Relax, read, react: Octavian Patrascu’s science-backed twist on judo performance

Judo is often called the “gentle way”, yet plenty of athletes still try to solve every problem with brute force. Octavian Patrascu argues that this mindset is exactly what drives injuries and avoidable losses: tense shoulders, dulled grip sensitivity, late reactions, and a body that burns out before the match is decided. A multiple World and European Masters champion, he’s turning his experience into an evidence-based system that blends elite competition, coaching, and research.

Technique starts with letting go, not tightening up.

Patrascu’s first principle sounds almost too simple: relax your shoulders. When the shoulder girdle is locked, the hands stop “listening”, and a judoka can’t read the opponent’s intention in time. That’s why, with beginners, he pushes Seiryoku Zenyo from day one and spends the early months on ukemi and shintai before loading up throws. The goal is to remove upper-body tension so the arms act like antennae, while kuzushi becomes a physics problem—finding maximum instability and using the opponent’s momentum instead of forcing a finish.

His own career backs up the message. Patrascu started judo in the early 1990s in Chișcăreni, Moldova, reached national level by 15, and moved to the United Kingdom at 19 to face tougher opposition. He has represented Moldova at official World and European Championships and has competed at club level for Birmingham’s Erdington Judo Club, where he has also coached since 2014. In the Masters category, he continued at under-81 kg—one of judo’s deepest divisions—while collecting numerous medals at IJF and British Judo Association events, including World Masters Championships silver in Lisbon 2021 and Abu Dhabi 2023, plus bronze in Marrakesh 2019.

Speed on the mat is really speed in the brain.

The second pillar is neurocognitive training. Patrascu points out that athletes waste vital fractions of a second by tracking hands, feet, and torso separately. He promotes “visual anchoring” around the chest or lapel to trigger peripheral vision and pattern recognition. In a 2025 paper in the European Journal of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, he outlines how this can reduce decision-making time, supported by neurofeedback drills using an EEG headset to monitor concentration.

Finally, he explores an AI-based tactical filter: combining CD-RISC 10 resilience testing with video movement analysis to guide whether an athlete should attack heavily or choose a more economical, lower-risk plan. He links the idea to his gold at the 2024 Commonwealth Games in Malta, where fatigue forced a strategic switch—proof, in his view, that smart resource management beats stubborn style.

Source: JudoInside