Training For Judo
“Although a fully featured martial art, judo has also developed as a sport.”
The sport's organisers speak highly of the qualities judo teaches its participants outside of training through its culture and ethics and the emphasis on controlling emotions.
Randori
“The best training for judo is judo.”
Judo emphasises a free-style sparring, called Randori, as one of its main forms of training. Part of the combat time is spent sparring standing up (called tachi-waza), and the other part on the ground (called ne-waza). As the saying goes, the best training for judo is judo!
Sparring is more effective than only practicing techniques on their own. Using full strength develops the muscles and cardio-vascular system required to become a good Judo Player, but these physical attributes are not everything required to be the best. Practising with a resisting opponent helps develop an awareness of his balance and body positioning. Strategy in the form of attacks, combinations and counter-attacks improve whilst sparring too.
Uchikomi
A repetitive exercise where the technique is taken to point of throw.
Uchikomi helps in getting the body to "learn" what to do without thinking about it. It is repeating over and over to develop maximum capacity and quality within a particular technique. There are various methods of Uchikomi - static (standing still), slow movements (to develop good technique) and moving (to develop awareness and timing).