Monday, June 18, 2012

Ormskirk Otanikwai Chris Bentley

Ormskirk OtaniKwai

Chris Bentley has recently joined the IBF/BCSA he has had his BJC 1st Dan Grade ratified by our Scottish Rep Robin Hyslop who also grade him to 1st Degree Black Belt Sombo. Chris won a silver in the British Open. His Black Belt was awarded by the British Judo Council over a decade ago and are known by their exemplary standards of being competitive yet retaining traditional standards just like the IBF. He has not just joined as an individual but brought his whole club over Ormskirk Otanikwai some of his members are seen below. for those who do not know where Ormskirk it is in Lancashire, not that far from Liverpool. It seems John Clarke 5th Dan who has Liverpool F C tattooed on his leg, has shown a major interest in visiting the club, I wonder why? Chris will be a major help in promoting the IBF/BCSA and Sombo in the area. Chris was introduced to us by Mushin Martial Arts Instructor Sue King.



Chris Bentley



Friday, June 15, 2012

Martin Clarke FIAS President Europe 1989


Martin Clarke FIAS European President 1989

Having returned from most probably the best European Sambo Championships ever, I decide to look up the history of the British Sombo Federation, most of which is recorded on our Web site. I have been a member off FIAS since its inception in 1985 and in that time I have held various positions for one year in 1989 I was FIAS European President, at that time there was no European Sambo Federation. The job was given to me because I along with the BSF were running the Europeans at the Pier Pavilion Herne Bay Kent, sadly this year they have demolished the building. I resigned after the competition as travelling throughout Europe was not something I could afford in those days FIAS was practically funded by Fernando Compte the Father of FIAS.  ESF President is Sergey Eliseev along with his committee have advanced European Sambo to an unbelievable level. The other position I held was FIAS Treasurer I lost this job in 1993 when there was a power struggle in FIAS, which led to it dividing into FIAS East and West, this is now in the past and FIAS is re-unified thanks to the work of David Rudman. Todays FIAS has advanced in leaps and bounds so much so they are in striking distance of becoming an Olympic Sport. The BSF although small has been vigorously promoting Sambo/Sombo where ever it goes, its members have attended ever World Championships since 1985 in spite of the fact it receives no grant aid our expenses have been met by the individual member that takes some dedication.
The BSF is in the fore front of promoting Sambo/Sombo throughout the Commonwealth and will be organising the First ever Commonwealth Sombo Championships in Scotland on September 15th 2012, the BSF will also be present at the World Championships in Minsk in November with competitors and officials who will be attending the Inaugural Meeting of the proposed Commonwealth Sambo Association.

LOOK TO THE FUTURE BUT DO NOT FORGET THE PAST





Friday, June 08, 2012

Important Notice


British Sombo Federation

Important Announcement

At all BSF sanctioned events all Senior participants must be dressed in correct attire to participate. The following events are BSF Sanctioned in July Scottish Open Dumfries, Sombo Olympic Bid Championship Bedford, September The 1st Commonwealth Sombo Championships Dumfries.

Correct Attire for Sombo

Red Sombo Jacket, Red Shorts (Length ½ way between thigh and Knee NO MMA style shorts) Sombo Boots or soft soled boots (any wrestling boot with hard sole will not be allowed) or Blue/Green Sombo Jacket, Blue Shorts

Correct Attire for Combat Sambo/SportCombatSombo

Red Sombo Jacket, Red Shorts (Length ½ way between thigh and Knee NO MMA style shorts) Head Guard (SportCS Full Face) Gloves, Pull on Shin and instep (Velcro ones can come of when grappling) Sombo Boots or soft soled boots (any wrestling boot with hard sole will not be allowed) or Blue/Green Sombo Jacket, Blue Shorts. Groin Guard

In international Combat Sambo must be coloured co-ordinated as will Sombo be soon i.e boots red or blue with in the next 2 years the BSF will be implementing Total Colour Coding

This announcement is for all competitors, Coaches and Tournament Organisers

Thursday, June 07, 2012

A Young Robin


A very Young Robin




FIAS Grades as of 1990

Martin Clarke FIAS License Book from 1990 show different grades in FIAS plus his Gold and Silver Belt record




Vladimir Schaklov with Martin Clarke

This is a picture of Martin Clarke with Vladimir Schaklov taken at the European Championships in Moscow 2012



