Judo Clinic in Maryland: Learning, making new friends, and growing Judo.

Last night I had the pleasure of going to a Judo Seminar hosted by The Budokan Judo Club of Calvert County. It was taught by Jim Bregman and Dr. Ann Maria (Rousey) De Mars. Sensei Ann Maria kicked off the clinic, explaining how she won repeatedly on the national and international circuit. Each time she won, the ‘critics’ said she was lucky. It took her critics a long time (years!) to realize that her ‘luck’ kept repeating itself. Shiai after Shiai she played well and usually won with a form of Kansetsuwaza, often Juji Gatame (an arm bar). Sensei Ann Maria had set managed to get her opponents on the mat and set up the opportunity for an arm bar. She practiced around the clock and focused on getting her Uke (opponent) into arm bars from different positions. Today, with a smile on her face, she tells you that Juji Gatame is the meaning of Judo. Sensei Ann Maria showed us different ways to get our opponents into hold downs (Osaewaza), and other ways of slipping into Juji Gatame. After we worked on this for some time, Sensei Jim showed us a few different mat techniques. The most interesting was a 360 degree hold-down drill. Tori (the aggressor) holds down his/her opponent (Uke) trying not to grab Uke’s Gi. The palms should stay open and down on the mat. Tori then holds Uke while transitioning around Uke’s body using different hold downs. The goal is to learn to use your weight to hold down your opponent. After we tried a few variations of this, Sensei Jim had us try a number of counters, including Seoi-nage as a counter to Osoto-gari and Uchi-mata as a counter for Tai-otoshi. I really enjoyed going to this clinic. It was a great chance to meet other Judoka and instructors, to grow my judo, learn, and make new friends. I recommend going to clinics to everyone!!! My thanks to my new friends at The Budokan Judo Club of Calvert County. They put on a good clinic. I hope to see them all soon again!