Developing your Judo #15

#15:  Piggyback Tug-of-War And Other Games

In the last tip, we noted why warm-ups are essential for any training session.  Warm-ups can include any of the following.  Usually in the following order of games, Light exercises, stretching and Judo specific drills.

Games can take a variety of forms, all of which can get the muscles warmed up in a fun-type of activity.  At our home club, a 15-minute handball game is popular. It gets everyone involved and does the job of raising the body's temperature.

More strenuous games used by the national team members back in the day would include 'piggy-back tug-of-war' and the often painful 'one-legged belt chase', the latter which would not necessarily be a politically correct game nowadays, especially for children.  Piggy-back tug-of-war was played with a rider who, sitting atop a partner's back, would grab the gi of an opposing duo, and while pulling and pushing, would attempt to knock them  down. The last team standing would be the winner.  Games are generally followed by light exercises and stretching.  We'll discuss those in the next tip.

By: Rainer Fischer (Canadian Olympian)