Masterclasses

Judo Masterclass

Physical development

﻿I'm delighted to welcome you to our judo masterclass, brought to us by Paralympian Dan Powell.

Hi, guys, my name's Dan Powell and I'm part of the Great Britain Para judo team. I competed in London 2012 and I'm getting ready for the Games hopefully this year in Tokyo.

Dan represented Great Britain in judo at the Paralympics. He is hoping to compete at the Tokyo Paralympics later in the summer, if they go ahead. Dan was the first registered blind person to take part in the TV show "Ninja Warrior".

So, we are going to get into a bit of exercise this morning, and today we're going to be doing three separate sets of exercises, and we're going to hopefully learn something, as well as getting a good sweat on as well. So, first exercise we're going to do. This is going to be one just to get going. We're going to be doing a plank jack, so this one, it's going to work your lower body, but also your core as well, which is really important for judo. It's a full body sport, so we need to try and hit as many muscles as we can. So, with a plank jack, what you're going to do, you're going to go into a high press-up position, so you're on your hands and on your toes, and you try to keep your body really, really straight, out in a straight line from your shoulder all the way down to your heels. So, in this position, what we're going to do, we're going to jump our feet out like we're doing a star jump but just with our feet, and then jump them back again so we're back into that press-up position. We're going to jump them out and jump them back. Okay, so we're going to go for 10 of them to start with. Let's go. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and 10. Good. Okay, so that's more of a lower body one to get us going. Now we're going to go for an upper body one to warm our upper body up. So you're going to be in the exact same position on your hands and on your toes. What we're going to do from this position, this is a, I like to call these commandos. You'll see why in a second. So in this position, nice and tall, straight arms, hands over your shoulders. What you're going to do, you're going to lower yourself down onto your elbows, so you're doing a plank, and then back up onto your hands, and that's one rep. So back down into a plank, back up onto your hands. And again. Going down into a plank, up onto your hands. Down, that's three, four reps. We're going to go for 10 again. Five. Nice and steady, six. Seven. Eight. Nine, and last one. Ten. Good. So hopefully that has warmed our upper body up a little bit as well. And now what we're going to do, we're going to make something called a superset. So a superset is when you get two exercises and bung them together to make it a little bit more difficult. So we're going to focus on the two exercises that we've just done. So, 'cause they're both in the same position, these two exercises work really well together. So we're going to go for, let's go for eight reps. And we'll go for three sets of this. So, high plank position, high press-up position. You're going to jump your feet out, back in, lower yourself down, and back up. And again. Out, in, lower yourself down, and back up. So let's go. One. Two. Three. And four. And five. And six. And seven. And eight. Good. Okay, do it's really important as well, just focus on going at your own speed. Don't rush it. It's better to get the technique right, and also if you need to knock a few reps off at the end, maybe just do five or six. That's absolutely fine as well. We're going to go for more sets, then we're going to change the exercise. So, you can pause the video at any point, by the way, if you need a little bit more rest or you'd like to run to the toilet or grab a drink. That's absolutely fine. So let's get ready to go again. So, one. Two. Three. Four. And five. And six. And seven. And eight. Good. Great. Okay, so what we'll do, we'll leave that exercise there 'cause we need to make sure that we've got enough energy moving forwards to the next one. So, we've got two more exercises on this next one. One of them is much more a core exercise and the other one is a big upper body exercise which I'm sure you'd all know. So the first one, the core exercise, it's actually called something called an inchworm, okay? Don't ask me why. No idea. So you're going to stand up on your feet, standing up normally, and what you're going to do, you're going to bend your knees slightly, reach towards the floor so your hands are going just in front of your toes. Once you're there, you'll walk your hands forward one at a time, so you end up in that position again, that plank position, that high press-up position. And then you walk your hands back towards your toes and we stand up again. So, hands just in front of your toes, walking those hands out, so your hands are now sitting over your shoulders, walking them hands back and standing up. So, let's just go for eight of them. So reaching down, walking out, immediately walking back and straight up. Walking out, immediately walking back and straight up. And again. One. And two. Three. Four. And five. Walking them hands all the way out. Walking them hands back. Six. Seven, and last one. And eight. Good. Okay, so that is the first exercise for this set. The second exercise is going to be one which I'm sure all you guys have heard of. It's called a press-up. So with this one, just to give you a little tip, with a press-up, if you would prefer to start off your knees that's absolutely fine. Takes off some of the stress off your upper body. Makes it a little bit easier. So in this position, starting off your knees, try and hook your feet at the back if you can. And you're going to come down and back up to the top. Just come down low enough, just so your T-shirt touches the floor but not your chest. You don't want your whole body to touch the floor, if you can. And this exercise is really good for the fronts of your shoulders and your chest. So, if you're a little bit more advanced or you've done these a million times before, like I'm sure some of you have, you can do it on your toes and