The Shintaro Higashi Show - The Timing Secret Most Judoka Miss! | The Shintaro Higashi Show

Episode Date: May 13, 2026

This week’s podcast is a special one! — we recorded it in person with David Kim. We talk about one of the biggest misunderstandings in judo: people think strength wins, but timing is what actually makes techniques land. If you want the full conversation, check out the complete episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Stay tuned for more highlights from this week’s podcast series.Listen to the full episode now on:Apple podcast : https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-shintaro-higashi-show/id1540600589Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/343IXJDYlh6PvKgDUSgt9w?si=1b8717c8c4f44e95

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Welcome back to the Shantara Higashi show with David Kim. Thank you for being here in person. This is in person. This is not remote. Yeah, this is amazing. Yeah. Fun, right? I get to see all your stuff.

That's right. All my accolades and my kids' drawings. Yes, yes. Mostly your daughter, which is a green flag. Green flag. Today, what are we talking about? Well, today we're going to talk about timing. Timing.

And how people misunderstand timing, you know, learning timing. are you learning the timing? Are you accepting timing? Are you anticipating timing? Or are you creating timing? And I think this is something that people misunderstand when they're trying to learn timing. Yeah.

It's a very complicated answer to this. Yes. Very abstract. Abstract, yes. We start static, Wichikami, then we do moving Uchikami. And people simplify the timing as, if they're going backwards, you do this row,

if you're going forward to do this row. and then the one layer above that is like I'm pushing you backwards and then when you push back into me I go for the turn throw right so it's like sort of reaction based right now right I push you push back

it's almost scripted yeah yes it's scripted but it never really like that it's so clean and there's a combination of like I push a little bit I pull a little bit I pull a little bit I push a little bit and then you think I'm gonna push so you push back and then I go for a turn throw

where I go pull pull you resist them back, and I go backwards for a coach or something. Right. But now you've got to take into consideration, there's rotation. There's angles and things like this. So then the next level above that is forcing the timing by doing something, doing something. They're forced to react, and you know they're going to react a certain way. Yes.

And then you go the other way. Right. So it's all of those things, and it's very difficult to train, because if you're making the shape of a throw like Mutimara, where you're on one leg and you have to be balanced and you have to be strong and you have to dynamically move through that motion

and you also now have to take into consideration what the other person's doing and forcing something to give you the right reaction very, very complicated. And that's why Gino's not popular because it's so hard. Yeah, because you have to do it right.

Yeah. And they have to do what you want to me. Yes, right? And I had that exact same situation yesterday. I said it up, I'm ready, we're moving, and I tried to go on with Shimada and my knee hurt.

And I was like, ah, and I dropped to my knee. Yeah, I dropped to my knee, and that was it. I could hold him. Yeah. And it's like, the timing was good, but the execution was poor. Yeah. And now I'm like, God damn it. Yeah.

And then there's just frustration. Right. That adds to why Judo so hard. Right. And I think this is a good conversation because I think a lot of people who are trying to train, quote, and quote, timing, if you really press them. Yeah. they don't really know what they're training.

Like they don't know what the goal is. Like, well, I am pushing. It's like, okay, well, are you training the pushing? Are you, are you training the picking up the reaction? Because if people don't react, people will still go for that coachie or they'll still try to turn through. But you've lost the timing. All right. You took a heartbeat to Milan and now they've settled.

Or you're trying to do that foot sweep. They already stepped. and you're supposed to be intercepting that step. But yet they keep training it in a scripted kind of way without training the awareness. Yes. That usually is the awareness. Yes.

You know this guy Ward Zinsky? Of course. Yeah. He has a little bit of a butterfly situation with a sweep situation. And there's a very shrewd interplay where he's just trying to bump the person down. He has that sleeve. And he's holding their sleeve, but they don't have his sleeve.

Yeah, right. And then he's waiting for that reaction backward on the heel. And then he takes that arm and just pushes it. Yeah. And the guy falls down. Right. Commonly, when that move is taught, you go here, you go there, you pull forward, they react back, and then you push that hand and they fall downward.

