Back to the normal session. Once we’ve been through some throwing techniques and we’ve done some free practice we would move to some ground work. We would show some techniques on the ground and then we would demonstrate the technique and then we would demonstrate an escape from that technique, and once again we may combine certain techniques on the ground and put them together. It would probably be usual to do some practice on the ground as well, in the same way that we did the Randori for standing. We may also do the Randori on the ground to practice the techniques again.

The last thing you’re likely to see when you train for the night, is there may be a degree of throwing techniques with the groundwork. Once again this would depend upon the aptitude of the class. But it makes sense to combine and arrange the training such that players get the opportunity to do the throw from standing position and then to go straight into the groundwork. At the very end of the lesson there should be a period of stretching and of cooling down. This should involve the whole class and be a integral part of the class so at the end of the session when everyone’s worked up a bit of a sweat everyone should do a bit of stretching – being careful not to overstretch as this is always a danger when bodies are warm. Players may overstretch because their body is warm and the tendons are soft. This should lead on to a period of almost inactivity perhaps, even with the players laying flat on their back and just concentrating on their breathing, and this cool down should take as long as the warm up. At this point the class should be finished and we line up at the end of the class exactly as we did at the start of the class. The whole class should then bow again and that’s it the class is finished.

If you go to a child’s class you’ll also find that a game is introduced at the end, sometimes it’s desirable to introduce a game at the end of the class and this is pretty much a carrot for the children, obviously some of them will have problems concentrating for such a long time, so it’s a bit of a carrot and a stick this one in that we offer the game at the end of the class if they’ve worked hard, so you may also see that in some clubs.

Aylwin Judo Club South East London SE16