WELCOME MAT ONLINE NEWSLETTER Sept. 21, 2010

This issue's quote; "Blessed is he who teaches, for he learns twice." St. Augustine

TRIP TO THE BARN

As reported in my last installment, we'll leave from Kansas City on Thursday to travel to Perrysville, Ohio for several days of training and hanging out with John Saylor and his crew. Six of us are making the 13-hour drive each way. A long drive but certainly worth it. I remember years ago when I would make the trek to Colorado Springs, Colorado on a fairly regular basis to work out at the Olympic Training Center and stay at John's house. That was when John was forming his Shingitai Jujitsu Association in the early to mid-1980s and we spent a fair amount of time working out at his jujitsu dojo in the evenings as well as the daytime workouts at the OTC. Those early workouts were a lot of fun and we had some rough-house workouts in those days. One of the times Becky went with me, we stayed at the Saylor mansion and spent the evening watching Charles Bronson movies (one of my favorite actors, and a legitimate stud). Somehow, watching Charles Bronson motivated John to want to try some groundfighting moves on his living room floor, so we cleared the furniture and proceeded to work on juji gatame drills, and then roll around a little bit to see if they actually worked. Now, here are two grown men, both rather large in stature, wrestling around on a living room floor like two kids. Becky stood by, offering cogent advice to me (since Saylor was kicking my butt in our impromptu match) and John's first wife Kathy had left the room; knowing that it was useless to continue to tell us to stop. Now, years later, John lives in a barn (in Ohio, his home state and not Colorado) that he completely re-designed as a dojo and weight room, along with a large living quarters, office and kitchen and we can still roll around on the floor (now covered in tatami mats) and act like kids. The more things change, the more they stay the same. (An additional note to this...As I remember, Bob Corwin was once at John's house with us when John and I had an impromptu grappling match on his living room floor. Bob found it quite amusing. I seriously wonder how many other poor souls were lured into taking a beating after an evening of watching Charlie Bronson movies at Saylor's house in those days...)

TOM CRONE'S JUDO DVD

My friend Tom Crone in Minneapolis just released a new DVD on judo. Tom calls it JUDO BASICS. It's close to an hour in length and a good addition to anyone's library. I recommend it. Tom worked with me on the National Coaching Staff for juniors (under 21) in the 1980s and early 1990s and is a good coach who knows his stuff. The DVD is $19.95. To order a copy, e-mail Tom Crone at tomailto:tom@tomcrone.com and his web site is http://www.judominnesota.com/ or http://www.northstarjudo.com/om/.

THE SHOULDER SIT
A position in groundfighting that is pretty much taken for granted and not actually taught very much is what I call the "Shoulder Sit." This is the time when the attacker may have just thrown his opponent or may have broken him down and squats on his head and shoulder as Bill West is doing to Josh Henges in this photo. Good judo and jujitsu athletes do it, as well as good submission grapplers. Basically, the top athlete parks his opponent there temporarily and works to secure another move. We drill on it a lot at Welcome Mat by doing the "spin and stretch" drill where the attacker spins his partner over and squats on him as shonw here, and then rolls back to a juji gatame. This is a strong "transition" position and one that I recommend everyone drill on in practice. I'm including this move in the upcoming book on judo that Turtle Press will publish later this year. This is one of those moves that a lot of people simply take for granted, or even don't even think about but should be worked on as much as possible.

CONDITIONING FOR COMBAT SPORTS

John Saylor and I worked hard on this book and it's been getting some great comments from people who have purchased it. The book is 320 pages with over 1,000 photos and full of serious, hard-core training information. Order your copy from http://www.turtlepress.com/ or http://www.amazon.com/ .

