Keep a good upright posture. Back straight, shoulders relaxed, knees slightly bent. This creates the best opportunities for attack and defense.
Do your absolute best not to stiff arm everyone everywhere all the time. It’s a natural reaction but it kills your ability to attack effectively. Stiff arm every once in awhile when necessary for defense, but loose arms should be your default.
Ukemi is king. Ukemi is the skill of breakfalling – the technique of falling safely. Just like there are specific techniques to throw someone, there are specific techniques to fall on the floor in a safe way so you can get right back up without too much bother. The better you are at ukemi, the better you will be at judo. Pay close attention to ukemi techniques and try to master them. Ukemi is also great for a beginner because there’s no other person to deal with – it’s just you.
Try to be the best uke you possibly can be. That means taking lots of falls, so having good ukemi is a prerequisite to being a good uke. But, it also means keeping good posture and relaxed arms during drills and randori. It can also mean making the correct defensive move so that your partner can practice their combination throws. So, being a good uke is a bit complex, and if you are a good uke, you’ll have a good feeling for a number of different basic judo skills.
A bad practice is better than no practice at all. Some days you’ll really be on top of things. You’ll get to the dojo early, get a good warm up, have good energy all practice, learn something new and cool, and you’ll get a few really clean throws in randori. Not all days are like this! Sometimes you’ll feel like everyone, even the new guy, is just having their way with you. On those days, just think to yourself, hey, this is better than sitting on the couch and scrolling. You’re putting in the time to get better, and it will all pay off down the line.