Martin First met Vlad in 1985 at the World Championships in San Sebastian Spain  He won the Gold Martin came 4th, the following year Martin met him in the final of the Worlds in Pau France, Martin lost 16 to 4. Vladimir had not been scored on for several years and the British and US team referred to Martin as "the man who threw the Russian" he actually comes from Siberia and was competing for the USSR

Vladimir was 5 times World Champion Sambo he also tried Judo a couple of times and won a World Silver, I also believe he only lost to the World Greatest Judo player Yamishita on a Koka

Martin and Vlad have remained friends and he attended the IBF/BCSA Summer Camp in St Mary's Bay in 1988, his two children now live in the UK and have British Passport

Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Sombo/Sambo Gradings


Sombo/Sambo Grading’s

Some people involved in Sombo/Sambo criticise the British Sombo Federation for recognising our affiliated association having grading’s similar to Martial Arts. They maintain true Sambo does not have such schemes. Well they are wrong when the International Amateur Sambo Federation was formed in 1985 they had grading system in their License book but they named the grades after animals such as Jaguar I still have my original FIAS license book and I am only person in GB who has been active in Sombo/Sambo since its formation. This scheme was dropped after just a few years a modified version was that if you won a National Title you cold wear a Black with National Colours i.e. Black Belt with a Union Flag if you won the British, the BSF never adopted this system because to equate someone who won a British with someone who won the Soviet Union Championship was ridiculous. So it was agreed that those associations who wished to adopt a grading system could do so as long as it was vetted by the BSF. Most Sombo Players have not bothered because we still believe it is a competitive sport and your prowess is shown on the Mat but it useful to encourage new student and to keep people who are passed their prime or cannot compete because of injury involved. There was also a Belt system for World Championship competitors Gold Belt was presented to the World Senior Champion, Silver Belt For Silver medallist, Bronze Belt for Bronze Medallist a World Masters Champion was entitled to wear a Bronze Belt. A Grand Master was allowed a Gold belt; Grand Master is a FIAS appointment. I am proud to say I am entitled to wear Silver Belt World Championship Silver 1986 and a Gold Belt, as I am the only FIAS Grand master in the UK. Sadly the system is no longer in operation and the only time I actually saw a presentation of Belts was in a Banquet at the World Championships in 1985 San Sebastian Spain where at the Banquet each World Medallist was presented with their relative Belt, something I would like restored.

CombatSombo this style was developed by me Martin Clarke and is a registered Service Mark and has been for over 20 years and I do organise Grading’s in CombatSombo, SportCombatSombo, CombatSombo Wrestling and Sombo all of which are very successful.  Not only do players in GB grade but Counties as far as file as USA, Canada, Australia and South Africa have used my system and because the system is mine I can check the authenticity of every CombatSombo Black Belt and so can you if they do not have my signature and Stamp on their license or certificate they do not hold any CombatSombo Grade.

Combat Sambo is a totally different Sport involving Grappling, Full Contact Striking mainly practised in Eastern European Countries, Russian Martial Arts is administered in GB by Matthew Clempner President of FORMA

Sunday, June 03, 2012

European Sambo Championships








British Team



Members of the British Sombo Federation recently attended the European Sambo Championships in Moscow, for the first time the British Team were given free accommodation from the European Sambo Federation which was greatly appreciated but we still had the flight to pay for £220 and Visa £105 as the  British Sombo Federation gets no funding. Members who attended were Martin Clarke British Sombo Federation President, Colin Carrott English Sombo Federation President, John Clarke BSF National Coach, Peter Wise BSF EC members, Dave Wellsman Spectator, Julie Halstead Competitor, Tom Richardson Competitor, Bradley Belsey Competitor. Brother Casey was also supposed to compete but had his visa refused because it was dirty, the Russian Visa Department are so disorganised that he never got his passport back till the Saturday we were in Russia. Interestingly enough him and his brother sent their visa application of together Bradley got his back 10 days before we were due to leave and on the same day Casey had a telephone call on the same day telling him that his visa had been rejected because of the passport, yet they refused to send his passport back in time so he could get a new one and they never refunded his visa money. Casey is 19 years old because of this he lost all his money and a chance to represent his country. He was not our only team member not to go because of Russian Visa Agencies inefficiency, Barry Gibson from the North East a potential Combat Sambo medal winner paid an extra £60 for express delivery i.e. a 1 day turn around which took two weeks and from Scotland BSF  Chairman Robin Hyslop and BSF Treasurer John Sharpe had the same problem. I have sent a copy of this article to the Russian Embassy, Gordon Henderson MP, Dan Hannan MEP and the Foreign Secretary Haig MP and hopefully they will stick a banger up the company who organises the Visa. So our original team was 4 Sambo players and 3 Combat Sambo what with the visa problem and injuries we end up with just 3 players



