Damage Types

Damage Types

What Do You Mean by Damage?

In every sport, an athlete needs to consider how to damage their opponent(s) and not damage themselves or their teammates. Typical sports (tennis, golf, ping-pong) focus solely on the stamina and mental aspects and not the physical. Yes as much as we want to, we cannot hit our opponent in the head with a tennis racket.

In Martial Arts, we do have to focus on all aspects of the damage. So we will define the types of damage, how to damage your opponent, and how to not be damaged. And finally, discuss how to damage your opponent to a victory.

Quick Definitions

• Physical - From physical pain from throws and strikes
• Stamina - From movement or from having to push/pull against resistance
• Mental - From stress, mistakes, missed opportunities, and penalities
• Balance - From being moved around or from partial attacks like foot sweeps

Types

Physical

Here we mean the physical damage from taking a punch, getting thrown on the ground, or a bear-hug squeeze. So it is about the damage done when the person's body is hit or squeezed. So think of the reasons you would say "ouch".

How to Damage

In Judo, we can cause this damage with grips and throws that may or may not score. Also, strong ne-waza can damage an opponent in this way.

Here are some ways:

• Throw an opponent to ground
• Strong grips on the neck or collar ties
• Lock the opponent into a tight pin like kesa-gautame
• Using a bicep slicer to gain the arm bar

How to Prevent Damage

Now you know how to damage an opponent, let's discuss not being damaged. First, remember that old saying "A Best Defense is a Good Offense". So, getting your grips prevents your opponents from being able to attack you. Similarly, getting a desired position in ne-waza prevents them from attacking you.

Stamina

As any fight continues, you will be more tired and your muscles will have less power to fight with. When your or your opponent looses stamina, it will be easier to hit by attacks that might have otherwise not landed.

How to Damage

First, stress out your opponent with movement and resistance. The more your opponent has to react to your actions, the more exhausted they will become. Use this to your advantage. Make them use their strength.

During ne-waza, apply constant pressure, attack submissions (even if they do not finish the fight), and making your opponent escape a pin is very effective.

How to Prevent Damage

Before ever starting a fight, you can control your stamina by increasing fitness with various classes of exercise, such as

• Long distance running ("Long and Slow")
• HIIT workouts ("Fast and Aggressive")
• Weight lifting
• Drilling reps ("ochikomi")

Being relaxed while your your opponent resists your attacks will quickly drain their energy and stamina.

Mental

Mental damage comes from the stress of the fight, from having to deal with mistakes, and overcoming or worrying about penalities. Once a fighter's stress level increases, then they are more likely to make a mistake or get caught with simple attacks and techniques.

How to Damage

As mentioned, stress out your opponent. Make your opponent think and consider every movement and action. Make them have to react, wearing down their mental fortitude. Be both unpredictable and constant.

Hit your opponent in unexpected ways, but at the same time not providing any openings for counterattacks. Attack with such an aggressive rhythm that they get to not catch their breath nor predict your next move.

Use that rhythm to force stalling, thus getting a a penalty (shido). Now they might rush to attack to prevent the next penalty and be vulnerable to attack.

Punish them for going into ne-waza, making them scared to return to the ground. Use the same previously mentioned methods: constant pressure and constant threat of submissions and pins.

How to Prevent Damage

Prevent damage first and foremost by relaxing. By you finding your own flow, the movements and actions of your opponent will not imped your mental state. Next, be aware of what your opponent can do from each position and situation. Thus you are not reacting, instead responding with control.

And do not think about penalities. They mean nothing until they actual impact the match. Fight your match and ignore the calls of the ref.

Balance

Every fighter and especially Judokas, must maintain their balance in order to attack and to not get thrown. This is achieved by getting superior grips, effective footwork, and executing techniques correctly.

How to Damage

Hands and Feet. Use your grips and footwork to move opponent around until *they give you the opportunity to finish.

Use combinations of techniques. Rarely is it ever just a single technique that wins, it usually takes several in combination. (Rarely does a boxing match end with a single cross, it takes many hits).

So, hit a ko-uchi -> o-uchi -> seo-nage -> ko-uchi-makikomi. Each attempted throw, slowly thows off the opponents balance until they have no choice but to fall. That is a secret to victory.

How to Prevent Damage

As noted, grips/footwork/technique is your best defense. More so then even physical balancing skills such as standing one leg or walking on a tight rope. Those physical feats do not matter once pressure is applied. Focus on moving into position and having the gripping control needed.

Common areas to focus on are,

• Do not lean over
• Do not take large steps
• Do not over commit movements or stance
• Keep feet close to ground (prevent foot sweeps)
• Flow with movements rather than simply resisting
• Keep your weight balanced slightly towards rear foot.

Conclusion

Use the concepts here to increase the effectiveness of any sport or martial arts by considering how to weaken your opponent down through proper application of damage.