Judo Turnovers for Beginners

Learning Groundwork

Why do we need to learn groundwork turnovers?

Judo turnovers for beginners are important to learn to break through defences and get your partner in a hold down.

Often what happens in groundwork judo is you partner will block you, using common judo groundwork defences like laying flat on the mat, or curling up in a tight ball on all fours.

And if you don’t know what to do, this can be a problem? You get stopped at the first hurdle. You don’t know what to do – but you know you need to get your partner onto their back and into a hold down if you want to win the match.

So, how do you turn your partner over onto their back? We will get to that in just a second, but before we do, now seems a good time to mention the Groundwork Turnovers book! 🙂

Learn 20 judo turnovers!

Yep! That’s right – twenty turnovers.

All the groundwork you will need wrapped up in a handy, colourful Koka Kids book called « Master 20 Turnovers and Learn Judo Groundwork » Learn to break through any defence and move your judo skills up a few notches!

Want to learn a turnover from the book now?

Ok, let’s start with The Pull Through. You will like this one.

It’s a good judo turnover for beginners to learn as it is easy to perform without any difficult steps, just follow these pictures to find out where you take a grip, and how to make it work.

The Pull-Through

First let’s learn the basic version.

Learning the Basic Pull-Through

Start kneeling to the side of uke. Uke should be on all fours. This is a common groundwork defence.

Reach under your partner’s stomach with your left hand and under their chin with your right arm. Do this quickly, so you push your hands right through to the other side.

Using both hands, cup far arm just above the elbow and pull it towards you so uke topples over sideways. Use your chest to push uke over until uke is on their back.

Finish by securing the osae-komi. Try kesa-gatame, yoko-shiho-gatame or mune-gatame.

Well done!

But what happens when your partner blocks you?

It’s a common defence, but easy to break through with this variation on the Pull Through called The Step Over.

When uke blocks by going flat do this:

Keeping your grip on uke’s arms, step your leg over uke’s body pulling uke over onto their back. Becareful not to get your leg caught as your step over, as this will result in toketa (hold broken), so step over quickly. Finish in Kesa Gatame.

Now, you’ve learn two turnovers!

Ccontinue your learning with the book

Master 20 Judo Turnovers for Beginners is available to buy on Amazon.

Hey, are you a judo coach?

Make judo lessons more memorable Judo coaches can use visuals by signing up to the Koka Kids Coach Resource Library where they are over 200 printable pdfs like this example:

How to do six groundwork judo turnovers

More interested in judo throws?