When I first picked up this book I was stuck by the similarity in style
and structure to the Kodokan inspired books of the 6o’s, notably The
Techniques of
Judo by Shinzo Takagaki and Harold E. Sharp, first published in
1957. This was the
reference text of choice for junior students in Canadian Judo, back
when I wore a white belt.
Then I began to read the modern text and the differences quickly became
apparent. It assumes a knowledge of some basic terms, uke
and tori being
obvious examples. There is also no attempt to give English meanings for
the Japanese
names of the techniques. This book offers a much larger number of
variations on each throw, with
four variants each of ippon-seoi-nage and seoi-nage.
This is more
than an average student can hope to master. The older book
teaches just one method of doing each of
these two techniques.
While the descriptions of the various techniques were generally clear,
I found them difficult to visualize. Even relating the steps in
the description to the
appropriate picture was a challenge. I am convinced that the best way
to use this book is to have one person
reading to walk two others through the steps in each variation.
This would require a
huge investment of time. It would be very difficult to become expert
enough in all the
variations to use them in competition.
In conclusion: This is not a book for students. This book is
intended for the sensei who wants to arm their competitors with an
unexpected variation in the next
tournament and for judges who must evaluate those techniques and award
an ippon, waza-ari or
something less. Given the world-wide popularity of Judo,
the emergence of local variations
and the Olympic level of competition; it has become a challenge to
ensure consistent
scoring. This book is the Judo equivalent of a Papal Bull,
establishing what is orthodox within the
sport.
Toshiro Daigo