2010 Clinic Featuring Lance Wicks

The last few days have been a whirlwind here at OKCDT as Lance Wicks from the UK has been visiting, and gave a wonderful judo clinic for our grand opening.  I would like to thank our surrounding clubs for their support of this event, including Pat Burris’ USA Stars, Tulsa Judo, Lovato’s Jiu Jitsu and Windsong Dojo.  Thursday night was probably the highlight, which kicked off the event, as we hosted a workout that included the USA Stars Judo team, and over 20 judoka on the mat.

The Clinic: Based on Evidence Based Judo

Lance introduced the idea of evidence based judo and a fundamental look at what exactly makes up a judo match.  In studies based from his participation with the Bath University program, he talked about a judo match being much more than just a 5 minute match.  Within that match is a series of events, in most cases 14 events, that make up the entirety of the match.  In judo, there are a basic set of events that take place between hajime and the end which are grips, movement, attack, transition and matte.  These events generally have about 20 second increments of short energy bursts, ending with a throw or attack and a transition.  After matte, those events take place again, and again, and again.

The Goals and Objectives:

After a brief introduction, Lance then introduced them to each component of the clinic. With the kids, it was a little more basic, less explanation, and with the adults, there was more explanation and more effort to establish particular movements with specific throws.

Grips

The first part of the clinic involved grips.  This is pretty basic stuff, but set the example of the series of events within the match.  There was nothing special about the gripping, no special sequence, or long grip fighting, however, at times, that is obviously going to exist.  For the kids, it ended there, nothing more than on hajime, or “Yee Haw”, as he felt more in place for Oklahoma, and them getting a grip.  For the adults, it included a short burst of movement after initial grips.

Movement

After establishing a grip, there was movement added.  Not just simple movement or pushing, but a specific movement.  Rather than moving in a typical Tsugi ashi step to move your partner, there was an introduction to a movement based on studies of other sports at elite levels.   After studying badminton, and later other sports, Lance found that elite players in that field moved a certain way during drills and in play.  This step is similar to what one might see from a high level judoka, and can be seen on many throws in international, Olympic and World matches.  It is not just a step forward, but a burst of energy from a back step, or step in the opposite direction before moving in the desired direction.  To drive someone back, for example, rather than simply pushing them back, in a typical tsugi ashi step with your right foot leading, you would step back with your left leg in a stomping action to deliver power to the right leg driving your partner back. This movement action was practiced both forward and backwards, side to side, and in a circular pattern. Below is an example of o uchi gari using the dynamic movement.

Attack

After spending a few minutes with getting simple grips and adding movement, then attacks were added.  The attacks were based on the direction of the movement, and gave the juniors and adults alike a chance to design specific throws that could be executed with specific movements.   For example, a quick forward drive could easily transition into a seoi nage, tai otoshi, hane goshi, etc.  Side to side movements transitioned into o soto gari, and morote eri osoto gari.   This is standard basic judo, but in the way presented, with specific and deliberate explosions of movement, it added a bit more than standard movement and throwing sequences.  It also highlighted the obvious, that basics are essential.  Basics win. The movement, or stepping pattern can also be seen as a “switch” or “scissor” step when transitioning into an attack, as he demonstrates his O Soto Gari below.

Transition

After that attack, next we practiced proper transition.  Whether it be simply dropping to a kesa gatame, muni gatame or other pin, or transitioning to another throw if the attack failed, both groups of players practiced proper transitions.  Another example of the importance of the basics.

Dinky Doo Uchi Mata

One of the drills from the clinic was the “dinky doo uchimata”.  After being told that there was no way to teach kids uchi mata, Lance came up with Dinky Doo.  In this drill you load your partner on your back, in a o goshi style lift.  While holding your partner, you lift your right leg while saying “dinky doo”, then your left leg while saying “dinky di”, then a “yee haw”, in our case, called a sweep forward and back with the right leg.  The throw looks more like harai goshi at first, but with practice, and better body structure, several began hitting a great uchimata during the drill. Within about 15 minutes, most of our kids were throwing uchi mata.  For the adults, this was also a great practice, as by lifting the legs slower allowed you to really focus on your balance, coordination and strength of your support leg.

So, all in all, the clinic was a great success, and the clinic by Lance Wicks was superb.  Thanks Lance for all your enthusiasm and instruction, and for sharing what you have learned from others.  The full clinic will soon be available in high quality, downloadable video and in DVD format.  Keep checking for more information.

Live feed from the clinic with USA Stars on Thursday below:

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