IDO MOVEMENT FOR CULTURE

Journal of Martial Arts Anthropology

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Abstract - Teaching balance for judo practitioners

Judoka’s balance consists in passing from an individual balance to an interdependent balance. The aim of this work is to study the mechanisms of imbalance and the mechanisms of postural regulation in judoka in order to deduce some considerations for teaching. The first part describes in the notion of imbalance in judoka. This is fundamental for technical learning. The objective analysis of postural control requires kinetic and kinematic measures. The second part relates how different scientific works were conducted in an attempt to understand the postural control in judoka. The role of the grip (kumi-kata) is presented in the postural regulation in judoka, the postural adaptations induced by judo training and the intrinsic postural factors of judoka that influence the direction of his falls. The various quoted pieces of information are illustrated with practical examples.
The role of the grip (kumi-kata) is fundamental for the judoka because
- it provides somaesthetic information about his own movements and positions as well as those of his opponent,
- it also enables controlling, attacking and defending forces to be applied against the opponent as well as control of the judoka’s own balance.
On the basis of this, the authors make various proposals for training in order to improve the efficiency of the postural activities of judoka.