Tricky Kata Guruma Set Up With Ashley McKenzie
In Judo, once you reach a fairly high level, you are going to need to get creative when you set up your throws. This is because basic set ups might not work as well on more seasoned opponents simply because they have seen those set ups hundreds or maybe even thousands of times.
This is where being creative and a bit unpredictable can be helpful.This way you can show something new to your opponent that they have never seen before and you’ll probably trip them up, at least for one second.
Well it can be hard to constantly come up with new, creative and innovative ways to land techniques. Luckily we have a Judo great here to show you one interesting move that he uses to set up a Kata Guruma.
In this video, Ashley McKenzie goes over how you can be sneaky in order to set up the Kata Gurama
Who Is Ashley Mckenzie?
Ashley McKenzie is an English Judoka with a 4th degree black belt who competed at both the 2012 London Summer Olympics and the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. On top of that he is also a Commonwealth Champion, European Medalist, Grand Slam Medalist, and Grad Prix Medalist in the 60 KG division.
Kata Guruma Set Up
The video starts off with Ashley saying that you can do this technique either with the same sleeve or on with a grip on your opponent’s jacket. From here to land the technique that Ashely is going to show you are going to need to trap his leg. If you don’t trap the leg of your opponent when you go for this Kata Guruma they will be able to pull their leg back and escape and possibly even put you in a pretty bad position.
So what you need to do is be a little tricky to trap that leg.What you’re going to do is attempt a chop at your opponent’s leg. Naturally, to defend themselves they are going to step back. From there you are going to bring your back knee onto the floor and you’re going to extend the leg closer to your opponent behind their legs to trap them. Make sure it is fully extended and flat.
From there you are going to tuck under your opponent just like with any Kata Guruma.
From there you can now roll over your own leg to land the throw on your opponent and score. Remember that you can do this technique with either grips on both sides or you can do it with grips just on one side. It’s really up to what you prefer and what you think will work on your opponent.
Learn More From Ashley McKenzie
If you like this video and want to learn more from Ashley McKenzie, then you are going to want to check out his complete video series “The Camberly Way by Ashley McKenzie” available exclusively on Judo Fanatics!