Judo Strength Drills With Satoshi Ishii
Despite the word Judo literally translating to “The Gentle Way” it can be pretty rough. Judokas regularly get slammed a lot and they have to fight to get in position for a throw. This is why technique matters, so you don’t have to use so much energy to get yourself into position. Technique is always key but the thing about technique is that it can be defined as an efficient use of strength.
That’s why even if you have perfect technique, you should still spend some time working on strength . Now you can spend your strength training sessions doing stuff like Squats, Bench Presses and Deadlifts and those are good, but they aren’t very sports specific. You need to build strength and power in not only one position but you need to train the strength you have when you torque and pull while moving. You are also going to want to help train your grip and finger strength to give yourself an unbreakable grip.
If you want to keep your strength training sport specific, then we have the trainer for you.
In this video Satoshi Ishii goes over an exercise that he likes to do to help develop his sport specific strength for Judo.
Who Is Satoshi Ishii
Satoshi Ishii is a Japanese-Croatian Judoka who currently has his 6th degree black belt. He also has a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and has competed in MMA and in Submission Grappling. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing he won the gold medal in the +100 Kilogram weight class. On top of that he has won multiple medals at Judo World championships and the Asian Games.
Sport Specific Strength Training For Judo
The video starts off with Satoshi saying that the exercises that he is going to show you are pretty basic and you can do them everyday to help develop strength and technique. The first exercise that Satoshi shows is simply pulling up on your grips like you’re about to go for a shoulder throw. Instead of turning around to complete the throw, you are just going to go chest to chest with your partner. You also don’t need to have grips on your partner, just let them work.
If you’re the partner who is being pulled don’t lean back. Make sure that you let your partner get their grips and pull. You can do this exercise down the line, stepping back each time you pull.
Remember to pull down then go up down the line and then back again. After you complete a full lap you and your partner can switch positions.
The video ends off with Satoshi saying that doing this a couple times a day will help build sport specific strength. This exercise would be good for a warm up. Try to find a partner that is the same size or bigger than you if you are serious about getting stronger.
Learn More From Satoshi Ishii
If you like this strength training demonstration and want to learn more from Satoshi Ishii, then you should check out his complete video series “Tachi Waza Intensive by Satoshi Ishii” available exclusively on Judo Fanatics!