I went to an in-house judo tournament yesterday, and by my standards, it went really well.
I lost two matches really quickly. I think I was overcompensating for being really defensive and hyperfocused on the opponent in the last tournament. So, this time, I kept looking for chances to do the attacks I think I should be doing because I do them in randori: osotogari and harai goshi. In the first match, I was off the ground before I realized it and instinctively moved on to getting ready for groundwork without fighting the throw. That resulted in me getting thrown flat on my back and losing immediately.
In the third match, I entered into harai goshi without actually having the opponent off-balanced even a little bit and so got countered with tani otoshi and lost early in that one, too.
The second match was more interesting, though, and not because I won. First, my opponent was a guy who threw me a whole bunch of times with tai otoshi in randori earlier this week. I don't think he attacked once with it in this match? Maybe it was because I took the initiative by cross gripping and moving him backward? Maybe?
Then, my memory is hazy on this part (which is why maybe I should have asked someone to record the match), but I think he attacked with a lot of really low to the ground foot sweeps (which did work really well for him in another match). Like, calf on the ground low.
Regardless of what actually happened there, he ducked low enough for those that I was able to grip over his back (he's taller than me, so I did not think I'd be able to do this) and then threw him with
sumi gaeshi.
I think this is why being under some pressure is interesting. I had not tried sumi gaeshi in a few months. If you asked me if I felt confident enough to use it in a tournament, I'd say no. I'm often concerned my lifting foot is not going to be positioned correctly.
This time, I had no idea where my foot was. I didn't even know I was going to do the throw. I just did it, then afterward I was like, whoa, I did that throw. It's not easy to tell with 100% accuracy what you have stored in whatever part of your brain is running these physical pressure situations.
I landed him on his side rather than his back, so I was ahead with a half point, but did not get the full point to end the match. I immediately went for an armbar, then realized it might not be allowed and asked the ref. It wasn't so I transitioned to a pin that I thought I was good at (tate shiho gatame) but was bridged off. Having had that happen to me in two matches now, I guess I'm actually not good at that.
Then, I forget what happened next. Maybe my opponent missed a throw? But I was able to take his back and went for the choke. I've gotten used to people getting their hands under their collar or tucking their chins to block the choke, so I was prepared to switch to grabbing the arm to turn him over into a pin (which unfortunately I'm not great at), but somehow, I got my hand across his neck in time. He actually tapped to my surprise.
So, I need to work on:
- Pinning
- Always moving the opponent enough that they're not able to attack in total comfort (I'll probably have to work on this for the rest of my life)
- Converting big cross grip pulls into actual throws
The cross grip, even though it didn't amount to anything, felt really powerful. I think it has a lot of potential, and I'll be going for that all the time now.