by Kyle Sloan
I think it’s important to take a few minutes and discuss the five different levels of play in Judo. I begin at the lowest impact and work my way upward to full-out play.
Uchi Komi – We practice throwing by loading the throw, but not throwing except possibly on last repetition. This is a good tool for checking body position, alignment, foot placement.
Nage Komi (Hop Randori) – Non-resistive play, taking turns throwing each other. We should work off of real steps, trying to take no more than 3 steps before we throw. Don’t block throws — take your falls. Allow for a 3-to-1 exchange; i.e. if you throw three times, your partner must get at least one throw. We must build from success. It is unrealistic to expect you to just start lifting weights at 500 pounds. You must train and build up to it. This means that you must have success in order to progress.
Sutegeiko (literally “throw away practice”) – Tori states throw to work on, and uke resists with movement, not stiff arming. Anybody can stiff arm, but it takes a real dancer to thwart a throw with movement. Learning to use movement to counter is studying Judo, whereas applying stiff arms is not enhancing your Judo education. Stiff arming is simply playing defense. Remember that the best defense is a good offense. Good movement allows uke to practice Judo too.
Randori – Both partners working offense and defense at the same time. Even though both partners are trying to work their offensive game at the same time, a certain level of decorum exists here. Randori should be more along the lines of a very brisk or high-speed nage-komi session.
Shiai – Full-blown, competition level throwing; nothing is held back. It is not necessary to work at this level of play exceedingly often. It is useful for diagnosing weaknesses in your game. To be successful in tournament play, one has to change from the regular level of recreational/technical study that is our norm; also required is this change in other players who are willing to work with the tournament player. Tournament play is a very specialized form of Judo.
Working on uchi-komi and nage-komi yield the greatest results, and this is where the majority of your practice time should be spent. Stugeiko is a useful tool for studying entries into throws with a resistant partner. Randori is where all three of these come together.
People often confuse randori and shiai. Players sometimes say they want to randori, but in actuality they are looking to shiai (fight). It is important that we understand these levels of play, and where we should be operating as part of our normal training regimen.