Everyone's drilling it. Maybe the U.K. is not given the right reaction. Right. They don't have the awareness and the feel to know when this thing's going to happen, how they're going to move, how they're going to switch directions. And that's the issue. You nailed it. Yeah. And I think this is what, for the musicians out there, I think this is where being a musician can help you with your judo or your jiu-jitsu because in music, there is a meter, there is a timing, there's syncopation, which is when you are interrupting the time or you're stealing time in a way. You have, you know, accelerando, you have rabata, you have all these things where you're speeding up, slowing down, your stealing time. Well, it's just musical, like, concepts.

Right. But it helps, I think, when you think about like an aschiazza, a foot sweep, right? Like a lot of times, like, you know, people, see people and yourself teaching it, you know, you have to, you're stepping, you're stepping like, you know, that forward and backward drill that people do the walking kind of stuff and you step, you step. And then someone will say, and then you have to do this. And then something happens. And people always get that timing wrong. Yeah. That little stutter step. Right. But if you're a musician, you recognize it. Oh, that. It's like a syncopated rhythm. I need to steal time from this to anticipate him trying. Like I forced him to take that step. I steal time. And that way my foot sweeping foot is ready to sweep. But over and over again, when I've seen videos of people, and it's obviously easier to say than to do.

But I think it's, if you know this, it's easier to conceptualize, oh, this is what I'm. I'm trying to do with a foot suite. I don't know. What do you, what are you found? No, I mean, you nailed it. Yeah. You ever see Whiplash?

No, I haven't. You haven't seen Whiplash? No, I haven't seen it. I know. It's a drummer movie. That's probably why. It's really good. Yeah.

No, I forget that. When I teach coaches, it's like, right, you're going to sweep on three. One, two, three. That foot's landing on three. Yeah. You've got to be ready to reap on three. Yeah, right. One, two, three.

And if you're miss timing it, right? Yeah, you're never going to make it. Maybe it's me. or maybe Uke is trying to do me a favor and they're not stepping on three. Yeah, right. So I'm ready on three, you're stepping on three. Right.

Sometimes you're trying to do me a favor by delaying it so that I have enough time to reap it. And it screws you. It screws me up later. Or sometimes they're taking too fast of a step because I'm pulling fast or they're just not a good MK. Sweep on three. Ready?

One, two, three. One, two, three. And then it's like rushing or dragging. Yeah. That's that whiplash reference. Yeah. So I'm going to do that at the dojo. Yeah.

I can't make this reference. without you watching the movie. I will, I'll watch it and, uh, that way I can understand your future references. But that's like the one, two, and three, right? Like that's, because you got to concentrate on the, yeah, the foot before the suite, right? Yeah. And I feel like if people did that, they're so focused on the three. Yep.

Did I make it on three? Did I, before the three? Like, was I dragging? Was I anticipating? Like, I don't know. But to me, the key is the half, Is it that quarter note or whatever, eighth note, before the three, right? Because that's what's going to set up the and three, right?

Instead of like, is it three? So looking for a soda, they're bringing their foot back. I drive the hand on the chin. Diashi comes with the trail leg, right? One, two. What would that be in notes format? It's not quota note, quarter note, right? It's not one, two.

Yeah, I'm trying to think of the footwork. Yeah. You're trying to do, the person doing Osoto is trying to do Daashi, or the person who's getting a soda done to them is doing D. I'm stepping in for Osoto. Yeah. They pull that leg away. Oh, right.

And then the trailing leg gets foot swept with my right leg. Right. So the one they leave behind. Yeah. Yeah, the one they leave. Yeah. So I'm faking Osoto and then foot sleeping. Right.

Want two. So what would that be in the... Well, because the two would be, if it's... you had done the Osoto, right? You'd be going one, you're stepping in one and two to do the Asota. I'm not doing Osoto. No, I know, but that would be the rhythm. But that would be...

Osoto be one, two, reap on two. But it's like a one and then two. Right, but what I'm saying is that you're doing it, you're doing the sweep before the two. Right? You're stealing that time. Am I? I guess I'd have to see it because I'm not, I don't have it clear in my head. But they's, because when they step back, uh-oh, we're messing.

