Martial Arts Training Drills – Part Six

As we shared in the last part of our series, Judoka should focus on strengthening every part of their body. That includes arms, legs, hands, fingers, feet, toes, core muscles, back muscles (especially lower back), shoulder muscles, and neck muscles. You will engage all of those physical areas in the art of Judo and Self Defense.

We move now from solo strength training to training with a partner and fellow students in a class.

Partner Strength Training

Grab your partner’s uwagi (uniform top) in randori style .. your partner grabs your uwagi in the same way .. each of you pulls and pushes as hard as you can, but without throwing .. the purpose of this drill is to strengthen your body by practicing the art of kuzushi (unbalancing, off-balancing opponent) .. continue for five minutes .. rest for one minute .. repeat drill five times .. kuzushi has eight primary directions for off-balancing, so try to move your partner in all directions as you strengthen your body

Grab your partner’s uwagi (uniform top) in randori style .. your partner grabs your uwagi in the same way .. each of you pulls and pushes as hard as you can .. when you think your partner is off-balance (kuzushi), enter (tsukuri) and try to execute (kake) the throw without finishing the throw .. allow your partner to stay on his or her feet .. the purpose of this drill is to strengthen your body .. continue for five minutes .. rest for one minute .. repeat drill five times

Grab your partner’s uwagi (uniform top) in randori style .. your partner grabs your uwagi in the same way .. each of you pulls and pushes as hard as you can .. when you think your partner is off-balance (kuzushi), enter (tsukuri) and try to execute (kake) the throw but without finishing the throw .. allow your partner to stay on his or her feet .. the purpose of this drill is to strengthen your body .. continue for five minutes .. rest for one minute .. repeat drill five times

Grab your partner’s uwagi (uniform top) in randori style .. your partner grabs your uwagi in the same way .. each of you pulls and pushes as hard as you can .. when you think your partner is off-balance (kuzushi), enter (tsukuri) and try to execute (kake) the throw but without finishing the throw .. allow your partner to stay on his or her feet .. the purpose of this drill is to strengthen your body .. continue for five minutes, then throw your opponent .. rest for one minute .. repeat drill five times .. you and your partner can alternate throwing at the end of each five-minute drill period

Run as fast as you can with your partner to the end of the mat .. turn around and run back .. continue running back and forth for five minutes .. rest for one minute .. repeat drill five times

Run as fast as you can with your partner to the end of the mat .. turn around and forward rollup back .. continue running and forward rolling for five minutes .. rest for one minute .. repeat drill five times

Do forward rolls as fast as you can with your partner to the end of the mat .. turn around and forward rollup back .. continue doing forward rollups for five minutes .. rest for one minute .. repeat drill five times

Grab your partner’s uwagi (uniform top) in randori style .. your partner grabs your uwagi in the same way .. throw your partner and try to hold them on the ground (gatame) for at least two minutes .. rest for one minute .. return to randori position and let your partner throw you and hold you on the ground for at least two minutes .. use as much strength as possible to get away from your partner’s hold .. repeat the drill five times (each partner throws five times)

Carry your partner on your back across the mat and back .. rest for one minute .. repeat the exercise five times .. allow your partner to carry you on his or her back across the mat and back .. rest for one minute .. your partner repeats the exercise five times

Use Ippon Seoinage (one arm shoulder throw) to life your partner onto your back .. carry them across the mat and back .. rest for one minute .. repeat the exercise five times .. allow your partner to use Ippon Seoinage to carry you on his or her back across the mat and back .. rest for one minute .. your partner repeats the exercise five times

Use O-Goshi (major hip throw) to lift your partner onto your hip .. carry your partner across the mat and back .. rest for one minute .. repeat the exercise five times .. allow your partner to do the same exercise with you .. repeat five times

Grab your partner’s belt with both hands near their sides .. try to lift your partner and move them several feet forward, then several feet backward, then several feet to each side .. rest for two minutes .. repeat exercise five times .. your partner then does the same exercise by grabbing your belt and lifting you

Facing your partner .. your partner removes his or her belt or uses an extra belt to place around their back .. grab the ends of the belt facing you and pull as hard as you can .. your partner resists your pull for two minutes .. rest for one minute .. repeat the drill five times .. then it’s your partner’s turn to try to pull you with a belt around your back

