VIDBE-Q 2025 Volume 70 Issue 4
• I have to hold my partner in a variable and reactive manner, because although
I am working against my partner's resistance, I also have to remain mobile in
order to be able to react to their attempts to break free (dynamic muscle tension
instead of constant cramping).
Learning Basic Ground Fighting techniques from Judo
The principles developed for controlling the opponent on the ground and,
conversely, for freeing oneself, should now be embedded in judo-specific rules and
tested for optimization. To this end, basic rules from judo are introduced (see Figure
3), which limit the range of possible movement solutions in the target sport
accordingly. In most cases, students are very interested in fighting according to
official rules and express an early desire to practice judo properly. The judo-specific
rules that result from the regulations can be easily worked out in a student
presentation. Experience shows that students were often particularly successful
when they managed to pin their partner down with their own body weight and at the
same time put them in a kind of "headlock." The solutions used by these students
were similar to the kesa-gatame (see Figure 4), which is one of the most successful
holds in judo because it allows the partner to be pinned particularly well in a supine
position without being able to twist out of the hold or lift both shoulders off the
ground, at least when certain execution criteria are observed.
When applying this hold, students must ensure that
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