Winter Break

We still have regular judo practice this week! So study hard for those exams, and try to get some mat time in on Wednesday (12/15) or Sunday (12/19). After that, we won't have any more practices until the spring semester.

For those of you we won't see till after the break, hope you guys had a good semester and that you enjoy your break from classes for a while! Check back on the blog or facebook for the exact day that we'll start up again.

Thanksgiving Break

Hello again everyone,

Please note that on November 24 and 28 VCU will be closed. With that being said we cannot hold practice when the university is closed. With that being said we will not have practice on those respective days. At any rate just as a reminder if you wish to take the promotion exam this semester you need to join the USJA ( http://usja-judo.org/ ) and pay the 45 dollar fee inorder to become a member and receive your card. If you are promoted you will then have to pay a 20 dollar fee ( 15 to the USJA and 5 for your belt ). It seems like a lot but really no one pays dues so think of this as you paying dues to Judo as the sport.

Thanks again everyone,

Larry D'Arcangelo ( Club President , Yonkyu )

Judo during Fall break

Judo club will meet on Wednesday (10/20) and Sunday (10/24) during fall break.

For those traveling or going home for break, be safe!

Tips on gis

A bunch of people got new gis! So I figured now would be a good time to post a few items on gi maintenance.

• Unless your gi is pre-shrunk, it will shrink a bit when you wash it. If you want to shrink it on purpose, try the procedure in this link http://news.gorillagear.ca/what-to-do-with-a-new-gi/
• DO NOT leave a wet/sweaty gi balled up in your gym bag. (Unless you enjoy bacteria growing in there)
• Wash gi after every use. If this is just impossible, hang dry your gi immediately. Sun drying is preferable.
• The Warrior gis that I got are natural, unbleached. If you want to lighten the color, use bleach during the first 2-3 washes. Otherwise, do not use bleach or detergent with bleach. Using bleach often will wear away the gi quickly.
• Using a dryer is not recommended as it will make your gi shrink rather significantly and tumble drying will decrease the life of your gi.

I'm glad to see that a majority of our members now have gis at practice. If anybody else needs a gi, please contact me or Larry. You are also welcome to purchase a gi on your own. Jason posted information on gi brands on this blog as well http://vcujudo.blogspot.com/2008/09/get-gi.html

09-26-10 Sunday Practice

Nage waza (Throw technique)
O goshi - major hip throw
Uki goshi - floating hip throw

Shime waza (Choking technique)
Peruvian neck tie (not sure if there is a judo equivalent of this name)
"Turtle buster" into either
Okuri eri jime - sliding collar lock
Hadaka jime - rear naked choke

Enjoy!

09-12-2010 Sunday Practice

So I think some people wanted to know the names of the throws and hold-downs that we worked on from Sunday.

Nage waza (Throw technique)
Seoi nage - upper back carry throw
Specifically, we worked on ippon seoi nage, which means single point upper back carry throw. http://judoinfo.com/new/images/stories/animations/blue/ipponseoi.gif You can check out a simple animation of the throw here.

Osaewaza (Pinning techniques)
Kesa gatame - scarf hold
Kata gatame - shoulder hold
Kami shiho gatame - upper four corner hold
http://judoinfo.com/new/techniques/grappling-techniques/307-pinning-techniques-osaewaza

If you have some free time, definitely navigate through the judo info website for a bit! If there are any beginning throws that you would like to learn, bring it up next time in class.

First Practice GO JUDO!!!

Hello all,

Thanks again for expressing interest in our club and for signing up. As promised I would send out information about our club to everyone. Currently we have a 5th degree black belt teaching ( Godan) and his name is Pete. You will all meet Pete on Wednesday and I'm sure he will wow you all. He is a wealth of Judo information and has the rank and years of experience to prove it. This semester I would like for our club to grow and for everyone to help expand the Judo club and Judo as a combat sport. As a reminder we are in the FRANKLIN STREET GYM not the Cary Street gym. The Franklin Street gym is located on Franklin Street very close to Monroe Park and Shafer Dining center or Market 810.Practice is from 7 to 9 but please come about 20 to 10 minutes early to help; set up the mats. Also please wear loose fitting clothing or workout clothes. It's very likely all of you will be learning Ukimi or the ways of falling ( So you will be safe in practice).

I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow night ( 7-9 )

Also please keep these links for future reference,

http://vcujudo.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=2200517808&ref=ts


Larry D'Arcangelo

Judo Club President ( Yonkyu )

We will start on the first

Hi everybody,

I just got word from Dr.Mills that our first club practice of the year is going to be on the 1st of September. Pete couldn't make it this week so we decided to fore go having class without him as the instructor. Remember the club will be practicing in the Franklin Street Gym from 7 P.M to 9 P.M. Also we will have a spot in the SOVO fair so please drop by and see us ( Thea and Myself ). In addition if anyone has interest in joining the club or if you have questions my email is darcangeloel@vcu.edu. I can't wait to get back to practice and I hope we have lots of new and old members for this year.