THE LEG PRESS

Here's another position in groundfighting that is overlooked, and for the most part, not worked on during practices. It's the "Leg press" position. This photo shows Warren Frank doing the leg press in the sambo national on some poor guy who is about to get his arm stretched. Basically, you roll your opponent onto his back as shown here and control his body with your legs as you sit beside him. Not only can you get a juji gatame from this position, you can control him for a long while in the leg press and switch to a pin or a strangle if the juji gatame doesn't work out. Like the shoulder sit, drill on this position often (we do at Welcome Mat) and you will see the many good things that open up to you and the many bad things that can (and will) happen to the bottom guy.

AAU FREESTYLE JUDO NATIONALS

Ken Brink plans on hosting the 2011 AAU Freestyle Judo Nationals in March in Kearney, Missouri. He's still working on getting a definite date for both the Freestyle Nationals and the AAU Grand Nationals in July. Norm Miller plans on hosting the AAU Nationals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Aug. 15.

ONE GOOD THING...BLOGS HAVE PHOTOS

I liked doing the old online newsletter in the e-mail format, but this blog stuff isn't so bad after all. The part I like most is that photos can be placed on this blog. As time goes on, more technical stuff will be presented on this blog. However, I still have trouble with the word "blog." It's me...I know, but it's a weird word.

AAU INFORMATION

It's time to renew your AAU membership. The AAU membership runs from Sept. 1 to Aug.31 of the next year. Go to www.aausports.org and follow the links for membership.

TIMING YOUR UCHIKOMI

Here's an idea that will help in your foot speed for throwing, as well as overall speed and ballistic effect. Time how fast you do uchikomis. First, however, it's important to have good form in doing uchikomi drills before trying to time them. The goal is to perform one uchikomi per second. A good idea is to perform 10 static (not moving) uchikomi on your training partner and have another training partner it. If you average 1 per second, then you hit your goal. I realize some people don't like uchikomi, and that's okay with me, but I really believe this drill is a good one to teach precise and skilled movement. Doing both static (non-moving) and moving uchikomi help develop good throwing skills. One more point...there's a difference between uchikomi and butsukari. The butsukari is more suited for development of foot speed. Many people don't differentiate between the two drills, but there is a definite difference. An uchikomi is doing the full movement of the throw up to the actual throw and butsukari is the "chest touching" drill that emphasizes foot speed and pulling action with the hands.

WRAPPING IT UP

The original idea was to get out a newsletter after returning from Ohio, but the urge hit me so here it is. There's still time to get downstairs and get a workout in in the weight room. Until the next issue, train hard and train smart.

WELCOME MAT ONLLINE NEWSLETTER Sept. 12, 2010

This issue's quote; "No fight is easy. Train hard. Fight easier." Clint Smith

FOLLOW UP ON THE FIRST ISSUE NOW THAT I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING (KIND OF...)
Here are a few items that may be of interest. This first item is a "tease" for the new book on judo. A portion of it will be about the freestyle judo rules (but not all of it). I'm putting this in this blog because, since yesterday's blog came out, I have literally received dozens of questions about freestyle judo. I believe Kenney Brink is planning on holding the AAU Freestyle Judo Nationals in March, 2011 in Kearney, Missouri (near Kansas City). The date is still not certain, but that's what he's shooting for.

AN EXPLANATION OF FREESTYLE JUDO: “THE WAY JUDO OUGHT TO BE!”

