Congrats Robert Verdell, CST for winning a his Judo Shiai!

[Scott Sonnon]

Robert, as most of you know is not only a CST Beta Cadre Instructor but also moderator of the Biomechanical Exercise and Bodyweight Conditioning forum here at RMAX.tv Productions. This warrior is just a litany of talent as a yoga, Body-Flow, Pilates, grappling, NHB, and self-defense instructor... and to top it off he's an elementary school teacher - probably one of the most noble professions.

Well, this man just won a rank evaluation Judo Shiai against four solid Judoka and got promoted to brown belt!

Congratulations, amigo! Great performance!

Read his account: I have ice on my neck, as I type this, my left hip flexor is strained, for I just competed in a rank evaluation judo shiai and won first place. I beat four Judokas who were anywhere from 30-85lbs heavier than my 205lbs. I didn't lose one match.
Once again, as with my last Shiai, the "spinal wave"(IOUF) lead me to IPPON, while Scott Sonnon's Somatic Engineering of Combat (pinning, I could feel their air leaving ther bodies)I was promoted to brown belt. It was the first shiai that I played against people who were not black belts.

The reason I write this is not to boast, but to say how well this thread helped me.

I was totally unattached to winning or losing. I felt extremely calm, even when I had one 260lber on top of me, trying to pin me and even when I was trapped in an armlock by another 250+ fighter.

Michigan's foremost Tai Chi master, who is a friend of a friend of mine, was at the event. He said he knew nothing about judo, but he notice the difference between myself and my opponent. He said he was impressed my my calmness and center-ness. They were tensed, growling and at times belligerent. I felt I had nothing to growl about, for if I win great, if not great also, for I would learn, no matter what the outcome.

Thanks again, Scott!

Robert

[Cilian McHugh]

Phenomenal work Robert :!:

[DaveRandolph]

Thats great work!! Very impressive.

Not knowing anyting about Judo or grappling but having studied Tai Chi for awhile, centeredness is where its at. A sort of aloofness, not "seeming" to care, but all the while taking it all in and making it work for you. Feeling what the opponent is doing before they know what they are going to do and neutralizing them.

Dave

[Robert V]

Thanks to all. You all were on the mat with me.

Thanks Scott for those beautiful words.

Dave,

"A sort of aloofness, not "seeming" to care, but all the while taking it all in and making it work for you. Feeling what the opponent is doing before they know what they are going to do and neutralizing them. "

That's exactly it! I laughed when I read it. You were on the money.

Robert

[DaveRandolph]

When I get in the "Zone" dong Tai Chi" that is the way I feel. I also started doing some "Soft Work" with a friend who has done a little Systema and after about 10 minutes found myself going right into that zone. Now if I can get that way when going full-speed.....


Dave

[Scott Sonnon]

Dave,

Soft-Work directly taps mechanoreception: movement or kinesthetic sense, structure or position sense, and force/tension sense.

The reason that this method rapidly accelerates learning and performance is because the body learns to move more slowly while the opponent moves at what one previously conceived of as "full-speed." You experience it as if you have so much more time, so many more options. The opponent perceives you to move much more rapidly than he because of your lack of over-flow (superfluous movement) and bound-flow (stopping, starting, or holding points.) Though he may be as strong, swift and ferocious as a tiger, to him, you seem like a swarm of deadly ants.

Two years of serious Soft-Work transforms your mechanoreceptive 'clarity' significantly and permanently.

I look forward to reading more of your progress with your students.

[DaveRandolph]

Scott, in the past I have gotten in & out of this state almost always in TaiChi & hardly ever in normal speed sparring. Always heard it descibed as the zone. When I watched the FLowfighting video & audio tapes I understood immediately what you were talking about, but never could just turn it on or off. Fear-reactivity, the need to win & to not look "bad" in front of lower ranks all diretly impacted the ability to obtain the Flow State.

I'm working on things trying to get them to become natural and not forced. I have some of my students doing some basic soft-work as you showed in Maximology with Doug also did some "falling" drills ala VV. Wokring on controlled collapsing of your own structure to melt into the floor rather than hit it. At least thats my take on it and the way I described it to them.

They seem to enjoy it. I will keep you updated and will also be saking many questions I'm sure :wink:

Thanks

Dave

[Chuck Kechter]

Great News! Good job, Robert!

Chuck

[Scott Sonnon]

Get up there for that week with Vlad, or sign up for the ROSS IDP, Dave. You'll love it.

[DaveRandolph]

Thanks Scott I will. I'd like to make the ROSS IDP but its to short a notice for me to make it. I will go to Vlads though. Also Jim King moved to Clarksville, Tn which is northwest of Nasville and couple of hours away so I will be heading down there as soon as he opens his place with a buddy of mine.

Thanks for the encouragement

Dave

OSU!

[Robert V]

I replayed my matches over and over in my head, trying to figure out why and how I injured my hip flexor and why I had trouble finishing my throws.

After going through my entire library of ROSS, I realized the answer to both questions resided in the fact that I was using my hip and leg as my primary driver, rather coordinating it equally with my locking arm and power transfer.

Odd, my upper body strength is better than most, yet I rarely use it efficiently when throwing.

There is a lot to learn from failure, mistakes and even injury.

Robert

Wrestlers tend to be very good at using upperbody strength to elicit a reaction that can be used against the opponant. Ofcourse that's the whole idea behind fitting in Judo, but sometimes you need to get out of that box too.

If you think of using your upper body to throw off or even better manipulate the "joint mass center" as opposed to using it to actually throw the guy, you can use that strength without it becoming a simple matter of picking the guy up.

In enshin style karate almost every punch is used to simply get in the blind spot so you can grap and sweep. Hopefully you've messed with his center enough so that it's just really a smooth little move and he's a down.

[Dan Chomycia]

Odd, my upper body strength is better than most, yet I rarely use it efficiently when throwing.

Robert,

Your right to notice this particular point,

Strength is a skill or a Stunt, in order to use your Locking Arm and Power Transfer to it's full advantage it needs to be coordinated with the rest of your body to be effective.

I injured my hip flexor

It is definately to one's advantage to create this synergistic effect so that you don't continue to overuse and tear up specialized areas of the body.


Broadening your training with the Clubbell is a good way to achieve this because of the coordination of the entire body just do 1 rep with exercises made into Combination Routines :!:

Another way is to refine or rennovate your skills so that the coordination is there Built-in to create game winning throws.

By this time next year with your new abilities, you'll blow them away! :twisted:

You'll win with Class and be Healthy enough to enjoy your victory! 8)

Great work Bro!