My goto throw

"Morote-Seoi-Nage : Two hand shoulder throw"

I started Judo on April 1, 2014 so it's only been 3 months and I'm still a very much a beginner when it comes to performing techniques.

I've always been intrigued in art of Judo and loved watching it during olympics as one of the must event to follow with. As a kid, I've done TKD(tae kwon do) and HKD(hap ki do) for total of about 5 years. Although, I wasn't able to get a black belt due to constant change of location. However, Judo has always been the sports I wanted to try and train because I really didn't like getting hit or punched.

For past few years since I started my diet and weight training- I've gotten a lot stronger than I thought I was going to be- and my training has transformed my body into very thick and solid chunk. To start, I am bottom heavy due to over training on legs with squats and dead lifts. That doesn't mean my upper body lacks on size or strength either. It's just that on comparison, my legs are way too big for my body.

In Judo, having a bottom heavy body kinda helps. Since I am so used to lifting heavy weights with my legs and performing lots of Power Cleans and Jerks- I can squat down and get up with pretty good explosiveness which helps with lots of throwing techniques, especially with Morote-Seoi-Nage. At first, I was not used to getting down while throwing and just tried to lift the opponent with my upper body strength, which only lead to hurting my elbows and draining energy during practice. However, after learning how to get low and stand up- MSN has been so comfortable! and I love how it looks!! haha yeah yeah. a newbie talking about the looks. but- the Throwing is what got me into JUDO and I want to be able to throw people at ease and with the matches!

I am still very weak when it comes to ground work : newaza (wrestling like movements) because I am still very over weight to move quickly and my upper body is too thick to maneuver under the opponents. Being able to bench 1.5x my body weight and dead lift 3x my body weight helps me with controlling the opponents on the ground. Although, at the dojo I'm working out at- I only use about 50% of my strength at the most so I won't hurt anybody- but, there are times when I lose a little and explode a bit. Only reason I'm waiting for the tournaments- to use my 100% of strength during the match without worrying about hurting the dojo mates.

My ultimate goal in Judo is to train until I obtain black belt, was told it takes about 4 years, and win a match with beautiful Morote Seoi Nage.

"Morote-Seoi-Nage : Two hand shoulder throw" by the great Kosei Inoue