Judo Challenge Training: First Randori

Waking up yesterday morning at my brothers house was not unusual, I wasn't there because I'd had a fight with the missus...but I was there for a fight, several in fact - this is the tale of my first Judo Randori.

Arriving at Camberley Judo Club we (I'd taken my brother along to take photos) met up with Coach Skillcorn and were introduced to Samantha Lowe - we were in the company of 2 of GBs finest so I couldn't let on that I was nervous about the next few hours.

Shortly after we arrived my fellow students rolled in, each sporting a gi (the name of the kit worn by these double hard dudies) with a different coloured belt, clearly they'd done this before.

We started with the same drills as per my first lesson, hidden within the warm up exercises were the building blocks to many judo techniques.

Honestly, I wasn't parping in this photo...I wasn't!

Within the warm up we played touch American football - this enabled us to get the heart rates going, worked as an ice-breaker between myself and my fellow students and incorporated some of the ducking and weaving skills that we would need for what was to come.

Next we were placed into pairs and the randori began...

I get pinned down during the floor work

Randori is a term used in many martial arts, in judo it refers to one-on-one bouts, while in other disciplines one player may be attacked by any number of opponents, one at a time, with the central player tasked with defending different attack methods.

For the next two hours the randori evolved to the wishes of Coach Skillcorn; periods of bouting would be punctured by fresh skills being taught, which we then looked to apply as the randori developed from floor level to standing combat.

Learning how to throw and be thrown

While I managed to get involved in most of the lesson, there were stages which I sat out and during these I looked to watch and learn from my peers while I mopped sweat from every pore and tried to catch my breath.

During one of the final pairings I managed to drop a big buy ( I think he may have let me), but my sweep on his hampstring left me with a dead leg - he was built like Arnie I swear.

Once the randori was over I met my rival for The Judo Challenge - keep April 23rd free in your diaries folks, more on that to come later.

Stuart, Coach Skillcorn and a fat bearded lad some call The Everyman Olympian

Coach Skillcorn had convinced Stuart to take part in my challenge, he'd been bringing his son for lessons at the dojo for a few years and had often mentioned he'd like to take up the sport.

He seemed like a really sound chap, though we weren't here just to get acquainted, with sweat still dripping from my brow we started a lesson that would last over an hour - covering some basic floor moves, including techniques which were new to myself.

Pain shot through the centre of my chest and in 2 areas just below my shoulder blades, we'd been practising a method of rolling your opponent when I felt and heard bones crack as Stuart practised the move on me.

Not wanting to make much of a fuss yet in pain, I took a break out of the next few moves, the pain subsided but I wasn't sure whether there was any damage.

Last nights sleep I can tell you was not the most comfortable.

My day finished with frozen veg on my dead leg & 2 more packs on my ribs but I loved it!

More to come on The Judo Challenge day at Camberley Judo Club on April 23rd in the coming days.