Now on to the important part it has been many years since a GB team has taken part in the European Championships purely because of finance, as I mentioned the BSF get no funding so everyone has to pay their own at a usual cost of a £1000 this is a lot of money, so we have restricted ourselves to the World Championships and the World Masters and in the latter we have been very successful with many of our members winning medals. The Worlds is a big difference as it is not always the best that go rather then those who can afford it, this is about to change in the future. The BSF have decided that from now on only those who will be allowed to enter will be those who are potential medal winner or those who will gain from the experience, other players will participate in lower level competitions. France, Germany, Italy and Holland offer good quality tournaments, which a BSF team can attend. Warriors President Martin Clarke has to travel sometimes several times a year to various parts of the World to attend competitions and meetings as President of the BSF he has done this since 1985 at his own expense.


European Sombo Federation AGM

Before the competition there were many meetings which Martin had to attend and elections, it was pleasing to see that Mr. Sergey Eliseev, President of the All-Russian Sambo Federation, was elected President of the European Sambo Federation. 
He has always been very helpful to the British Sombo Federation and we will continue to support him. Many things were discussed at the meeting and as usual Martin had his say. The one thing to change was that affiliation payments, which have been made in US Dollars, have been changed to Euro’s. Martin questioned why change from a strong currency to one that will be extinct in a couple of years, knowing Martin’s opinion on the EU some members had a little laugh, he was the only one to oppose the motion. The issue of funding was another interesting debate with the ESF and FIAS boasting how they had given Jackets, boots, shorts, mats, canvases, and sent Coaches all over the world. Martin asked why since the formation of FIAS GB has been a member they have only received 10 junior kits? He personally has invested thousands of pounds in a having Sambo equipment made why were they left out? He suggested instead of paying Technical Advisors absorbent pay, they should support Team GB with financial aid in sending teams to the various competitions. He said he had told them that the BSF get no grant aid and is completely self funding and we are ever to get a quality team together we need to have help, at a meeting in March a proposed Commonwealth Sambo Association was put forward. At this meeting we were told there would be plenty of money to support it especially as we were to have Lord as President and Millionaire as vice president, where is it? The president of ESF Mr. Sergey Eliseev   promised to look in to the matter and he is one of the few on FIAS who do what he promised                                                                          



The European Sambo Federation organised a marvellous tournament one of the best we have seen, it had 33 countries entered when Martin Clarke and the BSF organised the European Championships in Herne Bay 1989 there was just 14 countries (that was before the break up of the USSR). The standard was unbelievable and with 3 mats on the go and a big TV screen you never missed a second, the International Federation (FIAS) has its own TV www.sambo.tv which if you have a computer you can watch at any time. This event was held over 3 days and on each mat was a different section Mat1 Men’s Sambo(in UK we have to call it Sombo) Mat2 Ladies Sambo Mat3 Combat Sambo. Sambo is the jacket wrestling style some used to compare it with Judo but with Judo changing their rules over recent years and eliminating a mass of techniques, Sambo has become the more spectacular. Combat Sambo is Jacket Wrestling which also allows striking, the scoring is very similar to Sambo but you can also knock a person out, some call it MMA with a Jacket, I think it is a lot more then that. When you see them coming in punches, kicks, knees and then you see a massive throw followed by an arm lock you have to hold your breath in awe. Of course they wear protective helmets, gloves, shin guards etc. but what I like most it is done on the mat not in a cage or ring, still hard but no one gets beaten silly because they are trapped. Yes you do see the odd knockout and a bit of blood but nobody gets seriously injured, this can still be a participation sport rather then just a spectators sport like Cage Fighting.



Father and Son at Red Square

The BSF first fighter was Bradley Belsey u62k. Bradley is quite a famous Judo Player locally him and his brother Casey have ben taught by their father Rob since a very early age in his early years Rob was a well-known competitor. Bradley is a Nationally ranked Judo player and is one of the fittest and most dedicated player we have seen in a long while. About 12 months ago both brothers wanted to try MMA and Sombo, the obvious place to go was Warriors Grappling Academy and be coached by National Sombo Coach John Clarke. Both lads were selected to represent GB in the Europeans I have explained what happened to Casey.


