Uchikomi is an excellent training exercise, but if you are a bad partner, you can disturb and restrict not only the learning of your partners, but also your own. That’s why it’s so important to be a good training partner.
Where did Uchikomi come from?
I don’t know if this is true, but I was told that when judo started, no one did Uchikomi, the participants only did nage komi (throwing). As judo became more popular, there were many participants who could not be thrown over and over again as many could not be broken. Then Uchikomi was invented and everyone could practice breaking balance and entry without throwing.
One problem with this approach is that many judoka have a great balance break and entry, but because they did a lot of uchikomi (and not nage komi) it meant they couldn’t finish many techniques in randori.
As a partner, there are some basic steps you need to take to help make yourself a better partner.
Partner (uke)
First of all, your partner must be a willing and competent Uchikomi partner. This involves cooperating in all aspects of the drill. Your partner must understand that to be a good judoka, you must also be a good training partner. They need to understand that judo is like dancing, with an uncoordinated and uncooperative partner, many dance moves lack finesse and smoothness. This is the same as judo.
drop
You must have confidence in your fall. If you’re not sure about going down, you don’t want to be thrown, and so you’ll fight to evade every attack your opponent throws at you. Sooner or later you will insult yourself for trying not to get thrown. If you’re confident in your falling abilities, you won’t mind being thrown and you won’t get injured as often.
position
To be a competent Uchikomi partner, you must first stand your ground. Don’t stand with an extreme left or right stance. Do not stand bent over, but stand in a good upright position.
take a hold
As Uchikomi’s partner, you must control yourself. Whenever you’re fighting, you and your opponent are always grabbing each other’s gi, so it’s crucial that you get a hold. There’s nothing worse than Uchikomiing a teammate who won’t hold on.
control yourself
You shouldn’t just stand there like a sack of potatoes. You must control your own body weight. You should never shift your weight or your hips when your opponent is performing their Uchikomi. Stand in the same position all the time and let your partner control you by knocking you off balance and gently entering.
don’t look around
In judo, you should always focus on the task at hand, which is judo training. When your partner is doing Uchikomi, look ahead and think about the various aspects of the throw, such as breaking balance and entry.
Have a plan
In most clubs, Uchikomi is done in turns, eg you do twenty reps and your partner does twenty reps. There’s nothing worse when you’re doing your set and when it’s your teammates turn, they take thirty seconds to think of a shot to make. This can be very annoying. To combat this when your opponent is making his set, he thinks about what you’re going to do next. That way you don’t waste anyone’s time.
If you can consistently implement all of these points in training, he will not only be a great partner, but a joy to train with.