<mtfester@netMAPSONscape.net> wrote in message
news:chivko$6k0$1@news.Stanford.EDU...
> It seems like the only ones doing throws anymore are the Japanese and
> (to a lesser extent) Cubans. Everyone else is doing international
> freestyle wrestling (with the occassional tomoenage) in gis.

There are some major philisophical differences as well. The Japanese are
taught to make one or two throws their own, and dedicate their judo careers
to perfecting them. The Europeans (and to some extend the former Soviet
countries) tend to analyze the latest successful moves, picking them up and
discarding them as people learn to counter them.

One throw you saw all over the olympics was this kind of half-assed
sukui-nage, grabbing the calf and kind of pancaking the opponent. It might
get an ippon, but it is cheesy and not exciting to watch.

> seems. And, true to the wrestling tradition, it seems they award ippon
> for simply getting the guy's back flattish. I have yet to see a solid
> ippon like back in the "good old days".

This has been going on for a while, I assume because the top level athletes
are too good at turning out. The rule for ippon is landing fully on the
back, or "substantially" on the back with strong momentum.

> And the mat work was horrible. I understand that if the guy doesn't tap
> within about 3 seconds, they make you stand up, but these were some of
> the worst arm-bars I've ever seen attempted. I haven't yet seen one
> thrown successfully, despite very good position. It looks like they
> simply try to power the arm straight. I didn't see a single choke even
> attempted, and as soon as a guy got his opponent's back and his legs
> hooked over the guy's legs, they called "matte".  That's probably about
> as dominating a position as you get on an opponent, and the rules now
> seem to bail you out of a big mistake.

I saw a couple decent armbars, with maybe one successful; and perhaps three
succesful chokes. Inoue did a nice front choke. Additionally, chokes were
combined into pinning combinations at least twice. The Korean at 70 kg (or
was it 90?) in particular had a devestating triangle choke, although I don't
think he ever got it going.

Actually though, I thought there was generally more time for matwork given
than in the last olympics. Here I think that the other speed-up measures
gave the judges a bit more leeway

But the general consensus in judo circles is that people are bored by
matwork, and we have to make judo exciting to watch if we want to get
exposure for judo and get kids into the sport.

The interest in Pride et al should have given lie to this, but I guess judo
officials don't watch Pride...

-- 
Regards,
Ryan Ginstrom
ryang@gol.com