Control The Match With Pressure And Travis Stevens Approved Tactics
2016 Olympic Silver Medalist Travis Stevens Has Some Suggestions…
Have you ever started a match and it felt like you had ZERO opportunity to create any offense for yourself? You aren’t alone. Good Judokas find a way to create Tempo. What is Tempo you ask? Tempo is commonly used as a chess term, where one opponent controls the action on the board by forcing their opponent to constantly be on the defensive.
By constantly being on defense without a way to counter is a surefire way to lose a match. Good Judo players are always looking for ways to control the action on the mat. Thankfully for us Travis Stevens has a breakdown available on his YouTube channel where he teaches us how to control a match with pressure! Check it out below!
As you can see from the demo, creating tempo doesn’t require large erratic movements that put you out of position. Small incremental movements can put you in a better position to snag a useful grip. Travis does this by closing the distance in a hard to perceive manner. While circling his partner, Travis makes sure to not stay the same distance throughout. Instead he cheats forward slightly with his back foot, which puts him closer to his partner. By closing the distance he forces his partner to fight grips, while at the same time backing away from Travis.
This simple tempo exercise is a great way to put you in a better position for throwing the opposition. If you find yourself locking up in a 50/50 situation where neither you or your opponent have a distinct gripping advantage, the more technical athlete will typically prevail. By approaching the initial “clash”, as Stevens puts it, with this type of approach you can get to a more advantageous position off of your initial grip exchange.
Travis has been crazy busy in the realm of instructional content. Not only has he added several gems to his Judofanatics.com collection, but his YouTube channel is one of the most active martial arts channels out there! Whether it’s a specific technique/concept breakdown, Olympic Judo discussion, or AMA’s Travis is able to share his unique experience with the Judo community. Check out his long-form workshop and Judo gripping below!
Want more from Travis Stevens? Check out his new releases over at Judofanatics.com!