I don’t like to generalize, but I’ve gathered enough evidence over time that something’s strange about the 70+ year old judokas at the Kodokan.
They’re tough motherf**kers.
It’s a very subjective opinion of course, but I feel like their judo has a brutal, unforgiving side to it.
Sometimes when I do uchikomi with an older guy who’ve been at it for decades, as soon as they take their grips, I feel a strange, scary “pressure” as if the guy is practicing how to kill me, not to throw me.
(Maybe they grew up at a time when Judo was a much more macho (and violent?) sport than it is today. I don’t know.)
At the same time, they don’t use much physical strength — which makes them much more terrifying. They maximise the use of their bodyweight and their angles of movement to fully off-balance you on each rep, so you feel quite helpless, and it takes everything you have to not get thrown.
Like, often in uchikomi with young guys, my mind can drift off, because they don’t off-balance you properly even if they’re doing full uchikomi (not just the step in). But with the older guys, every rep feels dangerous, no matter how you posture yourself.
Quality over quantity in each rep —> clearly, that’s one of the best ways to improve your Judo over the long term.
Perhaps if I obsess over kuzushi as the most important skill, my Judo too will become dangerous over time.
