If you've been around a wrestling room, you've probably seen the unbeatable and unstoppable wrestler "Adam." This guy lives, eats and dreams wrestling, never leaving the wrestling room, never getting out of his stance, and never talking back to his coach! Now Adam doesn't move much, but he's a great practice partner. He never asks for a break, doesn't interrupt you drilling for a conversation, or move his body in a strange way to accidentally injure you. In essence, he's the ideal training partner! Actually, Adam might not be the ideal TRAINING partner, but without a doubt is an ideal DRILLING partner. And we all know, DRILLING is what sets the body mechanics, ingrains the movement into muscle memory, and allows you to apply it in training & competition. I would love to get one of these mounted in our grappling dojo in the future! Here is a link to the wrestling Adam website:http://wrestlingadam.com/
However, what if a wrestling "Adam" is not in our school budget? Well, I might have a solution. Just the other day, I used something we all have access to in our dojo, to help one of my students practice and learn a classic Judo throw, Taiotoshi. A CHAIR. A chair can function as a great introductory tool for throws and foot sweeps. Much like the Adam, a chair never asks for a break, doesn't interrupt you drilling for a conversation, or move his body in a strange way to accidentally injure you. A chair is also light and mobile, making it an appropriate tool for all ages and sizes to work with. I attached a clip from one of the private lessons we had as a simple demo.
Just so you know, our learning didn't start with the chair. Using the chair was maybe the third or fourth step in a chain of sequences used to help with drilling and internalizing the movement. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
Eliot Kelly
"You don't just need good TRAINING partners, you need good DRILLING partners too!"
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