See you all very soon,

Larry D'Arcangelo ( VCU Judo President, Yonkyu )

Back to Practice

Hey everyone, I hope your summers have gone well and your ready for another great year of college at VCU. I just got word that two days out of the week we will be working out at the Franklin Street Gym. Although this is only for two days a week it should be temporary and only last for this semester. We will begin practice on the 25th ( I believe ) and practices will go from 7 until 9 P.M. They will be on Wednesday and Sunday and we will try to add a third day at the Cary Street Gym however no promises. This is great news because now we have the ability to use decent mats for Judo practice.

I look forward to seeing you all very soon,

Larry D'Arcangelo ( VCU Judo President, Yonkyu )

On a Break

VCU Judo is currently on a break until August because we are still hammering out the details for our practice space. However we should be back very shortly (Less than 2 weeks). I will let everyone know immediately when practice resumes. Pete Mantel has agreed to stay on as the permanent instructor for our club so that is a major step in the right direction. In addition we also have a budget in which funds have been allocated for us to attend a few competitions this year. Also we need people to come to the Sovo fair and Club sport night at the Cary Street Gym. In the case for the Sovo fair we just need people to come and man the table and help promote our club. In the case of the Club sport night I think we should put together a light demo for everyone to see just what Judo is all about. So please if anyone wants to help (New or Old members) please let Thea or myself know so we are certain we have enough people to complete these assignments.(The Sovo Fair isn't optional for the club). You can contact myself at darcangeloel@vcu.edu in order to let me know if you can help or simply leave a comment below with your name and email and I will get in contact with you.

This is going to be a great year for Judo guys, the time is now and we have so much to look forward to.

Larry D'Arcangelo (VCU Judo President, 6th Kyu)

Judo Techniques!

BJA Techniques

This link is to the BJA's teaching website, which has dozens of Judo techniques, all categorized by difficulty etc.

Start with RED (the beginner rank in the UK I guess...) and watch a few! A great way to kill time, at least better than watching people hurt themselves on YouTube.

Great Judo things are happening

Hey everyone,

Just to let everyone know the summer class is great the instructor or coach Pete is doing a great job and we have been learning lots of good competition throws and we have been getting into some ground work. As a heads up to everyone I have asked Pete to stay on as the permanent Judo coach for our club. The fact of the matter is he has alot to offer and we can learn alot from him. With that being said I think its really going to befit everyone to do this. We are still working on the schedule for next semester but Pete already said that Wednesday and Sunday are good for him so those days are pretty likely for us to practice on. Also just to let everyone know on the 24th Dave Wotton will be coming to our club to do some instruction so lets all show up and make him feel welcome. Lastly myself and one of the white belts from the Judo class are going to a competition in Lancaster Pennsylvania with Dr. Mills and Pete on July 19th, if anyone else in the club wishes to go its 35 dollars for the entry fee and you need to have your USJA membership card. Email me for more information @ darcangeloel@vcu.edu ....

I hope everyones summer is going great!
Larry (VCU Judo President, 6th KYU)

The summer class is on going

Just as a reminder to everyone the summer advanced Judo course is taking place in the Franklin Street Gym. It's on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 8:40 P.M in room 308... Currently there are seven people whom are actively going to the class and I hope to make it to several of these classes (when I'm not working). Also we now have a treasurer... Thea Pepperl (YonKyu). It's good that we found one so quickly and I'm glad that we had such a quick response to the position. At any rate if you can please attend the Advance Judo course because we have a Godan whom commutes in order to teach this class and from what I'm told hes a great instructor.

Hope everyone's summer is going great,

Larry D'Arcangelo (VCU Judo president, 6th Kyu)

A few Judo related things...

Introducing the new President

Larry D'Arcangelo (6th Kyu)

and the Vice President

Shawn Cunningham (6th Kyu)

I hope everyone's semester has ended well and all sport related injuries have healed. I'm now a contributor on this site so we should have updates at least weekly. Currently we are without a treasurer so I have temporarily taken over that position. If anyone is interested in being a treasurer please let me or Shawn know. At any rate our club is currently on a break for the summer and we are attending Dr.Mills (Our academic adviser) class which is being taught by a Go-Dan (5th degree Black belt). This class is being taught in the Franklin street Gym and if your interested please show up because we are tiring to put together a competitive Judo competition team that I hope can attend at least one tournament during the next semester. However if you don't have experience please wait until next semester and join regular club practice. Shawn and I have also came up with a list of goals that we hope to accomplish by the end of this semester.