When it gets down to it, good judo is good judo and what I (and others) call freestyle judo is simply allowing for the full range of judo skills and tactics to be used in a contest. Although many adaptations of judo have emerged since its inception in 1882, there is only one judo and that is the Kodokan Judo of Jigoro Kano. Kodokan Judo is more than simply a sporting event, but, without any doubt, the sport aspect of judo is what has made it an activity that is popular in every corner of the world. Freestyle judo is an outgrowth or continuation of judo as a sporting activity with adaptations in how a judo match is scored making it an uncompromising approach to judo competition. It’s most definitely not my intention to invent a new “style” of judo or in any way replace the Kodokan Judo of Jigoro Kano. Judo, as a combat sport, has stood the test of time and whether people realize it or not, has been the technical and theoretical basis for many other combat sports as well. Because so many types of submission grappling are an outgrowth of judo, or at least parallel with judo, anyone who wants to win in any form of grappling or combat sport that includes grappling will find value in this book.
When judo was accepted as a demonstration sport for male athletes at the 1964 Olympic Games, and then later accepted as a full Olympic sport in 1972, the dye was cast and judo became an international sport. As time passed, women’s judo was added as a demonstration sport in the 1988 Olympics and accepted as a full sport on the Olympic calendar in 1992. I’m not the first person to recognize that judo’s enduring strength has been its ability to absorb and incorporate anything that it has encountered in its long history. Sambo from the former Soviet Union is a good example of what I mean.
In 1962, the Soviets entered the European Judo Championships with a team of sambo wrestlers in judo uniforms and were decidedly successful. Two years later, at judo’s inaugural appearance in the Olympic Games in Tokyo, the sambo men again displayed their unorthodox throwing and grappling techniques and won four bronze medals in the process. Initially, the judo world responded with “that’s not judo” but when it was obvious these Soviet athletes with their weird gripping, unusual throws and aggressive groundfighting weren’t going away, anyone with common sense and a desire to win adapted. As a result, more and more “unusual” (but certainly innovative and effective) techniques were seen in international judo tournaments, and the activity of judo absorbed these new techniques and made them distinctly part of the sport of judo.
These innovations made judo, from a technical point of view, more varied and vibrant. From a sporting point of view, the inclusion of these new techniques made judo more exciting and competitive.
Either by design or good fortune, the contest rules of judo used from the early 1970s through the mid-1990s allowed for an open-ended, competitive and technically sound style of judo to be contested. If you were a specialist in standing or a specialist in groundfighting, it didn’t matter. The rules allowed for a wide range of techniques and this period of time was, in my view, the “golden age” of competitive judo when exciting, new and highly effective techniques were introduced to the world of judo. It was a tremendous period of technical development. However, as the 21st Century appeared, the international contest rules began to favor the standing aspect of the sport. We were told that this made for better television viewing. Maybe it did, but it didn’t do anything good for the technical development of judo and it’s my belief that judo lost a good deal of its combat realism that made it so effective. Athletes began to crouch over in an effort to avoid getting thrown, and while there were specific rules that prohibited such passive and defensive judo, the officials didn’t seem to enforce them. Judo athletes resorted to “negative” or “safe” attacks with an emphasis on leg grabs and dropping low to avoid being countered. In 2009, the contest rules of judo were re-written and limited specific attacks to the legs and lower body. By now, judo had lost its original combat flavor and was so refined it became a type of standing wrestling in jackets. A number of people observed that it resembled Greco-Roman wrestling in a judogi.
In 1998, I hosted the National Shingitai Jujitsu Championships in Kansas City, Missouri. The rules of that tournament were based on both judo and sambo and it proved to be an exciting, competitive event that placed emphasis on fighting heart, effective skill and a high degree of physical fitness. Everyone who attended the tournament agreed that the rules we used provided for one of the best grappling events they ever attended. That was the initial development of what eventually become the rules of freestyle judo. In 2008, I began experimenting with our AAU judo tournaments and, as an additional event at that year’s Missouri State AAU Judo Championships hosted by Mike Thomas in Lee’s Summit, we included a freestyle judo category for the first time. The freestyle rules proved to be more popular than the established judo rules and we knew that we were onto something that would be beneficial for the sport of judo. All through 2008 and 2009, we held local and regional freestyle judo tournaments, making adaptations to the rules as needed. In November, 2009, Ken Brink hosted the first AAU Freestyle Judo Nationals in Kearney, Missouri (near Kansas City). That initial tournament was a real success. Freestyle judo proved to be an excellent addition to the judo community, as well as a viable alternative to those who believed the prevailing contest judo rules were too restrictive.
As mentioned before, it would be presumptuous for me, or anyone, to imply that freestyle judo is a “new” style of judo or an improvement on what judo is. What has been done is to format the rules of judo so that as many aspects of the sport can be used by as many different athletes as possible. The Ippon has been retained but other changes were made in how the match is scored so that it’s as complete a stage as possible for athletes to compete in from a sporting context. The goal was to bring back the original “combat sport” element of judo, allowing for the athletes to use as many of the skills and techniques (both standing and in groundfighting) of judo possible. My good friend John Saylor was the first to comment that freestyle judo is “the way judo ought to be!”
How we view a sporting event is directly affected by the rules of the game. Judo is no different. The rules of the sport of judo have changed through the years, and as is the case with any physical activity, these changes in the contest rules affect how people teach, learn and train in judo. The early rules of judo made for a rough and tumble form of fighting and for the safety of the combatants, the rules of judo underwent numerous changes over the years.