Bradley only had the one fight and that was against Octavian Taku Moldavia although he lost 12 pts to nil it did not really show the true depth of the match. Bradley gave a good account of himself but because he was used to the modern rules of Judo this hindered him. The first 6pts he lost was on leg grabs something allowed in Judo up to a few years ago he also got penalised for grabbing the hands. The Moldavian went on to lose to the Russian the eventual Gold medallist on a 1 pt. throw which put Casey out of the running for Bronze as the repercharge system only allows you to come back for Bronze if you lose to the Finalist. The Moldavian won Bronze if the system allowed a minimum of 2 fights I am sure Bradley would have given a good account of himself. Instead of being disheartened he has come back with a real bounce and has decided to move down to 57k watch this young man he is a medal winner.


                                       
Next out was Julia Halstead u68k ladies, Julia a 2nd Dan Judo player was very nervous as were all the contestants, her one only fight was against a giant of a women from Ukraine who stood nearly 8 inches taller then Julia. She was caught on a foot throw for a total, I am sure if Julia had another match she would have improved. These Sambo women like the med will diet down, Julia who is good shape would have to drop one maybe two weights to stand a chance. She was the only women on the Team and she gave her best


Tom Richardson was our Combat Sambo fighter at 20 years of age he was an unknown quantity was he any good or could he talk a good fight. Well pleasing he could fight as one of our team members said “he is not afraid of a row” He again only had one fight and managed to take several points of the eventual bronze medallist. He was most probably superior in striking but his weakness was his grappling he eventual lost on a arm lock but a potential future champion see the video and see what you think? They were very strict on equipment everything had to match colour wise Blue Helmet, Blue Gloves, Blue Jacket, Blue Shorts and blue pull on shin and instep and No velcro



Martin Clarke as President of the BSF has put forward a slightly different elimination system so every fighter has a minimum of two fights, considering some travel thousands of miles and pay hundreds of pounds he believes this is a reasonable request



The European Championships was a great event and we all learnt a lot
Once again well done the European Sambo Federation you can get all the full results by going to http://www.sambo.com/results.html

The BSF continues to grow and we have many more members joined us if you want to have one of our Coaches visit you let us know, the BSF is offering courses in Full Contact Sombo, Sombo plus Sombo Grading’s. In July we have two tournaments one in Scotland and one in Bedford if you want to be considered for the Worlds you must turn up at Bedford also we have the first ever Commonwealth Sombo Championships in Dumfries Scotland in September.
John Clarke BSF National Coach will be Coaching and Lecturing at  the first MMA Instructors Course organised by the British CombatSombo Association at the Swale Martial Arts Club contact John 07825224940

Further info IBFBCSA@gmail.com




Friday, June 01, 2012

Terry Watts 7th Dan on Judo Grips

Here is a rather interesting article on Judo gripping by Terry Watts 7th Judo 1972 Olympian
21 times World/European Masters Champion.



19th June 2012.
Simply Judo gripping (Coaching notes).
Part One – Basic.
Part Two – Intermediate.
Part Three – Advanced.
Part Four – Summary.                                       
Coaching Notes
Part One - Basic
(a) Lesson objective – the theory and practice of gripping
The need to appreciate some of the theory from which the practical side of gripping is based.
(b) Role of gripping within judo.
Gripping is essential (fail to grip properly and you will be disqualified in a contest by the referee) and desirable (gripping can contribute up to 70% of the success of as throw).
(c) Definitions – Gripping (Simple version).
Gripping – it is a specific judo skill involved in tactics.
Gripping – is how you use your hands in standing judo to secure and maintain contact and control over your opponent.
(d) Definition – Gripping (Advanced version).
Gripping – is the use of the hands, arms and head in standing judo for the purposes of contact, control, technical link to throws, sensing weaknesses and strength as well as alerting you to the actions and reactions of your opponents. Judo is a dynamic activity and as a consequence the act of gripping also involves considerations of balance, space between players, posture, stance, movement patterns and pace.
Note (a) – gripping in standing judo is also used to apply both elbow locks and strangles although very few contest are won with these techniques used in a standing position.
Note (b) – Ne-waza is considered separately and is not part of standing gripping. Transition – the action of changing from standing judo into ne-waza will be included in gripping.
(e) Comment – in terms of definitions and classification it can be said that gripping is part of tactics.

JUDO TACTICS The conscious selection of various choices from the total options available to a player on how to use his body and effort in order to achieve specific objectives in randori and competition such as win, draw or minimise the impact of a loss.


