The Analytical Judoka

I think that the most important skill in judo, as in MMA, is your ability to adapt to what your opponent gives you.  With that concept firmly cemented in my mind, studying opponents and modern uses of techniques has now more than ever become paramount to me as a coach.

By Joshua Hagen Solomon Choran of The Art of Balance Dojo recently returned from a couple of major competitions in Europe.  Competing in both Portugal and Bosnia Herzegovina, it was...

Josh Hagen (The Analytical Judoka) recently created a how-to video on a new Judo Analytics app called Athlete Analyzer, which featured this week in a miniature documentary for CNN.        ...

As submitted to Snapd Etobicoke April 2018 Etobicoke is sending three athletes to the Canadian National Judo Championships in May. Ron Hanji, Soloman Choran, and Shahab Pesteh of The Art of Balance Dojo...

By Joshua Hagen Ron Hanji had a great weekend in British Columbia taking a gold medal at the Pacific International Judo Tournament.  The Pacific International is the toughest tournament in...

By Joshua Hagen The Korean grip o-uchi has long been a staple of the Korean National team, hence the name.  It can be a very effective tool for controlling your...

Still widely practiced in Mongolia, Bökh no longer merely influences the National Mongolian Judo team, but the greater world grappling community as well.  The success of the Mongolian judoka is intrinsically linked to the nation's wrestling repertoire. Techniques like the Mongolian (Bökh) Uchi-Mata are one of their greatest exports.

I think my blog probably really started in the car on those long drives, because, although we did talk about other things, the majority of the conversations always led back to judo.  My father would help us with the details of technique, and tell us where he thought we needed to improve, while my mother constantly reminded us of how proud she was. She would glow when some sensei would tell her how well Sean and I were progressing, and we would be reminded of those stories many times over.  We of course loved hearing them, so we rarely interrupted her in these moments.