DO TOUGH GUYS HAVE CAULIFLOWER EARS?

Josh Henges told the recently that he had a conversation with someone who questioned if Josh was "tough" because he doesn't have cauliflower ears. Josh assured him that "tough" is a very relative term, but having a cauliflower ear really isn't the hallmark of being a tough guy. I think Josh mentioned to this person that he would rather be the guy giving a cauliflower ear to somebody else. But this brings up a good point. Really, I've seen a lot of seriously "tough" guys with cauliflower ears. but then, I've seen about an equal number who don't have cauliflower ears. Maybe it's not worth mentioning, but since I am, it's worth thinking about. (This photo shows two "tough" guys. One has a cauliflower ear...Shawn Watson. The other doesn't...Josh Henges.) I remember, as a 19-year old, getting a cauliflower ear. I didn't want a cauliflower ear, and for that matter, I didn't want a flat nose. Even back in those days, doctors could drain a cauliflower ear, and that's what I had done. Maybe it would have made me look tough, but that really never crossed my mind. However, I remember a guy who was tough, and good at judo too. He was a training partner of mine back in the 1970s and had won the collegiate nationals and was a serious judo man. But, he didn't have a cauliflower ear and he wanted one. So, he worked hard by banging anything hard he could find against his ear and eventually had a really tough looking cauliflower ear. He was proud of that ear, as it really did look like a hunk of cauliflower on the side of his head. A genuine tough guy with a cauliflower ear. Now that fits the stereotype.

But the bottom line is that if you get a cauliflower ear and don't have it drained...that's up to you. But there are a lot of people who watch way too much pro wrestling or MMA on television who think that a cauliflower ear makes a "tough guy."

TRAINING AT THE BARN OF TRUTH

Several of us will be making the 13-hour drive to Perrysville, Ohio to get some time on the mat with John Saylor and his bunch. John's inviting anyone who would like to attend. The workouts will be at John's barn Thursday, Sept. 23, Friday, Sept. 24 and Saturday, Sept. 25. Call John to sign up or get more information. We'll be doing both "gi" and "no gi" training and spend most of our waking hours rolling around on the mat.

This photo shows John's special tonic that he drank for a while. He told me that it was "nature's viagra" and regulr use will certainly do a man good. Several of our Welcome Mat guys sampled it (I learned a long time ago, after drinking some kind of green sludge, to politely avoid drinking any of John's potions) and reported that it did, indeed, taste as bad as it looks. The tonic wasn't around during my last trip to Perrsyville in May, but when John reads this, he may make up another batch. Seriously, training at Saylor's is a realy treat, that is if you consider training hard, having someone try to choke you senseless and sweat your butt off a treat (but I do). Being aroudn John is the real treat and the friendship and great atmoshphere at the Barn of Truth is worth sitting in a car 13 hours each way. It's not too late to join us, so call John at (419) 938-6089 if you want information on the workout.

