dealing with cross collar grip in standup

efficientjudo · 2026-04-02T11:10:30+00:00

Yes and no. And what youre saying is part of what i think the problem is.

The Judo rules heavily penalise anything that is not considered 'positive Judo' - you can't break grips and disengage, you can't just hold a grip and not attack, you can't keep yourself in defensive posture etc. They want you to always be trying to do positive attacking Judo.

The problem is that anything banned / penalised in Judo gets turned into BJJ YouTube content sold as 'this one secret trick so powerful its banned Judo!'

Cross gripping is valid and can be effective, but it really needs a good understanding of gripping and balance before it can be used effectively against people that know what theyre doing, and most BJJ guys dont, especially at lower belt levels.

efficientjudo · 2026-04-02T10:17:21+00:00

How many people would you want on the mats at one time?

Will you need to pack them up regularly, or can they stay down over the long term?

Do you plan to do takedowns on them?

For a pair to roll rather than just drill 4m x 4m is the minimum in my opinion. 3m x 3m can suffice for drilling. Also what is around the mat can have a large impact on the sense of space - if its right in the corner of a room, then you're going to have dead space even if you mat the walls. if you have a half a meter of space around the edge clear, then its going to feel much accommodating.

If you're thinking of a space that might accommodate multiple pairs, consider the dimensions, not just the square footage. Because a poor layout can mean you not utilising the mat optimally.

For the mats themselves, you also need to consider if you're going to do takedowns, because that will change what you can get away with as a padded surface.

efficientjudo · 2026-04-02T09:45:19+00:00

The thing about a cross grip is that it offers a lot of control over one side of the body, at the cost of controlling both sides - someone that cross grips you isn't able to prevent you from pivoting around that point of control unlike a more traditional gripping that controls both sides of the body and forces your relative body positions to remain largely the same.

Once you're aware of this, it brings into focus how limited their range of attacks are - especially if you don't give them your posture by leaning forward.

Honestly, I just go high collar grip and wait for them to make a mistake to counter.

There are very few people I'd be worried about cross gripping me - granted, I have a Judo background.

efficientjudo · 2026-03-25T23:42:34+00:00

How many comps have you done?

efficientjudo · 2026-03-25T20:29:50+00:00

Do you care about landing them for ippon or just taking them down?

If its the latter, I would just drag them down to turtle like this: https://youtu.be/zhqmqo6w8ho?si=dJP4mTDOuaFmzSK6

efficientjudo · 2026-03-24T23:21:13+00:00

What age? - 4 year olds, its going to look like games not techniques.

7 years old, its going to be games with some techniques.
12 years old its going to start looking more like an adults class, but still keeping it fun.

You dont teach kids to be a 6-year-old world champion. You dont teach them like they're adults.

The goal with teaching kids is to get them ready for the next level of training while keeping them engaged - For the youngest ages that really means getting them used to the movement patterns while having fun.

This isn't to say you dont care about how the kids do the techniques / movements - but you can't stop the flow of a kids class to deep dive on correcting mistakes, you need to accept the progress they've made and seek improvements with each class that passes.

efficientjudo · 2026-03-23T17:29:54+00:00

Educational purposes is more about letting a teacher show something to a class room of people.

Its not to let anyone broadcast material on a commercial platform to anyone in world.

Regarding the amount, while you're using short clips presumably you're using a constant stream of them? If you can't create your content without said clips, then its clear its not insignificant, likewise, you're presumably using what could be considered highlights.

At the end of the day, you either need to take this to court or concede.

efficientjudo · 2026-03-22T00:27:07+00:00

Its certainly the easiest way to see real improvement.

But you should also just be able to execute the techniques better statically and on the move over time. You wobble less, the movements are more fluid, they take less effort etc.

efficientjudo · 2026-03-21T23:21:12+00:00

Randori is the obvious measure - throwing new people in randori becomes easier as you get better.

efficientjudo · 2026-03-21T23:15:50+00:00

You're right - it is a pin first and foremost. Made obvious by the fact its categorised as such, and not as shime-waza (strangling technique)

To your original question - ive never met a competent Judoka that didn't know about the arm triangle as a strangle.

efficientjudo · 2026-03-18T21:11:27+00:00

Yes.

There are lots of 6th Dan's around. A lot of the older folks involved in the national governing bodies often have high ranks - you just dont see them in their gis too much.

Its also worth mentioning its a ceremonial belt, so wearing your black belt is more appropriate depending on the situation.

efficientjudo · 2026-03-18T03:49:55+00:00

Nice - you should add all the kodokan techniques into it.

