your shoulder away. If you can create 
enough space not only is it much harder for the armlock to be applied, but you may be able to roll your arm over 
enough so as when they try to apply it, they are actually bending the arm in the direction it goes rather than
 locking the joint and this buys you further time. Once you have managed to create the space you need to try 
and get to your knees, where you can gain enough balance to escape fully.

Sat 1st Feb - We were working on starting from different positions that you may find yourself in.

Hadaka Jime - Naked strangle. This strangle is done from the rear, and is called naked strangle as you don't
need the use of any clothing to apply it. Your arm arm goes round the throat and you use the thin bony part of 
your wrist againt the throat. You grip your hands in the champs grip. When you apply this, as with ALL strangles,
make sure your wrist is straight and not bent.

Sat 25th Jan - Turnover - Before working on a turnover we had a go at keeping your partner on all fours.
If your partner is on all fours you have the advantage! To do this turnover you need to put your hand nearest the
head on the collar at the back of your partners neck. Put the other arm under the arm nearest you and take hold of
your own wrist. Now walk on your knees round your partners head. As you do so keep everything in nice and tight,
as you move round the other side you should be lifting their shoulder or the turnover will be weak and won't work.
You need to make sure that you stay upright and on your knees, it can be very easy to roll onto your back.

Counter - Tani Otoshi - First we started with a defence against a hip throw. To do this you need to lower 
your hips and push them forwards slightly, but being careful not to lean backwards or your partner will change 
direction and throw you backwards instead. Once you have managed to stop the attack, you can then counter it by 
doing Tani Otoshi. This is a sacrifice technique. You need to move your body sideways so your partner isn't right 
in front of you. You sit down keeping your leg dead straight and putting it down just behind your partners legs. 
As you sit down your body weight should take your partner down, tripping them over your leg. Make sure that you 
turn towards them, otherwise you might land on your back and risk losing the score. Turning towards them also 
means that if the fight continues on the ground you are more likely to end up on top than underneith.

Sat 18th Jan - Basic Turnover - Most of you know the basic turnover where you put both arms either
side of your partners arms, take hold of their elbow and then pull the arm in and drive with your shoulders. We did
my variation of this where you only put the arm furthest away from the head undernieth, keeping that shoulder
down low so you can use it to drive into your partners ribs to do the turn. The other hand stays on the back of the
neck and pushes down. The direction you want to roll them isn't to the side, but forwards and over their shoulder
(as if they were doing a rolling breakfall over that shoulder.) This also means that if they put a leg out to counter the
attack, instead of you pushing the leg into the mat, which will stop them rolling, it will left the leg off the mat, 
making it a useless defence against this variation of the turnover.

O Goshi - Major Hip Throw. Put one arm around your partners waist. As you do so, step in with one foot, then
step round with the other and turn so you are facing the same direction. Your feet should be together and between
your partners feet. Now bend your knees keeping your back reasonably straight. Make sure your hip is through 
enough so they don't slip off. Pull them onto your back, making sure you have a tight contact with no gaps. Now
straighten your knees which will lift your partner off the floor, and as you do so, pull round with your hands and
turn your head.

Sat 11th Jan - Ashi Gatame, Hiza Gatame, and Juji Gatame - This is moving on from the 
turnover from underneath that we did last week. If you find you can't turn them, but your partner gives you an arm
you can armlock them instead. Keep hold of the arm tight and throw your leg on the same side over your partners 
head. Tuck your foot under their chin and now straighten your leg, pushing your partner away from you. Now 
straighten your leg, and if you need to, lift the arm locking it against your leg. (Make sure that you move the hand 
towards the little finger so as to lock the elbow and not bend it!) This is Ashi gatame. If you can't get  your foot
under the chin you can keep your knee bent and use it to apply the lock. (Difficult to explain, if you were there you
 will know what I meant).     Or if you manage to get your leg over their head but their weight is going in the wrong 
direction to do the above, you can take them backwards onto their back, where you will find yourself in Juji
Gatame.

Escape from the Above - If you find yourself on the receiving end of any of the above techniques, firstly
make sure you keep your balance and pull your shoulder on the arm that's being locked slightly towards you, as
that keeps it strong! Then if you can stand up on your feet, in Judo this will save you, as the referee will stop the 
fight!   Obviously if it wasn't Judo it would be slightly different, but still by doing that means you are on balance
making you strong, and you can try and pull your arm out the gap!

Uchi Mata - Inner thigh throw - This can be similar in application to Harai Goshi and Hane Goshi. But instead
your leg swings between the legs. If done at speed you don't need to have your hip all the way through.  Your
thigh can make contact on your partners right or left leg, or can go straight in the middle. (Don't worry you should
have been thrown before it makes contact!)

Ko Uchi Mata - Ko means Minor, so to do this your leg takes the nearest leg quite low down. This is initially
weaker so you are not likely to get a one off big throw with this, but if you keep turning and pulling and then hop
round in a circle, it can be just as devastating! As it is very difficult to get your hips all the way in against a resisting
opponant, it is quite common to end up up in Ko Uchi Mata rather than the Hon (True) Version!


Sat 4th Jan - Turn over from underneath - We all know the one leg in one leg out scenario! First 
you must wrap your partners arm up so they can't use it to stop themselves turning. You do this by thrusting your 
arm (on the same side as your leg is over their leg) up between the two arms, lifting up high with your shoulder 
too. Then wrap it around the arm and take hold of their lapel, using your other hand to feed it in. Then when you
feel the balance is right to attempt the turn, lift up with one leg, down with the other and roll them over. But.........if 
you find your partner is too well balanced or too strong to do this you can break the balance by taking the leg that 
is on top and pushing their knee away from you. As you do this roll slightly towards that side so their weight is on
that knee. That will cause them to collapse even more. Then is will be easier to roll them. You will have to wait for
the right moment to attempt this as to get your foot on their knee can leave you in a venerable position. It can be 
done from both "one leg in and one leg out" as well as when your legs are closed behind your opponent back.
It can be alot safer to close your legs tight round them, but that gives you less opportunity to try different 
techniques. It depends on who your opponent is and how big they are as to which you feel is best.

Freeing a trapped arm from the above technique - If your partner wraps your arm up to do
the above technique there is a little trick that sometimes works. Rather than pulling against him where strength will
win, try dropping your elbow, moving your hand in an outwards circle and pulling your arm out elbow first.
This doesn't always work, but often you find there is no resistance! You need to be very careful though as at the
point when your arm has your hand facing towards you, you are very weak, and your arm can be twisted easily. 
Make sure you do the release quick and your partner won't even know what's happened until it's too late, let alone 
counter it, but if you find any resistance stop, as it will be too risky.
 

Sat 21st Dec - Last session before Christmas! So lots of games!!! - But did you 
realize that all of those games were helping your Judo in some way? Every game played helped in at least one 
of the following areas, Reaction Times, Awareness, Coordination, Agility, Balance and Fitness.
Oh and not forgetting your Groundwork with the all time favourite - Bulldog!

                                   Here's wishing all of you a Merry Christmas!      See you on the 4th Jan!

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