Judo Combination Techniques

Author: Teizo Kawamura
Pub: 1958 by W. Foulsham & Co. LTD.
Pages: 61
Ranking:
Out of Print

A very brief, yet well done book. Nothing surprising or new in here for the long time Judoka. I personally only found one combination that I'd previously been unaware of. Many B/W photos, usually three photos of each combination technique. This book could have been dynamite if it were 2 or 3 times the current length, ie; more combinations. Perhaps someday the "Combination Encyclopedia" will be written, and this book is a step in the right direction.

INTRODUCTION

It is a great joy for me to know that in many countries the number of Judo enthusiasts continues to increase and that there is a growing interest in the study of Judo techniques.

A number of books on Judo has already been published in English, French and German but the majority of these are concerned only with the basic techniques. This book explains, by the medium of photographs, the combination techniques used in Judo and should be of great benefit to foreign students. Mr. Kawamura, 7th Dan of the Kodokan and author of this book is a brilliant graduate of the Advanced Teachers' School of Tokyo, where he began the specialized study of Judo in which he is still engaged at the present time. In 1953, he accepted an appointment with the Budokai in London and, during the course of the next two years, taught at many Judo centres in England and Scotland. He returned to Japan in 1955, inspecting en route Judo circles in Europe and America. At present he is Assistant Professor of Physical Education at the University of Liberal Arts in Tokyo and, at the same time, is responsible for the instruction of Foreign Students in the Kodokan Judo Institute.

I am very pleased to learn that this book is to be published and believe it will prove a valuable guide to foreign students of the Art.

Risei KANO,
President,
Kodokan Judo Institute,
Tokyo International Judo Federation.


EDITOR'S FOREWORD

IN recent years there has been a tendency among young Japanese judoka to concentrate on the development of a single technique right from the outset of their judo careers. This tendency to specialize too early is also a feature of foreign judo. Compared with the method of studying a variety of techniques from the beginning (with a view to specializing at a later date) this concentration. on one technique can make for rapid progress in the early stages when one is practising with opponents of a low grade. Nevertheless, the extent of the progress possible is limited since it is eventually necessary for the judoka to meet more experienced opponents who will find it comparatively easy to defend themselves against any one technique, however strong, once they are aware that they have nothing to fear from any other quarter. Moreover, it is not sufficient merely to study a variety of techniques; if the maximum results are to be obtained in practice, it is essential to study scientifically and this process resolves itself into a study of combination techniques or Renrakuwaza.

Perhaps the best method of demonstrating the underlying principle of Renrakuwaza is to analyse an example of its use in practice. During the course of this description (and throughout the book) the "thrower" is referred to as tori and his opponent as uke.

Let us suppose that tori has a strong Tai Otoshi and his favourite opportunity to attack is when his opponent's balance is broken to the left front corner. If uke is experienced, he will quickly realize tori's intention and resist the attempt to break his balance by pulling back his left shoulder and throwing his weight in the opposite direction. If, however, at the next attempt tori, immediately he feels uke react, stops pulling in the direction of uke's left front corner and pushes instead in the direction of uke's reaction (i.e. uke's right back corner) it will have the effect of breaking uke's balance in that direction thus affording tori an ideal opportunity to attack with 0 Uchi Gari. In order to resist this attack uke must regain his balance by shifting his weight to his left front corner, leaving himself vulnerable to tori's Tai Otoshi. In addition if both the techniques of the combination have the same initial movement (as in the case of the example quoted above) uke is still uncertain in which direction to defend even after tori has begun to move in. This increases tori's chances of succeeding with his original attack.

There are many possible combinations and many variations in their application (in some cases the initial attack is merely a feint) but the principle remains the same, i.e. to utilize the opponent's reaction to one attack to unbalance him and leave him vulnerable to attack by another technique.

The object of this book is to illustrate a number of the combination techniques in common use among Japanese judoka today which can be used as a basis for the instruction of beginners in this field. As it is intended primarily for the use of instructors, no attempt has been made to describe the basic techniques involved; furthermore, since it is felt that one photograph is worth a dozen descriptions, the explanations have been kept to the minimum and, in the main, are concerned only with linking the movements illustrated. It is hoped that the student will be encouraged to imitate these movements in practice, thereby learning for himself the subtleties of timing and movement impossible to convey even in a practical demonstration. Since they are standard throughout the judo world, the romanized version of the Japanese names for the techniques have been used and, if the English translation of some of the other terms seems somewhat stilted in places, it is because every effort has been made to keep as close as possible to the original Japanese, as so many of the words and phrases used in describing judo techniques lose much of their impact when loosely translated.

In all the photographs used, Mr. KAWAMURA demonstrates tori's movements and Mr. HAMILTON takes the part of uke.