• Title: Neil Adams - Grips (Part of Ippon's Judo Materclass series)
• Author: Neil Adams
• Publisher: Ippon Books Ltd.
• Number of Pages: 96
• Level: Intermediate to Advanced
• ISBN: 09518455 6 X
• Rating: 4 Stars

Actually, the gi is one of the major reasons why tiny Japanese judo and jujitsu men who first appeared in the West were able to beat large wrestlers and contributed to the myth that judo or jujitsu does not "require any strength." This is because being able to grip the gi lends an enormous amount of leverage that makes it possible for a small people to throw heavier ones. No magic here folks.

The gi is a heavy-duty version of the Japanese kimono, so it is natural that Japanese Jujitsu styles (apart from techniques that were practiced against armored opponents) and eventually Kano's Judo would think that practicing techniques against a gi-clad opponent to be the best means of training for self-defense. Whether training with or without a gi is better for self-defense in the Western world purposes is a topic of hot debate within the martial arts / grappling community.

Personally, I feel you should do both but with an emphasis on using the gi (say about 75% of the time). Apparently, my opinions are gaining currency because Rickson wrote this in Black Belt Magazine a while back. I think most of the time in a street / bar fight situation you will meet someone with a button-down, rugby shirt, sport coat, starter jacket, leather vest with chains (depending on where you hang out), etc. which will work just as good as a gi (at least for choking). For throws, you might want to learn more non-gi/wrestling type throws as when standing you don't want to make the mistake of grabbing the guy's clothing only to find that it wasn't as sturdy as it looked. For chokes, you are putting less pressure on the material so as long as it is sturdier than a T-shirt it should choke the owner out just fine. Even then, once you are on the ground you have the chance to switch to something else easier than standing.

What I am basically saying is that this book, more so than other Ippon Masterclass books, is of specific interest to the sport judoka. A sport BJJ person might find it somewhat interesting but will invariably complain about all the grips and such not shown because they would be penalized in judo. Most judo throws rely on getting an arms length grip on your opponent's gi and then turning in the space between you for a carrying throw (katsugi-waza) or driving through for a rear throw (ura-waza). While these throws can develop tremendous power they have a long "set-up" and are not too smart if your opponent is punching and kicking you. So BJJ and the like mainly concentrate on getting inside punches and kicks and hugging body to body and doing more wrestling-type throws or simple sag him to the ground moves. Either that or they just go in low and hard for the legs. Not as flashy but more effective in just getting to the ground. But still, non-judoka should find some of the basics in here interesting, especially the grip breaking and the belt grabbing stuff. I have seen at least two or three bar fights where a guy lost because a fellow with long arms was able to grab him by the collar and stiff arm him away while beating him silly with his free hand. So even if you don't plan on using your attacker's clothing against him, at least learn how it can be used against you.

This book is written by Neil Adams who also authored Armlocks and Tai-otoshi for Ippon. Adams, one of the best Western judoka to date, was known for being a superb, if somewhat conservative, gripper. He used a variety of throws, most notably uchi-mata and tai-otoshi.

Some basic definitions are in order. Gripping skills are known in Japanese as kumi-kata. The standard grip is known as the sleeve-lapel, meaning that a right-hander would grab the lapel with his right hand and the sleeve with his left. Your lapel grip is called the "tsurite" (fishing hand) because you pull or push your uke to get him off balance; the sleeve grip is called the "hikite" (pulling hand) because it is used to draw your opponent around on an axis depending on the throw. Of course, these definitions only make sense when you are doing right-handed throws from right-handed grips or vice-versa.

When both you and your opponent grip right-handed you are said to be in ai-yotsu (same-side grips). If you are gripping right-handed and your opponent is gripping left-handed (or vice-versa) then you are in kenka-yotsu (opposing grips). What is it called if you have an over the back belt grip with your right hand and the gi skirt with your left while your opponent is holding your shoulder seam with his right hand and has his left arm underhooking your right arm? I don't know. The book starts off with Adams drawing a broad distinction between throws which go over the opponent's arm (overgrasp) and those that go under (undergrasp). Examples of the overgrasp would be harai-goshi, koshi-guruma, and o-soto-gari. Head control and body contact are key and Adams notes that physically stronger players can often use these to good effect as they can be forced if technique is less than perfect. Examples of undergrasp throws include tai-otoshi and morote-seoi-nage. These rely more on timing and quickness than body contact. Interestingly, these are the throws that tend to rely most on the use of the gi, while the overgrasp throws often exist in modified form in wrestling. Of course, many throws cannot be classified as easily and some probably don't fit in either category. But it is an intelligent distinction to make.

Then Adams breaks grips down into orthodox and unorthodox variations. Orthodox basically means the sleeve-lapel grip or any cognizable variation of it including double-lapel so within the Orthodox section there are some unorthodox variation. Still, Adam's prejudice is abundantly clear as the chapter on orthodox grips is a heck of a lot longer and more detailed.

The Orthodox section includes sleeve-lapel, sleeve-collar, sleeve-shoulder, sleeve-mid back, double lapel, double sleeve, and lapel-armpit grips. There are also a lot of very useful generalities and particularities like how to actually hold the gi (open thumb) and to pull, how to coordinate the pull and the footwork, etc. However, most of it is too detailed and situation specific to really describe. One problem with this, though, is that Adam's examples almost always seem to lead into throws he used thus making the book more limited.

In the Unorthodox section Adams refers to three types of situations: reaching over the opponent's back to grab the belt, extreme one-sided grip, and leg grabs. He shows some techniques from each category except for the leg grabs. Why he omits showing this I am not sure-perhaps because you can only grab a leg for a few seconds so you are not really "gripping it."

Then there is a chapter on Gripping Strategies. However, there is neither real strategy here nor any explanation of how to develop one for a certain type of opponent. I'm not knocking this chapter but "gripping tactics" would be a better title. What is shown is a wide variety of techniques to gain or block certain grips and they are quite good. But nothing really strategic in it. He also shows which grips are illegal in contests.

I don't envy Adams in trying to write this book. It is hard to talk about grips in a systematic way since the grips are so integral to the particular throws. He does a pretty good job. So I would give this book a higher rating if I hadn't read Modern Judo by Peter Seisenbacher and George Kerr (to be reviewed soon). Modern Judo really opened my eyes by discussing grips in terms of ranges. Basically, they talked about throws that worked from no-grip, one-hand grip, regular grip, and grappling (body-to-body contact). Adams division of grips into orthodox and unorthodox then looks kind of simplistic by comparison. Modern Judo gives you a way to develop a personal repertoire of throws by showing which throws fit best with others and a way of evaluating an opponent by seeing what range he likes to fight at. Combine this with Adam's overgrasp-undergrasp distinction and you start to really understand grips.

After this there is a chapter on exercises for developing grip strength and a chapter on self-defense. The self-defense chapter is lame. Adams goes on about how learning judo for self-defense "ultimately cheapens and demeans it." Gee, and Dr. Kano originally thought engaging in public competition cheapens and demeans judo. So who's right? But Adams then he goes on to say that judo skills can come in pretty handy if forced to defend yourself and gripping skills in particular help you develop hand speed, etc. Then he shows one basic release from a wrist grab.

Overall, a good book though very biased towards the author's fighting style and somewhat insulting of other styles and points of view. If Modern Judo hadn't come up with a better theory on how to divide grips I would give it 4½ or maybe 5 stars, but as it stands it gets 4.