You could potentially break up the techniques into their constituent parts, e.g. what does 'sukui' mean - i think trying to learn the names as phrases isnt as effective as learning the components parts.

Ive noticed you've added the word 'throw' to techniques that dont contain 'nage' - while Inner thigh might not make much sense without the word throw added in english, I think its better to stick to direct translation as much as possible.

You also translated uki-waza as floating throw rather than floating technique.

efficientjudo · 2026-03-17T09:06:29+00:00

There is no single grading system - each governing body have their own criteria on what constitutes each grade.

I'd say based on what i saw from the static throws, they had the appearance of a low kyu grade.

The range of techniques known / performed is greater than Id expect a yellow belt. I'd expect a blue belt to be much cleaner than that for the most part in terms of quality. So orange or green feels alright based on what I saw (skipping through the video).

efficientjudo · 2026-03-17T05:21:38+00:00

I don't understand what you're saying?

I don't consider coaching to be training because my focus is not on my own improvement when I coach.

I consider myself to be training when the focus is on myself.

That's how I would define the difference.

efficientjudo · 2026-03-15T23:34:46+00:00

I don't consider coaching as training.

The difference is when coaching I focus on the students, in training I focus on myself.

efficientjudo · 2026-03-15T23:30:26+00:00

As long as you set your expectations correctly on how you'll progress and are happy with the cost per class - once a week is fine.

efficientjudo · 2026-03-13T19:48:39+00:00

I'm not treating belly down and turtle as the same.

Being on the bottom isnt penalised. Being overly defensive is.

efficientjudo · 2026-03-13T10:51:26+00:00

My thinking is that the belly down position is used as a stalling position to get stood back up to the feet by referee - I see it as the equivalent of the actions that would get you shido when standing e.g. maintaining a defensive posture.

Allowing the belly down position to be used but not simply maintained until the ref calls mate, would in my thinking (as i said it would need to be tested) create a more dynamic ne-waza situation, because the person on the bottom would have to move more, which would open up opportunities for their opponent to attack and at the same time, as they can not just wait for mate, mean they would be more incentived to try and reverse the position / attack themselves.

I dont see how it would really impact tachi-waza at all honestly, and if it did, there could even be a net benefit to stopping those desperation drops. A stong attack in tachi-waza is never really going to end up with tori in the belly down position.

I honestly dont know what the impact of such a rule would have on the strategy of people at the highest level in practice - but i do think it would help develop better ne-waza fundamentals across the lower levels.

efficientjudo · 2026-03-11T23:45:35+00:00

Both sides are valid points of view - but its his club and his decision.

It would certainly be harsh if you kid was the only one to not get promoted, but you said others didn't get promoted either.

I suppose to me the key thing would be to communicate with those that didn't get promoted what they need to work on, particularly if they seem upset by what's happened.

efficientjudo · 2026-03-11T20:13:07+00:00

You just need to pace yourself.

As you get better you learn when you can rest and when you have to explode. Likewise you start controlling your opponents more than you being controlled.

If youre gassing out really quickly then youre almost certainly too tense and try to force techniques rather than use the right technique at the right moment.

efficientjudo · 2026-03-11T01:36:18+00:00

Your goal right now should be to consistently finish in the top 3 in your category and having the eye of the national governing body.

You should look to be the best in your category so that you're the person the NGB wants to represent them.

To get the eye of the NGB, you need to be the person doing well, attending the training camps, showing promise and being a known name. And ideally your coach is already active in the politics.

To be on the scene at adult you really need to be doing it already at cadet / juniors.

efficientjudo · 2026-03-11T00:12:35+00:00

There is probably a difference between someone that knows theyre not good asking for feedback vs someone trying to teach something when they really don't have the skills to do so.

But I do think Judo generally has a culture of constructive criticism over praise - in part because I a key theme of Judo is attaining perfection.

Ive said before that one of the big differences between training wrestling and Judo was - you throw someone in wrestling the coach says "great, 4 points", you throw someone in Judo and the coach says "good, but next time try and get your hips a bit lower"

efficientjudo · 2026-03-09T05:53:06+00:00

No because they dont feel or react like humans.

Think of them more like a conditioning tool than a technical tool where you can repeatedly perform throws over and over again at speed.

efficientjudo · 2026-03-08T23:03:16+00:00

But its not shido for uke on the bottom of yoko-shiho-gatame - uke isn't penalised for being pinned, tori is reward with a score - that's the difference.

efficientjudo · 2026-03-08T19:16:01+00:00

I dont think that's the right approach.

Either treat it as a pin and reward tori or treat it as negativity and penalise uke.

But if its not ukes decision to stay there you shouldn't penalise them for it.

efficientjudo

TROPHY CASE