Osoto coming this way. It looks like Osoto's coming. Yeah. One. Oh, so-oh. Oh, I see. But it's a little bit, it's not quite one, two, quarter note. Because it's a little bit longer.

Yeah. You're waiting, you're giving them like a 16th note or something to step. Yes. To step. Because you're waiting for them to step. Yeah. Right. Yeah.

And then you're doing the daashi. the trailing letter. You would have been in trouble getting into Harvard if this was on the SATs just literally now. Yeah. I probably shouldn't have gotten

in anyway. But yeah, but I mean, obviously it's not one-to-one this analogy, but I do think it can help because you have, the old thing in music is like, okay,

would you rather be in tune or would you rather be in time? And the answer is always time. Because if you play all the wrong notes but at the right time, at least you have the rhythm. But if you play all the right notes at the wrong time, it's still noise. You're a musician.

Yes. So, I've never heard that. You never heard that? No. I'm not a musician. Oh, well, come on, you make music with your judo. But that's kind of, I think that's true for anything. Judo for musicians.

Dudo for musicians. I'm not lying. This is good. All right. Yeah, sure. I think there's a lot of musicians out there that appreciate that. Yeah. What does you say, tune over time or timing over tune? tune? Yeah, would you be in, I'd rather be in time rather than in tune, if you have to choose. You know, that's perfect analogy, because a bad Osoto at the right time can work.

Can work. Yeah. But a battle soda at the bad time. Oh, the right, a perfect Osoto at the wrong time will never work. You know what? Yeah. Yeah. That's very true. That's interesting. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's, I think it's natural, you know? Yeah. So when you're thinking about time, right? And I should take my own advice, right? Because it's true for anything. And you're talking about it with Orzynski. He knows the timing.

He knows it. And it's easy. For him, once he sees something, he knows, oh, I don't need to wait for that next. You know, he's stealing time from them, right? Because if he waits, bu, the guy might recover his arm. He might stick his hand out. He might do all sorts of things. But he steals that time.

He doesn't allow him to take that beat. Yeah. And he takes, he doesn't. something at that time and they fall over. Same with Ashiwaza, same with a throw. It's all kind of there. So I guess what I'm telling you guys is, you know,

pick up an instrument. Learn how to play an instrument. There you go. Forget you. And it'll help you. Yeah. Just enough. You know, I think the classic way you could trade it is just a simple misdirection throw. You learn turn and throw. Yeah. backwards throw. You put those two

together. Right. Take one way, go the other way, go one way to go all the way, just playing this game. If his right versus left, it's like turn and throw, Tany Toshi, turn to Tany Toshi. Tany Toshi faint. They pull the leg back,

go turn and throw. Right. And you have to, when you make that reaction, when they have the reaction, you have to be aware of, you don't do it until it's the right time.

Yes, yes. And you know, the transition between these two moves. You could do Tanya Toshi, you could do Uchamara, and then to sync that together, you're anticipating that reaction and you have to put yourself in a position

to be able to hit it and it's not quite independent of each other. It's like when you show that turn throw, you have to cheat the back foot behind the guy to create that lane to attack the backside. Right. Right. So it's like...

And this is, I think, why people who are very good look so magical. Yeah. Because their timing is perfect. Yep. So they always look like they're waiting on, like. They're never rushed because they're just, it's like they know everything that's going to happen.

It's because their timing is perfect. True. They see the in between. They read between the lines. Yeah. They see. They see it. They see it.

That's why someone who's very skilled. Yep. Look so much better than someone who's terrible. Yeah. Because they just know. They just know. So you can be that person. Yeah.

Timing. Timing. Music for judo and BJJ. Or judo for musicians. Perfect. Perfect. Let's do it. You can get glicked on it.

You know, you play the saxophone, you know. That's why he's so good. That's what he got. That's why he's so good. We'll start a band, you know, saxophone. Whatever I do. Yeah. I was going to say that you play a certain type of a flute, but, you know, this is not that kind of a podcast.

Especially not in this climate. But thank you, guys. We'll see in the next episode.