Written by Robert Verdell, CST

It dawned on me when I attended a seminar by Joshua Resnick on Judo "Pick-ups", at the Metro Fight Club, how great Circular Strength Training™ (CST) with the legendary Clubbell® is for Judo. I’m not going to go into detail on the history of it, but I will say its grandfather, the Indian club (pictured left on the right of a 15lbs Clubbell), was used by old-time wrestlers, strongmen and even the great judoka, Yamashita, used a Japanese version of a Clubbell® called a Chashi.

Some of the pickups we did required strength and flexibility in ranges of motion that are difficult to explore with normal linear strength training. In Judo, you are often exerting effort from very odd positions. Positions you don’t begin your traditional weightlifting activities from, and your bodies often travel in ranges of motion, most never explore in their the sport preparation.

Continued