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When I first started my judo training about 25 years ago I was of course introduced to the break falls, as happens in all the dojos around the world. Then I started with my first judo techniques, like o soto gari, ippon seoi nage, o goshi and so on. But as it still happens in almost all the dojos around the world I learned all the techniques by entering on the right side. By the way I am left handed.
I went on and on with my judo training for about two years, adding new techniques, even though I was still an active semi-professional soccer player. And then finally came the day of my first competition: here I was facing my first opponent, the referee gave the “hajime”. Without realizing it, being left handed, I was naturally standing in left guard and going for techniques to the left, even though nobody had taught me anything on that side, nor even told me that I could also perform my judo techniques on the opposite side.
Everything went really fast, all I remember is that we ended up on the ground and after a little while I felt somebody touching my shoulder: it was the referee, informing me, that the fight was over. I got up, fixed my judogi trying to figure out what had happened and puzzled on who had won. The referee assigned me the victory. First competition, first fight: I had won and here I was standing still puzzled on what had really happened.
The point is as a left handed person in a fight situation, even though in my two years of judo training sessions I had never tried any of my techniques on the left side, I naturally went for that side and performed my first tani otoshi on the left. By the way after 25 years it is still one of my favourite judo techniques and often win my fights with it.
The important thing I learned was to always try whatever I was taught on both sides. Of course I had an advantage: for the last two years I had been learning all my judo techniques on the right, ie. my “weak” side and now I was going for my “strong” side, so it was quite easy to catch up with everything. But overall it helped me to shape my body evenly and gave me a strong feeling of balance. Even in real life, off the mat I started to do things with either side, things that as a left handed person I would have never done with my right.
Of course when I am in a fight situation in competition I still go eight times out of ten to the left. But in every training session I attend I always perform all the judo techniques evenly on both sides. And in some cases the performance on the right is even better than the one on the left, my natural side.
If you want to balance your body, however hard it will be, you should always perform your judo techniques on both sides.
If you want to learn more about judo and shaping your body you should visit judo techniques
