ZUIHITSU- RANDOM NOTES ABOUT JUDO by RONALD DESORMEAUX

P
a
g
e
1

Judo Ron 81- Judo Combat Postures and Strategies
The founder of Judo Jigoro Kano, built his Kodokan judo in 1882 on the following
pedagogical approach: to include the study and practice of techniques with the
purpose of using mental and physical energy most effectively in order to achieve
ones goals no matter what the endeavor.
i

This profound andate is soewhat hard to respect and let alone to follow
considering the e!olution and transforation of judo since becoing an
international cobat sport in the 1"#$%s& 'e ha!e since witnessed the !arious
beginnings and adaptations of new copetiti!e judo st(les, techni)ues done on
the *fl( with onl( one hand holding on the costue and joisting to gain the
superior kui+kata or guard& 'e are ore and ore in the presence of sei+
professional judoka who ha!e built strong uscular+skeleton s(stes especiall(
adapted for copetitions in gi!en weight+classes& The orpholog( s(ndroe
associated with the need to win did introduced new training ethods and
progras&
'e ha!e to recogni,e, that toda(, the stud( and practice of the siple -ok(o
technical corpus is no longer sufficient to access the podiu& .ederations are
supported b( financial rewards in accordance with the nuber of edals the(
obtain/ to fulfill the new andate, the judoka re)uires specific tactics and
strategies based upon changing orpholog( and e0perience& 1n .rance alone,
soe 1#$$$ high elite fighters distributed in twent( plus copetition poles are
ustering the ajorit( of the financial and technical support which was
pre!iousl( oriented to ser!e its 2$$$$$ strong ebership& 3an the judo
principles of (ester(ears still be recogni,ed and applied in toda(s 4en!ironent5
6owada(s, the battle to control or ipose the respecti!e kui kata 7guard8 is the
principal preoccupation of fighters& 9s the .rench author J: ;asni<re illustrated in
his 1"=> book: *The new way to manage your energy in combat is to first find the
right opportunity, then prepare the relevant Kuzushi to accompany your swift
action and go for the makikomi or final roll with all your body mass kept as closed
as possible to the opponent&
ii
The opponents ha!e the sae ai: to win& The
ethods of ac)uisition of such goals are not alwa(s through the ost efficient
use of energ(& ;ore than once we witness either cobatant losing their balance
in either the preparation or the conclusion of the throw for 1ppon&
ZUIHITSU- RANDOM NOTES ABOUT JUDO by RONALD DESORMEAUX


P
a
g
e
2

3an this last obser!ation be interpreted as a !ariation or continuation of the
original ideas e0pressed b( Jigoro Kano when he referred to Judo ?hai in the late
188$%s5
9t that period of de!elopent of his judo, he ebedded a phrase illustrating his
concept of the fa!orite spirit of ?hiai in the followings: *JU YOKU GO O SEISU&
These words are roughl( translated to ean that softness controls hardness and
therefore presupposes that there is a !isible and personal adaptation gi!en to
different situations as perfored b( both pla(ers&
The known sur!i!al conditions of free,e, fight or flee which we norall( associate
with a cobat situation are anifested and anipulated b( the judoka%s
intentions and reactions to the le!el of threats& 9s such, there could be actions
inclined to be aligned with ore aggressi!e or passi!e beha!iors depending upon
the le!els of response chosen& 9ppropriate adjustents with the eplo( of
energ( will follow&
1n Kano%s concept, the cobatants are trained or predisposed not to free,e in
place, reain neutral, confront or resist directl( an incoing powerful opponent&
The proposed responses are to obser!e the incoing threat, assess the danger
le!el, deflect the lunge and ake use of se!eral natural fulcrus, di!ersions of
lines of force and other elaborate subterfuges to aster or con)uer the opponent
with the use of the cobined energies&
The suggested approach presupposes that the judoka is able to ake a )uick
assessent of !ulnerabilities, o!e )uickl( to take a0iu ad!antage of the
weaknesses and e0erts the iniu of force to take o!er the situation& To be
able to deli!er a worth( and efficient perforance, the judoka ust possess a
suitable posture gi!ing hi the !antage point and the a0iu fle0ibilit(&
@bser!ations re!ealed to Kano that a superior position was needed where one
could control the delicate transforation of strength into the appropriate
echaniss to take swift ad!antage of a new scoring opportunit(& 9s we shall
see, this !oluntar( cobat situation is best obtained and anaged b( putting
one%s ental and uscular+ph(sical energies into a unified effort for a0ial
result&
ZUIHITSU- RANDOM NOTES ABOUT JUDO by RONALD DESORMEAUX


