Author: Curmudgeon In Chief

Every endeavour involving significant skill acquisition there will be different levels of mastery. You won’t necessarily fathom the different levels unless you’ve been immersed in it for some time. Judo is no different. Our perceptions of skill development are more often than not moulded from our experiences in randori and shiai (competition). The argument I’m […]

If you’re a recreational player like me, you’ll probably be dabbling in a technique or two for a short period of time. Judo is great for exploring a set movement or technique and then losing yourself down the rabbit hole. Of late, I’ve been dabbling with Koshi Guruma (English translation: Hip Wheel). It might prove […]

How does AI tie in with our popular past time of Judo? How can it help us get better? What could the future hold for Judo as a sport? Read on and I’ll give you my quick take… Shu Ha Ri There’s a popular Japanese martial arts concept known as Shu Ha Ri. In brief, […]

Recently I entered the Kent International Judo competition here in the UK. It was a hot day, a busy competition and I came in with the worst possible mindset. What followed was a mediocre event for me which led to some rethinking and much needed soul searching. Allow me to elaborate.. The mindset before the […]

When I first ruptured my left distal bicep tendon I scoured the internet for details of what recovery involved. I found a dearth of information about what recovery for a recreational Judo player looked like after a year. This article aims to address that. Time heals all wounds Time heals all wounds provided you undertake […]

I was recently involved in yet another club randori night (as one does). Going hard. Giving as much as I was getting. I eventually changed partners and moved on to one club mate who I’ve always had a scrappy randori with. This chap has a poor tani otoshi in the kenka yotsu (right vs left) […]

Recently a Judo coach I have the pleasure of working with told me I need to “just relax” when I’m doing randori. We’d recently had a 5 minute practice together and he elaborated that I needed to take it easy a little on the grips. I found this comment both surprising and amusing at the […]

So you’re a week ahead of your first/next Judo or BJJ competition and you’re wondering what to pack? Well, this guide is for you! Small disclaimer: I’ve been to three competitions run by British Judo and two BJJ competitions (British Open No-Gi, Grappling Industries). I’ve also won a gold medal in all of these events. […]

And a happy new year to you! It’s my first post of the year so I thought I’d start it in true curmudgeonly form and rant about late last year’s experiences competing at a BJJ competition (Grappling Industries) in London. To those that aren’t versed in BJJ competitions in the UK, they happen literally every […]