In order to avoid confusion it is necessary to define strategy.
Definitions
Two similar ideas – so do not get confused between them.
(a). Strategy – the overall plan or method of winning a war
(b) Tactics – what you do to win a single battle.
(f) Comment – the current IJF competition rules determine what is allowed and what is not allowed in gripping.
Example – you must take a grip on your opponent!
Example – you cannot hold the opponent’s belt for ‘more than 5 seconds’!
Rules – you should not, and must not, take part in a contest unless and until you know the current competition rules.
Rules interpretation – you need to understand that it is the referee supported normally by two judges that interpret the rules according to what they see on the mat in the contest in real time. They sometimes make mistakes (we all do) and sometimes a Chief Referee will become involved and their judgement (often with video playback) can help to determine the interpretation.
The grip itself – an individual grip involves at the very least some form of contact with your opponent’s jacket, body or belt. Something beyond a light touch would be acceptable. However, what is more normal is the hand being used to hold on to or grasp your opponent or the hand used as an open palm to hold, push or pull your opponent. Your grip should be both secure in order that you don’t release involuntarily under pressure and not too far away from your own centre of gravity as to cause you to off balance.
Set of grips – the right and left hands can be used together in the form of a set of way of gripping. One hand might act as a strong connection to the opponent for holding, bending, blocking etc while the other hand might be used primarily to turn or rotate your opponent onto his back during a throwing attempt.
Right hand grips – when a player uses his right hand as the strong controlling hand and his left hand more as a support.
Left hand grips – when a player uses his left hand as the strong controlling hand and his right hand more as a support.
Different ways to grip – some grips involve squeezing the jacket or wrapping tightly around the opponent’s wrist for example while other grips might be quite loose, hanging on the jacket sleeve or hooked on to his belt. There are many ways to apply grips.
Targets – the jacket above the belt, the body (but not to be used as direct leg catches) and the belt.
Basic system – the fundamental gripping system involves grip taking and grip breaking.
Grip taking – the action of securing a grip on your opponent. Aspects such as getting the grip, improving the value and using the grip.
Grip breaking – the action of delaying, avoiding, reducing the value of and partially or completely breaking of an opponent’s grip.
Preferred grip – This is a useful and practical way of thinking about gripping. The grip set that you prefer and adopt most frequently because you have already found it to be the most comfortable or successful for your type of judo (in technical and tactical terms).
Grip value – depending on what ‘tasks’ you can perform with a particular grip it could be considered a low or high in value. This important theoretical concept has great tactical value in that you can use your high value grip but you should consider releasing or raising the value (potential) benefit of that other grip from low to high. Remember it has been alleged that “gripping can contribute up to 70% of the success of as throw”.
Timing – there are four distinct aspects to timing of grips
(a) Real time – gripping immediately or delaying taking a grip
(b) Speed of actual hand movement when taking a grip
(c) Sequence of gripping for example right hand grips first followed by the left hand or vice versa.
(d) Short duration and longer duration grips. Although we are generally talking here in terms of seconds this can and will make a difference during a contest.
Part Two – Intermediate level
The competition environment - the sort of words that are appropriate here are;
Opponent, referee, judges, timekeepers, recorders, audience, noise, pressure, stress, physical confrontation, target to win the contest, scores, penalties, rules, mat allocation, blue belt or white belt, announcer, competition schedule, competition elimination system, warm up area, contest duration etc
The contest environment is very dynamic – changing all the time.
Purpose of gripping;
-       Conform to current judo competition rules
-       Have contact with your opponent
-       Control your opponent and at the same time to stop him  from controlling you
-       Sense/or feel his strengths and weaknesses
-       Early warning of his intended actions/reactions
-       Make a technical/physical link for throwing skills and transition into ne-waza.
-       Allow you to carry out tasks i.e. turning him, blocking, pushing, pulling etc
Methods for grip taking
-       Quickly or slowly
-       Strongly or normally
-       Directly or indirectly
Different grips sets that can be used
-       Right sided
-       Left sided
-       Cross gripping
-       Central two handed gripping (lapels or wrists)
-       Gripping behind the jacket etc, etc, etc
-       Belt grip
-       Triceps grips
-       Etc
Work rate
Simply a measure of exactly how much physical and mental effort you put into your gripping in a contest environment. This type of idea allows you use it as an analytical tool meaning that you can make judgements and maybe use it to influence the current amount of effort that you make an encourage you to ‘raise your game’.