P
a
g
e
3


Shizen-ai
.urthering his researches into the old Ju Jutsu practices, Jigoro Kano was able to
recogni,e the iportance of the !arious postures or stances used b( ?aurai to
cope with all kinds of cobat situations occurring in the streets, in fields or in
halls& Ae was able to identif( that the best postures are those peritting the
warrior to )uickl( see and appraise incoing threats be the( fro unared
attacks, blows of different kinds, dissiilar weapons thrusts or disparate
threatening swords o!eents&

Ae consolidated those findings into a concept or approach which he called:
Shizen-ai! Ae described such a posture as the position which best ephasi,ed a
natural state of balance and offered iediate readiness without e0tra tensing of
the bod(& Ae noted that b( keeping the ars and legs fle0ible enough, one was
able to respond to iediate threats and )uickl( engage into the initiation of
free o!eents as a for of effecti!e response to incoing threats& Ae practiced
this posture with successful results against his own asters and peers during
se!eral (ears&
1n the course of perforing different Bandori+?hiai progras, he fre)uentl(
warned the students to aintain the ?hi,en+tai as the ke( position and a!oid
transforing it for different reasons which would weaken it&

ZUIHITSU- RANDOM NOTES ABOUT JUDO by RONALD DESORMEAUX


P
a
g
e
4

?oe students did not follow his teaching to the letter and the( had to be
reprianded b( another teacher such as ?ensei ?akujiro Cokohaa, who wrote in
his treat( of 1"11
iii
7 translated in 1"1>8 that: *!hen engaged in contest, and out
of fear of being thrown, students are apt to adopt unnatural postures such as
bending their back, stretching out their arms, supporting their body with their arm
and thus placing themselves into a disadvantageous position as a direct
consequence.
1t was soon deterined that in such a negati!e or precarious posture one could
not o!e freel( and that it would be incon!enient to ebark upon decisi!e
offensi!e tactics or eplo( counter attacks successfull(&
Shizen ai" the natura# stan$e
Darl( and siilar accounts of what constituted Shizen-ai can be suari,ed as
follow: "ou stand upright without in the least bending your head or body. The feet
are slightly separated and knees straight but fle#ible. The eyes should be set to
view twenty or thirty paces ahead. $n combat situation displacement to the right
and left or rearward is recommended to accommodate the threat levels.
$t may be necessary to adopt temporarily a more defensive position called %igoTai
by fle#ing the knees and e#tending the feet separation and by lowering the body
but keeping the torso and head straight. !hen you hold the %igo Tai for too long,
you are not only restrained in your movements but will tire quickly. $t is therefore
very important that you do not make use of %igoTai too often or develop the habit
of restricting yourself in what movements you can accomplish.
Shizen-ai was then and is still considered as the ost appropriate natural
upright posture for fighting& 1t is !iewed as the onl( posture that gi!es the
defendant the balance and aneu!erabilit( he or she needs to deal with a
ultitude of attacking angles and fors& 'e ha!e to reeber that the original
judo techni)ues did ser!e se!eral purposes: eans of self+defense, ethods of
ph(sical education and artial sport%s copetiti!e tools&


ZUIHITSU- RANDOM NOTES ABOUT JUDO by RONALD DESORMEAUX


P
a
g
e
5

9s such, the posture is still !alid to cope with situations outside the dojo or ?hai+
Jo& 1n street cobat situations where there are no rules, an attack can coe in
the for of a direct fist, a slanted blow or a single leg take down, a swung bottle,
a thrown rock or a knife attack& 9 crouching posture as we a( ha!e described
abo!e would certainl( constitute a horrible posture to prepare for against ost
fors of attacks&
%a#an$e is the ob&e$ti'e
1f we agree that the natural upright posture is to be considered as the best initial
stance for judo acti!ities, let us look at its ost poignant characteristic, that of
pro!iding the utost huan balance s(ste&
The ne0t graphic illustrated in 2$$8 b( ;ar( 9nn 'atson of the E&F&9
i!
e0poses
the fascinating links between the sensorial s(stes, the uscular+skeletal s(ste
and the di!erse functions of the brain for the attainent of true balance as
pro!ided b( an upright position&
ZUIHITSU- RANDOM NOTES ABOUT JUDO by RONALD DESORMEAUX


