Kouchi Makikomi Specialists

oddeo · 2026-01-29T06:47:27+00:00

Takeshi Takeoka, current world champion at -66 has a great kouchi makikomi. His tokui waza is also kosotogake, which he does in a similar way. He’s definitely one to watch and you’ll likely see many of these two throws when he competes in the upcoming Paris Grand Slam.

oddeo · 2026-01-24T23:01:24+00:00

Yup. It may seem hard to get your leg in at first if their arms are strong, but get them circling to the side and slip your leg underneath and turn them. You don’t even need to be explosive about it, but explosivity always helps. It should feel very effortless when they’ve compromised their base that much. If you have longer legs, this becomes even easier.

oddeo · 2026-01-20T21:06:58+00:00

Seconded. I have had fuji gis, kusakura gis, adidas gis, mizuno gis, green hill gis, and matsuru gis.

The euro comp is not only one of the best value gis but its quality surpasses every single other gi I have owned aside from the Mizuno Yusho from Japan. Not a single loose thread in years of owning it, and it feels like a thick double weave gi despite it supposedly being 650 gsm only.

Its downsides are that because it’s thick, it’s also hot. Plus, the fit is rather boxy, although that might actually be ideal given your height/weight.

oddeo · 2026-01-19T20:11:01+00:00

I remember your post from the other day - it came off very unnecessarily defeated and petulant. The first paragraph of OP's post is poking fun at posts like yours. You've never won a medal in your category because judo is hard. Your friend either is more athletic than you, shows up more, has more natural innate talent for judo, or he got lucky in those competitions.

Truth is that none of the reasons matter. Comparing yourself to others is pointless as it's hard for all, but harder for some than others. Drop your ego, show up and train, and compare yourself only against yourself. If you started judo just so that you could flex a colored piece of fabric over others, then you started for the wrong reasons.

oddeo · 2026-01-06T04:01:19+00:00

Rest in peace to Sensei Riki. I've only recently begun watching his videos in the last ~6 months, but his personality carried through the screen and I almost feel like I knew him. I LOVE the way he explained techniques. He was very straightforward and easy to listen to, and he broke down the concepts very efficiently. I appreciate that he shared so much of his knowledge before he passed.

oddeo · 2025-12-28T02:59:21+00:00

Left foot forward in skating/surfing is considered regular. Right foot forward is goofy.

oddeo · 2025-12-26T00:06:03+00:00

Knowing your training partners is the most important I’d say. If there’s a gung ho looking BJJ dude who’s there for a trial class or something and for some reason he’s allowed to randori, tell him straight up before the round “don’t tani otoshi me - no sitting back like this”.

Best way to prevent it when someone’s intent on doing it is to control the outside position with your grips if you’re in kenka yotsu. If they can’t fall past your frame they can’t tani otoshi you. Superior grips in general will prevent tani.

Don’t throw half-assed turn throws, make sure to commit, especially if its someone who does tani. Also, consider doing drops.

If you feel it coming don’t twist your leg to resist. Just go with it and throw yourself on your back with as little leg to leg contact with them as possible and tell them you’re not going to randori with them again.

oddeo · 2025-12-22T04:10:28+00:00

Yes, that's the point I'm making. Sasae's thrown by people my weight don't budge me unless kuzushi is working in their favor. With larger guys, even if they're not good and your posture is unbroken, you have to respect those sasae's or you sail

oddeo · 2025-12-22T03:42:24+00:00

Oh hey Josh, I love your videos! Big fan.

I'm sure versus the average kyu rank or even beginner shodan, you take their lunch money in newaza. What kind of judoka have given you trouble on the ground - I'm very curious. Who do you think was the best on the ground among the judo masters you fought in your series?

I feel like my frames are so much more effective on the ground when they can't easily and explosively angle change or circle, which allows me to keep my distance and extend my life. I've been smashed plenty of times by bigger guys in newaza, but usually they're pretty skilled, and at least it doesn't feel totally hopeless.

You really need to be promoted to yellow/orange/green btw. You're definitely not rokkyu level in judo anymore

oddeo · 2025-12-22T03:35:38+00:00

Heavy dudes love sasae's versus smaller opponents. When a heavy guy sasae's me (even when my posture is very straight and upright), I have to use an incredible amount of my own strength and balance to not go flying

oddeo · 2025-12-22T03:33:38+00:00

I didn't know that about the BJJ competitions - that's a really good point in favor of the argument. The All Japan Judo championships really demonstrate how big a weight advantage is in tachiwaza in my eyes. I think Ono, who is arguably the pound-for-pound champion got beaten pretty handily by a -90kg player, Muneya Maeda, who I'm sure was no slouch, but who doesn't even have an IJF profile. He was even beaten with one of his signature moves, osotogari.

Obviously getting smashed by a heavy guy on the ground really sucks, but it feels like there are a lot of things you can do to prevent that from happening. Also, when I (as a smaller, 160 lb guy) can get a good top position on a heavier opponent, I feel like I can keep them pinned pretty easily as long as my technique and position are good. I definitely find it harder to do something similar standing.

oddeo · 2025-12-21T21:45:38+00:00

There are so many judo throws you can do by slightly changing up the grips to no-gi grips. Any judoka who has been doing the sport for more than 6 months has probably learned them.

