Tai Otoshi 体落 Henka

I got the chance to get another private lesson with Matl Sensei this week. He went over many of his favorite variations on the 体落 Tai Otoshi (body drop) idea. He is very clever with his adjustments on the classic ideas. He does not follow the classic form when he finds a better way to do them. He has slowly carved away inefficiencies from classical judo ideas, until they have become softer, safer and more efficient.

Usually I cut out me doing the throws in my films with Sensei. I kept them in because he is always correcting my mistakes. Keeping in my clumsy version will probably be useful to understand the sequence of teaching.

Hagakure on training

"A man who gains a reputation due to a technical perfection in martial arts is an idiot. Out of his foolishness he focuses all his force on one thing and in order to succeed at it forgets to think about anything else. Such a man is not properly prepared."

"A man's training is endless. Sometimes, you start to feel that you have reached perfection at something, so you stop doing what you were doing. Whereas, he who wishes to reach perfection must always remember that he is very far from it. Only he who is not satisfied with just being an achiever and always striving for new achievement can consider himself to be a great man."

from Hagakure ("Hidden in the leaves") by Yamamoto Tsunatomo 1716

Matl Sensei ground work

I shot some video notes of a few ground work sessions with Matl Sensei. He has a very different feel to his ground work. He floats above his opponent taking up space for them to move. He believes that if you put weight on your opponent, that you are resting on unstable ground. If they move - you move. This idea is contrary to many ground work artists. Hussey Sensei on the other hand feels like the heaviest man in the world when he pins your ribs down. Different strategies, I like them both - no one person has all the answers.

By the way, I am a big believer in having video notes now. I will review these time and time again, picking up small details. Even if you don't want to share your training on youtube - I highly recommend you video and watch your practice as often as you can.

Matl vs Mike

My student goes against my teacher in some fun randori.