P
a
g
e
6

To be in balance while standing in a natural stance as described in the Shizen-ai
eans that we ha!e the abilit( to aintain our bod(%s center of ass o!er its
base of support& 9s such, it allows us to see clearl( ahead, identif( different
orientations with respect to gra!it(, and deterine both directions and speed of
o!eent fro us or fro other objects& 'e are also capable of aking
autoatic posture adjustents to aintain our stabilit( under !arious conditions
or through different acti!ities&
9s identified in the abo!e illustration, our balance is norall( achie!ed and
aintained b( a cople0 set of sensor(+otors control s(ste which is feed fro
signals recei!ed fro our !ision, touch and sell, spatial orientation receptors
that are linked with our e(es, ears, uscles, joints and the like&
'hen we keep the head straight, we are able to capture thousands of signals
fro the e(es% retina who is constantl( adjusting to different luinosit( and send
appropriate signals to adjust our relati!it( !is+G+!is different objects of dissiilar
si,e, shape or for& Aeads up eans that we are capable of ha!ing our opponent
in our line of sight&
ZUIHITSU- RANDOM NOTES ABOUT JUDO by RONALD DESORMEAUX


P
a
g
e

Thinking about the relati!e functions of our uscles groups and joints, let us
reeber that our skin, uscles and joints react to different conditions such as
heat, pressure, teperature etc& and perit us to adjust to changing
circustances& 9s le!erage pla( an iportant role in judo, we ust becoe
aware of joints and uscles% optial producti!e angles as well as their o!eent
liits&
@ur sensor( ipulses eanating fro our neck region and ankles ha!e an
iportant role in coordinating otion detection and spatial orientation& 1t is also
iperati!e that we a0ii,e the stand erect posture if onl( to be able to use the
correct and appropriate signals recei!ed fro both our ears 7canals, ca!es and
li)uid8 to a0ii,e our !ertical orientation and coordinate our linear o!eents&
There are so an( internal pla(ers or functions at work siultaneousl( to secure
the e)uilibriu, luckil( ost are acti!ated autoaticall( or sei+autoaticall(
through the linkages of brains, eor( and signals orientation&
1t is known that we learn through different e0posures, practices, e0periences and
through repetitions& 9t each step, signals are transitted to our brain and the(
appear faster, becoe clearer and sharper with added repetitions under siilar
conditions&
'e can then surise that the Shizen-ai posture pro!ides the best opportunit( to
aintain our balance and offer the best reaction potential& This is but one part of
the e)uation in a judo atch, a second part consists of breaking awa( that
e)uilibriu fro the opponent with the iniu of force& 'e call that process:
perforing Ku,ushi&
Kuzushi
1n cobat situation, Judo techni)ues ust a0ii,e the breaking of the natural
posture and balance in order to a0ii,e the displaceent of the center of
gra!it( and ake use of the Hoent of e)uilibriuH&

ZUIHITSU- RANDOM NOTES ABOUT JUDO by RONALD DESORMEAUX


P
a
g
e
!

