Adult Beginner's First Season Plan
Mat Manual companion guide to "Starting Judo After Thirty: Falling Without Fear." Print it. The article makes the case and names the problem. This book runs the season: a 12-week ukemi and throwing progression, a fear l…
| Art | Kodokan Judo |
|---|---|
| Family | Kodokan Judo |
| Level | beginner |
| Format | plan |
| Topics | fundamentals, safety, training-plans, throws |
Mat Manual companion guide to "Starting Judo After Thirty: Falling Without Fear." Print it. The article makes the case and names the problem. This book runs the season: a 12-week ukemi and throwing progression, a fear ladder for being thrown, a partner selection guide with the actual sentences, a recovery and soreness tracker with return rules, a strength and mobility plan that fits around a job, and milestone checklists for months one, three, and six.
Player: ______________________________ Club: ______________________________ Coach: ______________________________ Age at start: ______________ Training days available: ______________ Body history declared to coach (Part 2): ☐
BEFORE ANYTHING: THE AGREEMENTS ☐ Your body history is declared to your coach before the first session: old injuries, surgeries, current niggles, and any medical advice you train under. The plan doses around facts, not around hopes. ☐ The dose in this book is a ceiling, not a quota. A week cannot be failed for doing less. It can only be failed for doing more than the plan and calling it enthusiasm. ☐ "Lighter today" is a complete sentence in this book's clubs. It needs no diagnosis attached and receives no cross-examination. ☐ Pain that changes how you move is reported the day it appears. Soreness is logged; pain is reported. The difference is in Part 8. ☐ Nobody in this plan is compared to the twenty-two-year-old. The comparison column in every log is your own earlier rows.
Part 1: The Season Map
| Phase | Weeks | Sessions per week | The phase's job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Settle | 1 to 4 | 2 | Trust the mat: ukemi volume, first throws given and taken at low dose, learn the room |
| Build | 5 to 8 | 2 to 3 | Throwing partners properly, groundwork in earnest, light randori in doses |
| Join | 9 to 12 | 2 to 3 | Randori as a normal citizen of the week; first grading window in most clubs |
| Season two | 13 onward | 3 | The plan's habits become the training life; milestones shift to Part 13 |
The map's mercy. Phases are entered when their gates are met (Part 27), not when the calendar insists. A season interrupted by work, illness, or a sore shoulder resumes at the phase the body is actually in, and the map does not fine anyone for the interruption.
Adult Beginner's First Season Plan
Mat Manual companion guide to "Starting Judo After Thirty: Falling Without Fear." Print it. The article makes the case and names the problem. This book runs the season: a 12-week ukemi and throwing progression, a fear ladder for being thrown, a partner selection guide with the actual sentences, a recovery and soreness tracker with return rules, a strength and mobility plan that fits around a job, and milestone checklists for months one, three, and six.
What's Inside
- Part 1: The Season Map
- Part 2: Before the First Session — The Starting Checklist
- Part 3: Ukemi Volume Progression — The Season's Spine
- Part 4: The Fear Ladder — Being Thrown in Graded Steps
- Part 5: Partner Selection Guide
- Part 6: The Session Pacing Card
- …and 22 more sections
The full guide is a paid Mat Manual product. Checkout is not connected yet — no payment is taken on this page.
Free companion article: Starting Judo After Thirty: Falling Without Fear — the full article, free in full.