THE NEXT POST SHOULD BE IN ABOUT A MONTH

Okay, it seems that this blog thing isn't so bad after all. However, it's time to get off this thing, go teach a CPR class and then go down to my basement and get a good lifting workout in. Don't forget to look into getting our new book CONDITIONING FOR COMBAT SPORTS at either www.TurtlePress.com or www.Amazon.com and please write a good review. No kidding, it really does help and there are cretins out there who post negative reviews simply to kill sales of competitor's books. Talk to you in about a month.

So Much for This Issue

I know...I know...it's obvious that this is my first shot at doing a blog. By the way, "blog" is a really odd word. Makes me think of some kind of strong Irish alcohlic beverage. I'll have this thing out about every month or so, at least that's the intention. My apoliogies for not putting out a newsletter since March, 2010, but I was on hiatus. that's simply another way of saying I was too lazy to sit here at the computer and pound out another newlsetter. In reality, that's true, but John Saylor and I were working to finish the manuscript for Turtle Publishing on our latest book. Also, there's antoher book in the near future and this one will be on the subject of judo. Look for that book in the next few months.
By the way, I couldn't figure out how to include the quote for the issue earlier, so here goes; "You don't rise to the occassion, you rise to your level of training." There have been several apeople who said this, and it makes a lot of sense to me.
Until next time, keep training and stay healthy.

Freestyle Judo

Freestyle judo really made some progress this year. We had over 200 athletes compete in the AAU Freestyle Judo Nationals May 29 in Kearney, Missouri and Mike Darter hosted the Oklahoma Grand Slam on May 8 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with 137 athletes entered. We're attracting new people all the time, especially with the restrictive IJF rules for judo. If you want a copy of the AAU Freestyle Judo Rules, e-mail me at stevescottjudo@yahoo.com and I'll send them to you. By the way, this photo shows Charlie Jones refereeing the match between Joe Proctor and KingFrazier at the 2009 AAU Freestyle Nationals.

New Book CONDITIONING FOR COMBAT SPORTS

It's now published! CONDITIONING FOR COMBAT SPORTS is my latest book, and it's co-authored with John Saylor. It has 320 pages with over 1,000 photos. John and I spent close to a year writing and editing this thing and it has a lot of information on all aspects of training for every form of sport combat. John and I had a lot of fun writing this book and we think it will offer our "unique" approach to training. We had a lot of help in doing this thing and the studs who posed for the photos in the book will be able to look back 25 years from now and show their grandkids that they actually did have big arms and grandpa wasn't telling another one of his wild tales!

We think you'll enjoy it, and while this is certinaly a shameless plug for you to buy the book, it's really something that can, and will, add to your knowledge on realistic, serious training for combat sports and self defense athletes. Order from www.TurtlePress.com or www.Amazon.com and we would relaly appreciate it if you give it a good review (a great review would be better, actually).

Shingitaai Training Camp

SHINGITAI TRAINING CAMP

Although I'm late in reporting this, John Saylor's training camp in Perrysville, Ohio last May was a fantastic experience. This photo shows Bill Montgomery working with Derrick Darling and David Fortin on cross gripping skills and was one of many outstanding aspects of the camp. The annual Shingitai Camp really more than simply a jujitsu camp, a judo camp, an MMA camp, a submission grappling camp or a self-defense camp. It's really all of these, and if you think that's an impossible thing to pull off, then you haven't been to one of John's camps. John's annual Shingitai Training Camp and SJA Convention is held every May, usually in the middle of the month. The facility John has is really a good one and it's held in Perrysville, Ohio. We had about 45 to 50 people at the 2010 camp this past May and if you want to attend the 2011 camp. call John at (419) 938-6089.