1n breaking the posture, there are of course soe constraints, such as: the degree
of freedo desired to be aintained 7to what e0tent of tie or e0posure to an
uncofortable posture are (ou prepare to withstand8, the postural strength
re)uired to keep the balance 7the uscles tensions !acillating in idriff8 and the
e0tent of natural control echaniss being e0ercised to ensure )uick reco!er(
towards another natural position of stabilit(&
Kuzushi (a$tors
'ither (ou are tr(ing to place the opponent into a state of dise)uilibriu or
retain (our own balance, (ou will ha!e to consider aongst an( factors: (our
general ph(sical abilities, (our weight distribution, (our lib easureents and
the aount of fle0ibilit( of (our joints, (our sensor( s(stes capacit(, perception
potential, the attraction e0ercised b( gra!itational forces depending on the
surface coposition and the space (ou trul( occup( along with the speed with
which (ou can displace (ourself in a gi!en direction for )uick recuperation&
These conditions and an( others factors will be in!ol!ed in (our reacti!e
strategies for offense or defense or when (ou adjust (our base of support b(
sipl( taking e0tended or lateral steps to shift (our weight or when (ou ake
greater use of the bod( ass to e0ercise sufficient tor)ue without changing the
relati!e position of (our feet&
9s one can appraise, there are lots factors to consider, let alone understanding
the le!el of threat and forcefulness e0pressed b( the opponent%s actions+reactions
who a( be well known to (ou or who is reaining a (ster( until this !er( last
oent&
.or ost judoka, these factors reain in the real of the coaches& Infortunatel(,
it is not the coaches who need to fight and gain the superiorit(& This eans that
ost judoka will work for grips, then utili,e one of an( throws that uses the
strong grips to break the balance and e)uilibriu of the opponent&

ZUIHITSU- RANDOM NOTES ABOUT JUDO by RONALD DESORMEAUX


P
a
g
e
"

The( will push and pull with the upper torso and ars to attack the ost fragile
sector of the opponent at the risk of losing their own postural e)uilibriu and
e!en forgetting to ake the necessar( !oluntar( adjustents to their own
posture in order to aintain their own e)uilibriu& 'hat are the possible
outcoes5 Ising lots of energ( to no results or follow a ore fortunate ending
taken b( the ore e0perienced judoka , that of resorting to the aki koi as a
wa( to end the throw where all control and stabilit( easures are sacrificed for
the 1ppon&
These conditions necessitate that we describe the Ku,ushi process in order to
ha!e a better understanding of one of the ke( cobat finding b( Jigoro Kano&
)dditiona# des$ri*tion (or Kuzushi or *osture brea+ing
'hen seeking technical description about Ku,ushi, one of our first references is
that of ?ensei K(u,o ;ifune 1$
th
dan, who wrote his &anon of %udo in 1"2J
!
& 1n
that docuent, he e0plained Ku,ushi as : *the capacity to induce the opponent
into an instable posture which will devoid him of various actions.
To illustrate his point, he used different throwingKaction associated with !arious
o!eents and resorted to deonstrate the push and pulls actions in the for
of continual cur!es or arcs ade of copleentar( forces to e0ploit the
!ulnerabilities of the opponent to one%s own ad!antage& :ike an( of his
predecessors and followers, he saw the essence of judo in controlling the stabilit(
of the center of ph(sical gra!it(&
@n the footsteps of Jigoro Kano, he illustrated eight natural directions 7Aappo
Ku,ushi8 where the opponent can barel( aintain his balance when pushed,
pulled or lifted and where one can a0ii,e the pendulu effect obtained b(
o!ing portions of the opponent%s ass along and o!er the center of gra!it(&

?ensei ;ifune further belie!ed and deonstrated that it was necessar( to
appreciate that one should o!e with speed to take care of the opportunit(%s
ZUIHITSU- RANDOM NOTES ABOUT JUDO by RONALD DESORMEAUX


P
a
g
e
1
#

tie span& .ro his obser!ations he listed soe essential principles worth
repeating:
'. (earch for the opportunity where the opponent is carrying less weight
). *ake rapid and constant ad+ustment s that complements each other.
,. *ake use of your entire body mass as a kinetic force to throw.

)nother *oint o( 'ie,
'ithout going into a echanical+ph(sical dissertation about the !arious fors of
Ku,ushi, let surise the e0planations gi!en b( the judo researchers Jiichi
'atanabe and :ind( 9!akian
!i
who prescribed that the judoka ust first find and
identif( the best attacking or striking opportunit( through obser!ing the
unguarded oents presented b( the opponent, then decide the for of actions
to either go directl( on the weak spot or proceed to initiate !arious actions+
reactions situations that can be taken ad!antage of b( e0ploiting the reaction
tie and or breaking the posture of the opponent before the latter has tie to
recuperate his balance or coposure&
'hen describing how to break the posture, these authors recoended that we
should consider the base of support, the weight of the opponent and the location
of the center of gra!it(& 9ll three eleents are noral coponents found in e!er(
stable object, regardless of the fors or shapes&
L( using different laborator( easureents the( established that the proper
natural ?hi,en+tai posture presented far ore echanical ad!antages o!er all
other fighting postures& The( concentrated their efforts on wa(s and eans to
break it down& Ising the Kano%s approach of Aappo Ku,ushi the( were able to
produce sufficient alterations to the natural posture to force the opponent into
aking necessar( ph(sical adjustents to recuperate initial or d(naic stabilit(&