on your hands, lowering yourself down, pushing yourself up. Lowering down, pushing up. So, whatever one you want to do, we're going to do that one now and we're going to go for eight reps again. So, in that position, hands over your shoulders, nice straight line between your shoulder, all the way down through your hip, through your knee, into your heel, and we're going to go for eight reps, let's go. And one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight. Perfect, so that'll be the second exercise, so remember how well we did that, the technique. Even when we're getting tired, we need to remember that technique. So, we're going into our second superset now, which as I said before, that's where you combine two exercises to work the whole body. So what we're going to do, we're going to go from one inchworm, walking out into a high press-up position. At the end of that, you're going to do a press-up, walk all the way back. We'll just go for six reps for this one, 'cause it's quite difficult, and we'll show two sets, but if you want to do more, go for it. Here we go. Walking out, high press-up position, press-up, walking them hands back. That's one. Walking out, press-up, walking out. That's two. Walking out, press-up, walking out. And three. Halfway. Press-up. And four. Press-up. And five. Last one. Press-up. And six. Okay, guys, so we're going to do one more set of them inchworms into press-ups, and it's going to be the last little bit before we're moving on. So, standing up tall, let's get ready to go. And let's go. So walking hands out, press-up, coming back, and one. Walking out, press-up, coming out. Two. Walking out, press-up, walking out. Three. Coming out, press-up, coming out. Four. Last couple. Coming back. Five. Last one. And coming back. Six. Perfect. Okay, guys, so this is the point where, if you want to pause the video, grab a drink, that's absolutely fine. Get your breath back, 'cause we're going to be moving on to our very last set, okay? Okay, guys, so this is going to be our final exercise and we're going to break this down into three little separate sets. Each time it's going to get a little tiny bit more difficult. So, we're going to be doing an exercise called the burpee. Some of youse at home now will be grunting burpees, some of youse might be celebrating. You guys are a little bit new, but that's okay. We'll get this done. So, the burpees, what are you going to do? As I say, we're going to get a little bit more difficult each time. So you're going to start off in a high press-up position again, you're going to walk your feet up to here, back up towards your hands, stand up and jump. Hands back to the floor, both your feet back, both your feet up, and jump. This is just a really, really, really basic burpee to start with, so we'll start at this and make it a little bit more difficult. So we'll just go for five reps on this one. So, standing up tall, hands down, walk out, walk up, and jump. Down, walk out, walk up, and jump. And down, walk out, walk up, and jump. That's three. And four. And five. Good. Okay, have a little rest. Just going to have a little rest, ready for the next set. So, as I say, next set's going to get a tiny bit more difficult again, but I'm sure youse'll all be fine. So the next one, what you're going to do, instead of stepping, this time it's going to be a jump. You're going to jump back, you're going to return your legs back to where they were, and then jump up in the air. So I'll do a little demo, and then you guys can join in. So, hands on the floor, jump back, jump up, jump up in the air. And jump up. So, we'll get ready to go. Let's go for five of them, in three, two, one. Hands down, jump, and up. So, hands on the floor, jump your feet back, jump your feet up, come up off the floor. And three. And four. And five. Perfect. Okay, this next one, this is for all you burpee experts out there. This will be a little bit difficult, this one. I'm sure youse'll be fine. So, this time, what we're going to do, you're going to start from a a standing position. You are basically going to get down to the floor as quick as you can, so your chest is on the floor, and you're laying flat, you're then going to jump your feet back up, and in one movement trying to jump up in the air. So, give you a little demo. You're going to jump your chest to the floor, jump up, and then jump up off the floor. Let's see who can jump the highest as well. Only five reps. See if you can jump as high as me. You ready? Three, two, one, let's go. Three. Four. And five. Okay, that was quick. So quick and fast. Got enough time to do it again. So this time, you guys at home, I want you to try and compete with me, okay? We'll have a little competition. I will try and do 10 as fast as I can. You guys try have got to try and match me or at least get five in that time, okay? It's your last little bit, last little bit of exercise. I need a rest, but I'll keep going. Let's see how we get on. On your marks, get set, go! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Whoo! 10. Go on. Okay, guys, let me know how you get on, hope you enjoyed the video. Please let me know. Very well done for taking part. Hopefully I'll see you again soon.

In this session Dan gives us a full body workout, building our fitness and strength for judo. We start with planks and press-ups, before going on to challenge Dan in a burpee competition. Make sure you remember to take a break and drink lots of water. If your child would like to practise the skills from our masterclass sessions, please remember to ensure the area is safe and that your child is feeling fit and well to take part in the lesson. Check you are wearing the right clothes for sport and physical activity. Your safety is important to us. Share your work with Oak National. If you'd like to, please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Twitter, tagging @OakNational and using the hashtag #LearnwithOak. We'd love to see your amazing work.

Judo Masterclass

Judo Masterclass

These resources will be removed by the end of the Spring Term 2026.

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