Is it normal to regress as a beginner?

[u/mach_10_darkstar]

White belt, training for about 8 months. I’m on the older side (40+) without prior experience. I picked up judo as a hobbyist for good exercise and the fun of it. I’ve so far had a blast. But…

I was a fast learner and doing a bunch of throws pretty well in the beginning. However over the past 2-3 weeks I suck. I’m struggling to execute basic throws and just overall have regressed. Ashi waza seems okayish. Not in randori, just in regular training.

Is this normal to hit a wall of sorts? I only train once a week due to other obligations but I’m very consistent. Also we do mostly technique, not much randori.

[u/CaribooS13]

Plateaus can certainly feel like regression. We all have them and we all feel it. They come at various stages and sometimes when you least expect them.

[u/rtsuya]

learning is not linear. you aren't hitting a wall. you are learning.

[u/Ready-Huckleberry-38 → u/rtsuya]

This is spot on for any activity and great advice. I was a competitive lifter pre covid and it's just not possible to always progress. Otherwise we would all be world record holders. However, it is possible to keep learning

[u/zaccbruce]

Yep totally normal, even expected. Actually it can be a positive sign if you're actively working on something new, or a new setup, new detail etc for everything to kind of fall apart before being rebuilt better than before.

I'm at about year 15 and the last month or so nothing seems to be working well, my favourite throws just feel off in randori. Just need to stick with it!

[u/Ok_Raise_9313]

Totally expected because at first you are quite instinctual and just go for a throw. Once you start learning technique, you start focusing on the details of it. But this is new, so you’re not very good at it. The instincts don’t help anymore because your execution is becoming cerebral. Keep practicing such that your execution becomes again instinctual with the technical details embedded.

[u/adjgor]

You're doing alright man! It's normal to have these plateaus and maybe you don't even have one it's just your own perception, maybe you're having a bad day or just think of yourself as less than you are, so don't over analyse your progress as long as it's fun.

let me tell you a story about "regression". The evening before my black belt exam I was at my club doing some light repetition (no randori just going over techniques to clear my head) and I swear I was unable to throw a girl half my age and half my weight with uchi mata. I could wrestle her down but I was absolutely and utterly unable to get a clean throw. I was absolutely devastated and shit my pants going into the exam. Day of the exam, nerves kicked in, I got asked to perform uchi mata and my muscle memory kicked in and without thinking I absolutely nailed the throw. One of the best I did that day... So yeah don't worry about it, sometimes it's just a fart stuck in your guts :p

[u/Yamatsuki_Fusion]

I did hit bad patches and on many occasions I wondered if Judo was right for me. But I kept showing up and growing.

[u/Alarming_Abrocoma274]

Yes. Read Mastery by George Leonard

[u/Sad_Calligrapher_697]

Imo ashi Waza is the hardest yet the most beautiful judo has to offer. So you need time with them. But in general I would say do not worry. Focus on one move and study its entries and combinations for six months then evaluate.

[u/JoeBreza-grappling]

I find that often people are missing an important part early on in the throw and getting theirselves “stuck.” For example, people leave their arm behind on osoto gari, uchi mata, or harai goshi and the rest of the throw goes to shit. In my dojo, my coach teaches people to do osoto gari off the ippon seoi nage grip, because they don’t leave their arm behind and give him the chance to get osoto’ed. And if he steps out, you switch to seoi otoshi. It works like crazy for getting people from white to brown. So it could be something like that or your footwork. Could be a height difference between you and someone else or a partner giving you different reactions and throwing you off. Just keep working through things and ask your sensei why something feels off when you do the technique. They will see what it is. Our coaches are very intentional on watching us and giving us lots of feedback

[u/davthew2614]

Learning is not linear. Even more so if you can only train once a week, a month of less than great sessions will feel like you've got terrible for no reason. This is pretty much always the point before you suddenly get better.

[u/Go0o0n]

Yeah, plateaus and bad days are normal, and may even feel like they outweigh the good and okayish days. You may think you’re regressing but that is because you are figuring out what does and doesn’t work. What works for you. What you like and don’t like. Changing up your attack rate to be slower or faster. Slowing down after comp. Ramping up for comp.

It’s an eb and flow. Gotta go with it.

[u/miqv44]

Absolutely, my sasae was way more solid when I was first year in, now it just feels like it's missing something.

Generally more traditional martial arts are like marathon, not a sprint, and judo compared to karate and taekwondo that I train feels like it needs much more time to be proficient at. Take things in your own tempo, ask others at the dojo for advice when you're not sure on how to progress or execute certain moves and dont compare yourself to others but only from you from the previous session. That's the only dude you wanna beat in judo

[u/Ready-Huckleberry-38]

Just back last week from 6 weeks off due to an injury and felt clueless. Only during Randori did things begin to click. I think sometimes we think too much, when we should relax and go with instinct. But yes as a beginner/intermediate it's normal to regress/plateau. Black belts tell me it's the same for them, only lower belts don’t pick up on it much because of the difference in skill.

I used to beat myself up when I had a bad class, but if you make it out injury free and come back again? Then it's worth it

I try to just take one thing (at minimum) from every class. It could be something simple as foot position or alternating a grip.

We are all too hard on ourselves. Ask your sensei or training partners for tips, or take notes on what you learned in class and go over what you learned.

[u/zealous_sophophile]

To make sure it's not just you, attend many clubs so you aren't victim to your coach and just their tokui waza

[u/Uchimatty]

As you specialize in randori, the throws you don’t use will regress. Also as you do more randori, you’ll realize a lot of the “correct form” in nagekomi is wrong and will subconsciously stop doing it. When you’re still new and impressionable, you’ll internalize the “form corrections” that come from this as genuine mistakes, but actually it’s your body adapting movements to work better in real life.

[u/Fit-Tax7016]

It's normal to feel like regressing at any point. I sparred with a red belt the other day and I really felt like I was off the boil - slow, plodding, easy to read... Definitely not my usual self (average at best). It happens.