2010 AAU Judo All Americans

2010 AAU JUDO ALL AMERICAN TEAMMEN

130 POUNDS
KELLY HUNTER, OREGON
JACOB HURT, ILLINOIS
JASON ECKHARDT, TEXAS
ALEX WOLF, ILLINOIS

145 POUNDS
BRIAN HANSON, MISSOURI
CONNOR ADAMS, OKLAHOMA
ZAUR JALILZADE, MINNESOTA

160 POUNDS
CHRIS HECKADON, MISSOURI
JUSTIN METCALF, ILLINOIS
DERRICK DARLING, MISSOURI

175 POUNDS
KELVIN KNISELY, MISSOURI
BRADEN CLARK, ILLINOIS
CHRIS WEERTS, WISCONSIN

190 POUNDS
JOSH HENGES, MISSOURI
JOSEPH REED, WISCONSIN
ABDUL RAZAK AL-HASSAN, MINNESOTA

210 POUNDS
JOSEPH REED, WISCONSIN
KOLDEN DAWSON, MISSOURI
MATT NEELY, TEXAS
TRENT SMITH, OKLAHOMA

235 POUNDS
JAKE PURSLEY, MISSOURI
ERIK VANN, KANSAS
BRANDON HOLMBERG, MINNESOTA

OVER 235 POUNDS
MATT BRUNGARDT, KANSAS
ROB PHILLIPUS, MISSOURI
ADAM KACALA, WISCONSIN

OPEN
DILLON BRINK, MISSOURI
CHRIS MORRIS, KANSAS
MATT BRUNGARDT, KANSAS

WOMEN

115 POUNDS
ASHLEY HEJLIK, KANSAS
CHELSEA WHALEY, MISSOURI
CIARA THOMAS, WISCONSIN

125 POUNDS
GLENNAE HARVEY, MISSOURI
NIKKI WILSON, MISSOURI
ROBIN WILKE, MISSOURI
CHELSEA WHALEY, MISSOURI

135 POUNDS
CHELSEA WHALEY, MISSOURI
ASHLEY FRUIN, WISCONSIN
ROBIN WILKE, MISSOURI

150 POUNDS
JACQUELYN CRAIG, MISSOURI
ASHLEY FRUIN, WISCONSIN
KIRSTIN DANTZLER, MARYLAND

175 POUNDS
MJ LOAR, MISSOURI
JAMIE ARTHUR, MISSOURI

OVER 175 POUNDS
JACQUELYN CRAIG, MISSOURI
HANNA COTE, MISSOURI

OPEN
KAYOKO ABERNATHY, MISSOURI
JAMIE ARTHUR, MISSOURI

Welcome Mat Online Newsletter Is Now A Blog

Okay, I'm slowly joining the 21st Century. After some prompting from several of the Welcome Mat guys, most recently Sahannon Ford (who was really helpful), we'll do a blog. Actually, I like doing a blog, as I can post photos as well as ramble on about the various subjects that come up. Don't expect too much out of this yet, at least until I figure out how to do a blog with some degree of skill. Also, after talking to AnnMaria Demars and Gerry Lafon (who do really good blogs), it made sense to go this route instead of sending out the e-mail newsletter. So...here we go.

Welcome Mat Athletes Win in World Martial Arts Games

Aug. 26, 2010-Jake Pursley, Ryan Richmond, Josh Henges and Derrick Darling all won gold medals in the World Martial Arts Games in Kilarney, Ireland. The guys were entered in the submission grappling (both "gi" and "no gi" categories) and sport jujitsu. Josh, Derrick and Jake all train at Welcome Mat and Ryan trains with Jim Hartley at his Bushidokan Karate dojo as well as with Josh Henges in Shingitai Jujitsu. This is the first time Welcome Mat athletes competed at this event and they proved to be key members of "Team America" representing the United States. They guys report that there were 28 countries entered in the event with athletes competing in a variety of martial arts. To see some of their matches, go to our youtube account at welcomematstevescott and look in the "favorites."

Here's Josh Henges pinning an opponent from Great Britain in the "gi" category for submision grappling. Our guys told me that their hard training paid off and they had plenty of gas in the tank when they were on the mat. They arrived early and got acclimated to the time change and got in some great training in a local jujitsu/MMA club.