One student lies on their back, while the other sits on their partner’s stomach and pins their arms to the floor/mat .. the student on the bottom attempts to get out of the hold while the student on top attempts them from escaping .. after one minute, students switch positions .. the student on the bottom attempts to get out of the hold while the student on top attempts them from escaping .. after one minute, students switch positions .. repeat exercise so each student is on the bottom five times

Class Strength Training

Circle strength training involves student groups of at least three people, preferably four, five or six .. one student stands in the middle as the other students surround him or her .. students in the circle (one at a time) approach student in the center and grab uwagi, attempting to push and pull them around the inside of the circle without throwing them .. student in the middle grabs uwagi of approaching student and resists being pushed and pulled without throwing them .. each encounter lasts two minutes .. as soon as two minutes is up, the next student in the circle grabs student in the middle and attempts to pull/push .. student in the middle resists strongly .. this process continues until all of the students on the outside of the circle have attempted to push/pull student in the middle .. student in the middle joins the other students in the circle and another student from the circle steps into the middle .. the process of push/pull continues until all of the students have the opportunity to resist push/pull .. depending on the size of each group, this may take up a good portion of the class time .. however, it is a lot of fun and helps students develop strength in most muscle groups

Another way of doing this is to have one student stand alone in the middle of the mat/floor .. all other students line up several feet away .. one student at a time approaches student in middle and tries to push and pull them around, without throwing .. student in middle resists for one minute .. next student approaches student in the middle and tries to push and pull them around, without throwing .. student in middle resists for one minute .. this continues until all of the students have finished trying to push/pull student in the middle .. student in the middle then joins the outside group and the next student in line goes to the middle .. repeat the exercise until all students have the opportunity to be in the middle .. depending on the number of students in the class, this may take up a good portion of the class time .. however, it is a lot of fun and helps students develop strength in most muscle groups [if you have a large space and enough mats, you can split the class into two groups to make the exercise go faster .. you can also split the class into size or age groups if you want]

[Once students are used to these kinds of strengthening drills, you can let them complete a throw at the end of each encounter]

Break the class into teams for a tag-team event .. each team lines up at the end of the mat .. the first student in each group gets on their hands and knees .. they race across the mat and return to tag their waiting teammate .. the teammate then gets on their hands and knees and races across the mat .. the event continues until the last student finishes

Break the class into teams for a tag-team event .. each team lines up at the end of the mat .. the first student in each group lies face down on the mat with their arms and legs outstretched .. they race across the mat using their hands to pull them and their feet to push them .. they return to tag their waiting teammate .. the teammate lies face down and uses their hands and feet to race across the mat and return to tag their waiting teammate .. the event continues until the last student finishes

Break the class into two or three groups (depending on size of dojo) for a tag-team event .. students face each other .. one student wraps a long belt around their waist (from the back to front) and the other student grabs the ends of the belt with each hand and pulls their partner backward while the belted partner resists .. when they reach the end of the mat, the team members switch belts so the other student pulls their teammate back to where they started .. students tag teammates and the next two do the same thing .. the event continues until the last student finishes

Break class into multiple groups for a tag-team event .. two students in same group face each other .. they grab each others’ uwagi at shoulders .. one student pushes the other student as fast forward as they can while partner gives some resistance while running backward .. when partners reach the end of the mat, they change who pushes/resists and do the same thing in the other direction .. when they reach the starting place, they tag out with the next two students who do the same thing .. the event continues until the last student finishes

Place several old/extra belts on the mat to make a big circle .. two students step inside the circle of belts and try to push/pull each other out of the circle, but without stepping out of the circle themselves .. the winner stays inside the circle and faces the next student .. they try to push/pull each other out of the circle, but without stepping out of the circle themselves the winner stays inside the circle and faces the next student .. once a person wins twice in a row, they must step out and let two new people inside the circle .. the strength game continues until all the students have had a chance to participate

Two students get into the middle of the circle of belts (see above) .. they both get into a right front stance with their right feet almost touching .. they grab each other’s right hands with a vertical grip (thumbs up) .. when the instructor says hajime they use their right hand to pull each other off balance (that happens when partner moves left foot to catch balance) .. partners continue until one of them wins two out of three .. next two students step into the middle of the circle of belts and do the same thing .. when all of the students have had a chance to participate, switch students to left forward stance holding left hand in vertical position .. partners continue until one of them wins two out of three (off-balance happens when partner moves right foot to catch balance) .. next two students step into the middle of the circle of belts and do the same thing .. instructor can change up the partners so students experience using strength and balance against partners of different sizes .. this drill teaches the importance of when to use your strength and when to use your partner’s strength against them