ZUIHITSU- RANDOM NOTES ABOUT JUDO by RONALD DESORMEAUX


P
a
g
e
1
1

Mrofiting fro those lapses of tie for procuring recuperati!e actions, the(
asserted that the concentrated uscular ensebles residing in the abdoen and
the subse)uent displaceent of the center of ass pla(ed a ost iportant role
in coordinating all other segents of uscle groups needed to ebark in a
postural destabili,ation process& The( thus recoended that the action of
perforing Ku,ushi be initiated fro the waist area first and not the upper
arKtorso regions as fre)uentl( belei!ed&
Common Strategies
3obat strategies are nuerous& .ield coanders and e0traordinar( fighters
begin their battle awa( fro the battle grounds and with onths of researches
and inforation collecting&&& The( get to know the *ene( or ri!al and ake in+
depth appreciations of both their own forces and weaknesses as well as assess
the best conditions under which the( intend to use their assets%& 1t was coon
to send patrols to conduct reconnaissance and probe the ene( power or
readiness before coitting their whole aries&
Toda(, how an( judoka and elite fighters are that well prepared5 @bser!ing
recent copetitions at the national and international le!els, one is lead to belie!e
that o!er =$N are seriousl( deficient in intelligence gathering and do not possess
sufficient tactical skills to aster the gi!en situations& Cou do not go into the lion%s
den without due preparation&
The judo atches deand siilar considerations& @utside of the dojo, !er( few
judoka possesses a good iage of the opponent& There is lots of dependence
upon the coach%s assessent and the odd lectures of a few fighting !ideos
in!ol!ing ajor fighters&
9re the training regies or progras well understood and just how uch
fle0ibilit( or libert( is gi!en to the fighter to conduct his or her own gae plan5
Lased upon what criteria and state of readiness do the judoka ebark on the
atch5 These eleents re)uire serious attention if we are to ipro!e the wa(s
and eans to fight for the benefit of ipro!ing self or at the other end, to winn
against a selected opponent&



ZUIHITSU- RANDOM NOTES ABOUT JUDO by RONALD DESORMEAUX


P
a
g
e
1
2

9s we get near the fighting tie, we a( consider using ore basic ps(cholog(
tools to get a better appreciation of what the encounter will look like& .or those
judoka not beneficiating fro an entourage of e0perts, there are other siple
tools that can be used in e0treis in order not to lose e!er( ad!antages&

-ariation o( strategi$ too#s
Cou just cannot go forward and push (our luck at what (ou do not understand to
constitute a threat& ?ocial recognition or bio+feedback is one of those echaniss
we pre!iousl( co!ered& 7Judo+Bon 12, 2$, >1, >", #=, #8 and =28
!ii

1n suar(, it is b( obser!ation and feelings that one can ac)uire sufficient
essages to properl( de!elop a responsi!e action plan& Take for e0aple the
wa(s the judoka approach the opponent: specific o!es and gestures will tell a
lot about character and disposition: if one is afraid of the other he or she will keep
the ars straight repulsing the opponent awa(& 1f seeking iediate doinance
at the first touch the ars will be bent to facilitate a rapprocheent and a control
o!er the neck/ when unsure, the judoka will a!oid direct contact and feint a touch
and go to secure sufficient tie or space to obser!e& There are a few studies in
the doain of ps(cholog(
!iii
that transit the h(potheses that cognition is indeed
linked with our perceptions, thoughts, feelings and that we continue to learn fro
all our senses and interactions with the outside world&
9 recent stud( reported in a Ms(chological ?cience aga,ine entioned that the
research b( Koch, Aolland, Aengstler O Knippenberg suggest that ph(sicall(
stepping backwards a( be associated with gains in the abilit( to deal with
probleatic situations& The article written about bod( locootion suggests that
ph(sicall( taking a step back fro a difficult situation a( trigger higher+order
cogniti!e control functions& ?uch functions help us direct our beha!iors and
influence attentional processes to ore effecti!el( deal with a gi!en situation&
The first three seconds of a atch a( well la( out its outcoes& L( stepping
back, judoka a( be able to refocus on the proble at hand e&g&, dealing with the
unknown threat caused b( the opponent%s presence in the !icinit(&



