Article 8: Jiyu Waza, a chance to practice free techniques or become mindlessly tense?

Friday was our first session back after a break that felt like a life time and with the almost Arctic weather, it became nearly impossible to do any useful training other than 360 tenkans in walking boots.  So obviously I did the next best thing, watched Takeno and Mustard Sensei on DVD and ate.... lots.

I'm very aware of how time is trickling away now and that the counter on the top of the web page seems to be moving faster and faster.  I put my game face on as soon as I got into the dojo, and other than the odd hello and new year hug, I was focused on training hard.

Luckily enough I had a good uke for sumi otoshi kokyu nage and I felt good.... surprisingly.  My ukemi was light (for me) and my hiyaku ukemi was better than usual, my shite waza felt relaxed and I could put a lot into the throw without engaging my shoulders.

However, at the end of the lesson Sensei asked all the instructors to do a short demonstration with the uke of our choice.  Naturally I chose the individual who'd I spent the most time and understood  my technique the best.

As I sit and writing this blog, I could think of 7 or 8 techniques that are ideal for this:

1. Sumi otoshi kokyu nage
2. Hiji ate kokyu nage
3. The unnamed kokyu nages
4. Kote gaeshi
5. Shiho nage kuzushi
6. Ikkajo nage
7. Irimi Tsuki
8. Irimi Nage

Of course there are others, but these are the ones I like to think I'd use, especially after watching Takeno Sensei apply them so beautifully on YouTube.

That is not what happened, my first mistake was that, especially with an audience and I think the attraction of Jiyu Waza is that you can really go for it, I let the tension creep into my shoulders.  It had an unexpected effect where I felt very top heavy, so that every time I slid forward I felt that I was tipping.  Additionally, rather than sliding a good distance forward to generate power for the technique, my foot dug into the mat further distablising my kamae.  Which in turn caused me to make up for my lack of form with my arms and shoulders.

Next problem was me getting stuck on one technique which was sumi otoshi kokyu nage.  Normally, I think this is due to my job as a teacher, I am pretty good at recalling lists of items.  In this instance I was frustratingly limited on what I could do.  

So in addition to my other posted targets I want to start thinking about my Jiyu Waza and making sure that at the very least I can work through the 8 techniques above from any form of attack.

A short post, more thorough articles to follow.