This is one of my favorite judo videos that I’ve ever made. I was the camera man and editor for this video, which features a brown belt wife, Rebecca, throwing her black belt husband, Nico 😁 It’s a relatively simple combination, but Rebecca does it very smoothly so I wanted to preserve it on video.
Even though it looks simple, I recommend watching it several times. Whenever I’m trying to learn a judo combo from a video, this is what I do:
1. Watch the whole thing to get a feel for it.
2. Watch just the lower body and footwork.
3. Watch just the upper body and hand/gripping strategy.
4. Watch it again in both regular speed and slow motion.
You can actually learn quite a bit from regular competition videos this way, without any commentary or explanation, provided you have at least a couple years of in-person judo instruction under your belt (trying to learn judo from scratch via video is not recommended). I have a subscription to JudoTV, which lets me watch most of the professional judo events from around the world including the World Championships.
When I’m watching this video of Rebecca throwing Nico, besides the excellent footwork, what I notice is her tsurite (lapel grip). O Uchi Gari and O Soto Gari have very different tsurite motions. Watch the video again and watch closely during the slow motion portion – what is Rebecca doing with her left hand? During the transition, she makes a pull to her right side and then lifts the entire lapel and hits her husband with her forearm. This is a key point.
I hope you enjoyed watching this video as much as I enjoyed sharing it. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Waco Judo YouTube channel, as well as our Instagram feed.
And if you’re in the Waco area, come train with us! We are in Hewitt not far from I-35. Click here to reserve a free trial class for you or your child.