ZUIHITSU- RANDOM NOTES ABOUT JUDO by RONALD DESORMEAUX


P
a
g
e
1
3

Lefore insisting upon following or iposing a constant approach iediatel(
after the shoutKcall of *A9J1;D, coaches and judoka should endea!or to re!iew
all the possibilities before the with an understanding of their ad!antages and
disad!antages& 9rs fle0ed for pushing or placed in e0tension to create space,
hold the opponent awa( or create a situation of a!oidance a( contain ore
significance than sipl( being positi!e or negati!e&

The initial a!oidance a( well reflect: a lack of understanding, an a!ersion
towards the opponent or the need to take the e0tra space to properl( assess and
think about a solution& 'e ha!e to reeber that each cobat situation has its
own characteristics and all need constant anal(sis if we want to ipro!e&

Con$#usion
1n judo cobat situation, we ha!e to reeber the principles at pla(& There are
!arious wa(s that the principles of gentleness and utual benefits can be applied
against the opposing force being used upon us&

Judoka should not be asked to aster all strategies but are re)uired to do their
personal best at all ties& There are !arious kinds of techni)ues that if iproperl(
used can be harful to the opponent and in the long run, detriental to the sport
of judo in general&
The 1J. is continuousl( attepting to ensure that the current rules of
engageents reflect those principles of intelligent use of energ( and utual
benefits& 1t is our responsibilit( to adjust to the tie as best we can&
1t is understood that the appropriate use of ?hi,en Tai and proper Ku,ushi will
facilitate the rendering of fle0ible responses and initiati!es& The anners b( which
we adopt the right posture, take ad!antage of the right opportunit( and follow up
with )uick o!eents are indeed respectful of the principle of gentleness as
counicated b( Jigoro Kano&


ZUIHITSU- RANDOM NOTES ABOUT JUDO by RONALD DESORMEAUX


P
a
g
e
1
4

To ake further progress in ipro!ing judo copetition skills, we ust seek to
ake use of the !arious fruits of our in)uiries, intuitions, speculations and the
inputs pro!ided b( the scientific ilieu&
1 a hoping that this article has contributed to a better understanding of the
Judo 'orld&
Aa!e a good practical session&
Bonald FPsoreau0
Judo Teacher, Ini!ersit( of Toronto, Aart Aouse Fojo
;a( 2$1>

Re(eren$es

i
Jigoro Kano, .ind o'er .us$#e, writings copiles b( 6aoki ;urata& Kodansha international, Tok(o, 2$$J, Mage J>
ii
J&:&;asni<re, Judo S*orti(, 9phora Mublications, Maris, 1"=>, 3hap& 1+2
iii
?akujiro Coko(aa and Disuke @shia, Judo K/onan, translated 1"1#, reprinted in I?9 as "=8+$+"2$12"+"#+1
i!
;ar( 9nn 'atson, he 0uman %a#an$e S/stem, article for the Eestibular publication, 2$$8
!
K(u,o ;ifune, Canon of judo, Japan Mublications Trading 3o(, Tok(o Japan, 1"2J, 3hapter >
!i
Jiichi 'atanabe and :ind( 9!akian, The Secrets of Judo, 3harles D& Tuttle 3opan(, Tok(o,1"2$, chap J
!ii
Bonald FPsoreau0, Zuihitsu srie, Judo-Ron, '''&?cribd&co 2$$8+2$1>
!iii
Larselow, Larle( and Bupper, 2$$J, Locomotion factors and cognition& 6ijegan, Aolland

6ote
This article contains Q and is registered with the Dlectronic Fata Lank of the 3anadian 9rchi!esK:ibrar( &
.or ore inforation please contact the author: ronalddesoreau0Rgail&co&