Add This Judo Combo to Your Gameplan With Jimmy Pedro
Learning judo techniques in isolation can be fine when a judoka is just starting out, but overtime as the students become more involved in randori sessions and perhaps have the hopes of competing one day, it's important to begin building connections between moves to ensure that one has a Plan B when a particular technique may get stalled or defended by the opponent.
Jimmy Pedro is one of the most decorated American judokas in history. With 29 gold medals in international competition, multiple world titles, and two Olympic bronze medals, few have experienced judo at the elite level of Jimmy Pedro as a competitor.
As phenomenal as Jimmy Pedro's competitive career, his coaching career might actually rival it. He has coached the US Olympic team and coached notable athletes like Ronda Rousey, Travis Stevens and Kayla Harrison. Kayla Harrison will go down in history as the first American to ever win an Olympic gold medal in judo under Jimmy Pedro's guidance.
In the video below from Judo Fanatics, excerpted from Jimmy Pedro's brand new series THE OUCHI GARI ENCYCLOPEDIA available from JudoFanatics.com, Jimmy details a transition to Ouchi Gari off of a stalled Uchimata attempt. Check it out below and we'll break it down after.
Not Enough Hip
In the set up of this technique, Jimmy enters into a good uchimata, but for whatever reason, he realizes that there's not enough hip on the leg kicking through to off balance and lift the opponent and complete the uchimata. Maintain a strong support leg, Jimmy will hop to sustain the position and rather than abandon any offensive action, he decides to change course.
Offensive Gripping
Always a proponent of offensive gripping, Jimmy Pedro says the battle of the grips must be won. He does this by stuffing the opponents left arm toward the body and pushing the left hand collar grip back into the opponent and over the shoulder. This allows Jimmy Pedro to square his body back up and hooking the kick through leg around the opponent's leg. By driving the collar grip and pushing the opponent backwards where they cannot post, he is able to finish the Ouchi Gari.
The benefit of switching from the Uchimata to the Ouchi Gari in this case allows you to continue making use of strong effective grips. Rather than disengaging and re-entering with another technique, the Uchimata flows into the Ouchi Gari. Keys to making this work will be a strong support leg that allows you to hop multiple times and square back up with the opponent taking them backwards.
For more from Jimmy Pedro and the Ouchi Gari, make sure you check out the new Encyclopedia of Ouchi Gari available exclusively from JudoFanatics.com. You can get yours here or at the BUY NOW link below.