Goals

1. Bring club attendance to at least 10 people who come to practice on a regular basis.

2. Continue with promoting the two principles of Kodokan Judo

3. Getting better times in the Cary Street Gym or getting back to the Franklin Street Gym

4. Attending one or more competitions in order to promote VCU Judo

Next semester we also hope to change up the times... Currently I have on Tuesday from 6 P.M to 9 P.M with Dr.Mills (Shodan 1st Degree Black) then Saturday from 2 P.M to 5 P.M with Geoff (San Kyu or Ni Kyu not sure at this time) and Finally with our hardest working instructor Jacob (EKYU) on Sunday from 5 P.M to 8 P.M of course this is only a rough outline and our instructors availability may change so this is only a outline at this time.

Also here is a message to all New Judoka or even people who haven't practiced Judo ever. If your interested when we start back up in August please drop by once I post the times were a very friendly club that is really interested in promoting our sport with the best of our ability.

It's Going to be a great year guys, I look forward to seeing you all

Larry D'Arcangelo (VCU Judo President , 6 Kyu)

A message from Dr Mills

I am sending you this E-Mail because you enrolled in my mudo course in the Spring of 2008. Therefore, you may be interested in the Advanced Judo course being taught this summer, on Tuesday and Thursday evenings 6:00 to 8:40, starting on Tuesday, May 25 and ending Thursday, July 15. I am being assisted in this course by a 5th degree Black Belt from the Coast Guard Station in Hampton. Below is the course name and registration number. Please pass the word to any other student you think may be interested.
Thank you.
Dr. Mills

Self Defense: Judo - HPEX 121 Section 001
Course Registration # 32390

Judo Rules!

Suckas!

Need to start looking at determining a summer practice schedule; please comment.

Who's in town, what times are best?

Will not be at practice tonight

Sorry everyone, swamped with work here, and probably pulling an all-nighter, again :(
Practice will still be held though. If one of the more experienced members of the club can show what they know, that would be wonderful.

Daniel

Totally Coming

Hey everyone!

Sorry I haven't been able to make practice yet this semester, and I wish that we could have things a little more our way, whether it was schedule, space or weather. But after the great semester we had in the Fall, I am confident that we just have to grind through this transitionary period and move on!

See you very soon,

Jason Struck

(VP, Treasurer, Instructor?)

Practice space issue resolved

I apologize to those who went to practice yesterday. There was confusion about the group exercise room schedule, and after talking to Karen and Anne, there should be no more problems. I'm still not feeling quite well (a lot better than yesterday), but hopefully I'll see you all tomorrow night!

Daniel

Important: Waiver Forms and myorgs@vcu

Please fill out these forms. They're required by the sports council.

It seems a lot of people had trouble filling out the forms the first time, so I'll try to make the process clearer. The forms should have interactive spaces that allow you to type in your information. After filling the forms out, you should be able to save new .pdf files with your information intact (also please include your name in the filename). This should all be done in Adobe Reader so please get it if you don't have it. Please do not fill the forms out physically and then scan the document or save it in other formats (use .pdf). I have included an example of what the membership form should look like when it's done.

Also, VCU Judo is on myorgs@vcu, the new "club manager" site. If you have not added yourself as a member of the club there, please do so.

Risks, etc.
Waiver
Membership Form
Example of Completed Membership Form

Please e-mail these (except the example) to azielinski(at)vcu.edu , replace the (at) with @

VCU Judo on MyOrgs@VCU

If you have any questions (or just want to talk), please e-mail me at gohdc(at)mymail.vcu.edu

Thanks!

Daniel

First Practice

Hey Everyone,

We will be having our first practice of the semester today at 2PM at the Cary St. Gym! I also want to apologize for how long it's taken to get this started. The move to the Cary St. Gym ate time at the beginning of the semester due to scheduling issues, and then the weather shut us down for longer. I know a lot of you are eager to begin training, so hopefully we'll have no more of those issues in the future. Hope to see you there today!

Daniel

Planning on holding practice at 10 tonight (1.66 hours from now) if at least 3 other people want to come, and Cary St. Gym doesn't close early. Send me an e-mail, leave a comment here, or message me on facebook if you're interested. (Trying to post this everywhere to contact as many people as possible).

Practices Cancelled

No practice today Feb 5 or on Sunday Feb 7, due to snow.

Times pt. 2

Hey everyone, here are the times for spring semester 2010

Tuesdays 10-midnight
Fridays 2-5 PM
Sundays 5-8 PM

The first hour in a 3 hour practice session will be open mat (everyone is free to practice as they wish).

Spring 2010 Practice Time Update

I got a reply from the person responsible for practice times at the Cary St. Gym. I'll get official times sometime this week. We'll be starting practice next week. Hope everyone had a good break and are having a great start to the semester!

Daniel