Balance
Due to the very nature of a judo fight players will often be in an unstable situation and either slightly off balance or potentially about to be off balance. The reaction is constant adjustments to retain the essential stability. This aspect is where a good understanding of space between players, posture, stance, movement patterns and pace becomes necessary.
Pure mathematics in gripping
The simple logic to apply is as follows:
If you have one grip and he has none then maybe you have an advantage.
If you have two grips and he has none then maybe you have an advantage.
If you have two grips and he only has one then maybe you have an advantage.
Tactical flexibility
In relation to gripping it is the ability (usually under pressure) to change what you are currently doing to do something different (hopefully something that is likely to be more successful).
Tasks that you can perform with your grips
-       Use them when attacking your opponent
-       Use them when defending against opponent’s attacks
-       Pull him
-       Push him
-       Lower his body posture
-       Raise his body posture
-       Turn him (to the left or to the right)
-       Move him about the mat – to create attack opportunities
-       Move him (posture, balance, stance, and pace) to help your defence.
-       Confuse him tactically – flicks, sudden turns, feints etc
-       Attrition – wear him down with lots of effort.
Notes
1. Different throws may require you to grip in a particular way.
2. The real value of a grip is in the task that it can do – if it is not effective then be prepared to change it to a better grip.
3. Good grips can contribute to 70% of the success of a throw.
4. Tactical advice – always take and keep the initiative in grip fighting.
5. Your grips should always be working/active – but this does not mean a need to constantly change or even adjust a grip as the contest progresses.
6. Grip domination is the key to consistent success in competition.
7. A ‘dangerous’ grip is any grip, anywhere and at any time that is giving a good advantage to your opponent.
8. A grip does not require you to ‘squeeze tight’ in order to retain contact with your opponent.
9. There are only really five - ways to develop a good gripping standard – (a) understand the theory (b) study including www.judovision.com  and Youtube – just type in ‘judo gripping’(c) lots of frequent and regular appropriate practice (d) feedback from your own competition experience and watching other players fight (especially at international level – British Open etc).
10. Do not over-focus on gripping skill as they are only the means to an end in judo. The end itself is to win the fight and not to show off how wonderful or dominant your gripping has become.
11. They are many different types of grip taking techniques.
12. There are many different types of grip breaking techniques.
13. HORRIBLE FACT – No one really knows why but the skill of gripping is often acknowledged not as a secret or dark art but simply as the most neglected part of basic and advanced judo instruction. Example (a) ask any judo player to tell you just how much grip coaching he/she have received and (b) there has only been one book dedicated to gripping so far in English and it was written over 20 years ago!
14. It is the responsibility of your coach to teach you gripping skills! So, talk to them about it.
Part Three – ADVANCED
In this section the main area of study is divided into four;
Grip taking techniques
Example
Using a cross grip with your right hand to catch and then feed a grip on your opponent’s right cuff to your left hand.
Grip breaking techniques
Example
Quick, fast and strong withdraw backwards towards the side of your body of your whole right arm in order to create a total release of your opponent’s grip on that right arm. Possibly but not necessarily simultaneously using your left hand to fix his right arm in place thus blocking him from moving his in the same direction as your grip breaking action.
Transition
Example
Using the power of your hands/arms to continue to push him as he hits the mat as if to ‘roll him out’ thus often enhancing the level of score awarded but also creating a better opening and opportunity to follow him down into ne-waza.


Gripping style
Example
This is a definition of gripping style, an analysis of different styles and their significance in a tactical sense of the implications of someone tending to adopt and use the same style often linked to their particular choice of throwing techniques.
Gripping tactics
Examples
Basic Tactics
Try to get your preferred grips but don’t allow your opponent to settle with his grips.
 Avoid, delay, reduce the value of or break any ‘dangerous’ grips

Part Four – Summary
References
DVD Jeon, Korean Judo Master
DVD Kosei Inoue – the judoka
DVD Jimmy Pedro – Grip like a World Champion
DVD  Frank Weniker - Gripping
Magazine – Judo (official FFJDA french monthly)
Magazine – L’esprit du judo abonnement@lesspritdujudo.com
Grips. Neil Adams  (1990) The Crowood Press  ISBN 185223 3869
DVD - BJA Masterclass   Makarov
Website www.ijf.org  Current Competition rules
Your coach – talk with him.
Talk with any top competition player – everyone likes to be ask to give advice. It makes them feel worthwhile and valued. Just ask them whatever you want to know.