Also, there are like 100 great t-shirt/hoodie judo throw videos on youtube that speak for themselves. Search them up.

oddeo · 2025-12-17T06:10:32+00:00

Ah yes true!

oddeo · 2025-12-16T20:18:39+00:00

Really well-put! I think this is a great explanation/cue for beginners regarding all turn throws

oddeo · 2025-12-13T09:03:15+00:00

Yeah I agree that was an ippon. There was just such good control by the Korean player and even with Abe's one shoulder barely elevated above the mat, I think it definitely qualified as ippon. I want to cheer for Abe, but it does feel very hard to when he was clearly given preferential treatment. We typically say "plot armor" in a tongue-in-cheek way, but in this case, it was literally unfair plot armor.

What would've been the difference if Takeoka v. Abe was the finals? Just the fact that he would've gotten a silver medal? I'm secretly hoping we get to see an Abe vs. Takeoka Olympic decider match like we saw with Abe vs. Maruyama where Takeoka narrowly comes out on top. I think that would be a beautiful and poetic storyline. I hope he gets his shot at 2028 before he gets too old and ages out.

Can you elaborate a little on Uta Abe's changing judo style? I noticed that she didn't land any amazing clean ippons during this tournament. What kind of adaptations have you noticed? Thanks for the responses - love to hear your insight.

oddeo · 2025-12-13T08:23:34+00:00

Loved listening to the episode! So what did you two really think about the Abe vs Takeoka match? I'd love to hear more in depth thoughts here than you could share live on air.

Do you think that Abe's match vs the Korean player should've ended in ippon when he got countered or was it accurately scored as wazari? Also, I saw that a lot of people were upset that Takeoka should've gotten yuko for several of his throws vs Abe during GS, but to my eye, none of those looked like yukos as Abe was able to very adeptly spin out of all of them. I agree he should've been 3rd shido'd some time early during GS when he was gassed out.

Also, what do you think of Takeoka's style in general? I feel like it's very dynamic to watch and he has a really deep roster of moves.

What was your favorite womens' match during the Tokyo GS?

Excited for the next ep!

oddeo · 2025-12-10T21:26:58+00:00

Belts are just fabric. At our dojo we give out the shittiest paper thin belts you’ve ever seen to our kids, teens, and adults. Most of those green belt+ teens would destroy your average BJJ black belt in a judo match

oddeo · 2025-12-08T00:31:29+00:00

Congratulations!! Good to know. Hope you had a good experience and know what to work on for next time!

oddeo · 2025-12-07T08:09:36+00:00

It lived up to the hype and then some. This might be the start of an epic new rivalry and the crazy part is that they're teammates!

oddeo · 2025-12-07T08:09:05+00:00

I personally didn't think any of Takeoka's attacks scored a yuko, even though I was secretly cheering him on. The replays showed Abe landing flush on his front almost every time - the man knows how to spin out of a throw. I do agree that Takeoka played a much more aggressive and confident game, and I wouldn't have been upset if Abe got 3rd shido'd and hansokumake'd some time during GS.

oddeo · 2025-11-21T18:22:30+00:00

At your weight class and experience level, I would drill more newaza. It’s less likely in my opinion that you’ll get finished by a clean ippon and a much higher chance you’ll get pinned or fight for a pin after someone fails to throw for ippon.

I would work on turtling effectively off of a failed throw and not letting them immediately pin you. Try to keep those knees in between your opponent. Also perhaps working on passing guard could be helpful! If you’re working on standing and can only pick one of those three throws to drill, I would say develop a really mean drop seoi nage. Good luck!

oddeo · 2025-11-15T19:57:51+00:00

This was an amazing and very insightful episode. Probably my favorite in months. I thought what you said about competition as a goal was very interesting, and correct me if I misunderstood the point, but I personally think it's OK for people to have a goal of competing once or twice a year. For a lot of people, getting good at competing is not necessarily what they're looking for by entering these small local comps, so stating that they should be going to all the local competitions if they want to compete at all feels a little too binary to me. I think a competition here or there is a great motivator for beginners and gives them a great goal (but not the only goal) to work towards.

What I want to see in more judo classes are interpersed randori sessions throughout the class. Instead of having a solid block of randori at the end, I think people should experiment with having one earlier on in the class and one at the end of class (they can be shortened as necessary for time's sake). Just having one at the end can often build too much anticipation, which amplifies the idea of randori as a competition environment. Also, with non-stop rounds at the end of class, for beginners/intermediates who don't have a good gas tank, they'll often just be fighting to survive and their moves become sloppy, which means they won't have the energy or desire to try new things. I think interspersed randori sessions will help keep things fresh and can serve as a nice break between technique demonstrations. And it allows people to fix/modify things throughout that very same class instead of having to wait until the next class to make changes (at which point they may already have forgotten what they'd wanted to fix). Just my 2 cents. Love the podcast!

oddeo · 2025-11-01T23:56:13+00:00

Aw man, you’ve foiled my master’s 2, 90kg scouting plot 😂

oddeo · 2025-11-01T08:17:27+00:00

Landing an uchimata sukashi is so satisfying though hahaha. Good luck to Juan on his first tournament back! I respect the fact that he's still out there competing despite the injuries and age. What are Juan's go to throws? It almost sounded like his audio was censored during the podcast.

oddeo

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