Scratching one's head...

Thought: "It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, but because we do not dare, things are difficult." Seneca

Learning judo is one of the toughest (and most rewarding) things I have ever done.

Falling over, getting out of breath, getting sweaty and experiencing some discomfort are part of the price we pay to progress along the 'gentle way' as judo translates from Japanese.

That being said, as an adult coming to judo, I found making clumsy and slowwwwwww progress to be the most difficult things I have had to overcome.

Here's a few thoughts on my experience to date...

Unconscious incompetence

I found judo at the start to be particularly challenging.

The lucky few (as with anything) will get 'it' right away.

Most people will take time to learn each technique. Then relearn it when they forget how to do it (or is it just me?)

In short, progress will be slow until they practice and work, over and over and over (oh and over yet again) or is that also just me?

Conscious incompetence

This is the point where progress starts to be made, but it for me, it has often felt like 'one step forward, three steps back'.

Where tai otoshi (Body Drop throw), ippon seio nage (one armed shoulder throw), kesa gatame (scarf hold) etc. can be delivered upon request but more in study than in randori (sparring).

In randori (literally 'chaos taking' in Japanese), an opponent is aware of and able to stop your techniques while trying to improve his own techniques.

I like the 'stress test' element in randori, more often than not, my technique will crumple in the face of opposition, but when it works, WOW what a sense of achievement!

And yet again, then there is no guarantee (and reason why) techniques will deteriorate for me from one session to another.

My tai otoshi is still not as good as when I first started judo, when it was rock solid.

Why this is, I have no idea!

Add to this, a wealth of new techniques to be learned along with combinations, counters, entries, variations etc. and this stage can be the most difficult to get through.

The thought of quality deteriorating as the quantity of techniques increases is also a constant concern.

Unconscious competence

Then one day, something CLICKS!

A throw, a movement, a combination come together then don't work again for a good while ;-((

Now I might be a little pessimistic here.

In the ideal world, a technique can be learned and improved upon.

Variations and combinations can be added and this can be immensely satisfying and encouraging.

I truly hope this is the case for you.

And yet...

For me, a technique can be achieved sporadically, or maybe not at all.

Then, all of sudden, after a LOT of work it finally clicks.

I will write about unconscious and conscious competence when I get there.

For now, I would say the main things I have learned from judo (so far) have been:

Patience, ability to bounce back, persistence, teamwork and collaboration to achieve objectives, the value of really, REALLY hard work, consistent focus on improvement, learning from success and failure, supporting other people who face similar or new challenges to myself and getting my sorry self up off the mat despite hitting it hard and working to improve each time.

Oh and I've learned some breakfalls, throws and groundwork techniques too!

I hope that I have come across as positive in my judo practice.

My approach is that hard work, determination and practice WILL help me along as I learn the 'gentle way'.

In fact, the more difficult things are, the more we learn.

As Kahlil Gibran wrote:

''Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge."

Bye for now and would be GREAT to hear your experience of learning judo.