Competitive Judo [Paperback]

Ronald Angus (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 2005

Judo is known as the gentle martial art, but when two judokas square off, the action is fast and furious. Yet the art and sport forms of judo both require great control and swiftness. Indeed, a key to greatness in the sport is the ability to use an opponent's own strength against him rather than trying to subdue or combat it.

Competitive Judo is your guide to developing the technical skills, tactical maneuvers, and proper mind-set to achieve ultimate success in the sport. Master the use of various grips such as the sleeve lapel and double lapel, as well as popular throws such as the leg grab (te waza). The book also details how to set up throw attacks for inducing opposite reaction in the opponent, use stepping patterns, execute combination techniques, and utilize blocks and stumbles. In setting up groundwork techniques, various transitions, combination ground techniques, and reversals are also covered in depth.

Long-time elite competitor and coach Ron Angus covers every facet of being a winning judoka, from scouting your opponent to building strength and speed to recovering. Apply his advice on training and competing, and then experience the excitement of scoring ippon in your next shiai.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ron Angus is a 5th degree black belt, who has practiced judo for 42 years and has taught and studied the sport in more than 15 countries. As a competitor, Angus represented Canada at one Commonwealth Game and three Commonwealth Championships, and he was a 10-time World Masters Champion. He has competed in 23 consecutive Senior Nationals, 22 Canadian Nationals, and one British National Championship.

As the New Zealand National Team North American Project coach from 1984 to 1996, Angus led teams to three World Championships and to the 1996 Olympic Games. In addition, he has produced both national and international champions in judo, sambo, and grappling.

Angus is currently a motivational speaker on the topics of fitness and mental well being for the Canadian-based Alliance Fitness Corporation. He is also a National Coaching Course Program (NCCP) instructor, the NCCP Judo Ontario Chairman, and a member of Judo Canada's Coaching Diffusion Committee, which shares coaching principles with fellow coaches.

Angus and his wife, Tracy, reside in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Human Kinetics (October 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0736057447
• ISBN-13: 978-0736057448
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #728,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Fighter's Book Available, November 6, 2005

By 

Plotinus - See all my reviews

This review is from: Competitive Judo (Paperback)

This is a book that every Judo and Grappling competitor/fighter needs. It focusses on the techniques and tactics that are most effective for winning, and most 'deadly'. The author uses his vast knowledge of and experience in Judo, Sambo and Grappling coupled with modern scientific analyses to construct a secure recipe for success. There is a vast wealth of knowledge poured into this volume, enough to more than satisfy even the most avid student of the combat arts. At the heart of the book are its winning moves: throws and submission techniques, each one categorized, analyzed, scrutinized, described and presented so as to enable the reader in the most efficient way possible to use them to defeat challengers. Every stage of combat is covered in great detail, as are strategies, combinations, fight-training, exercises, the psyche, and even how to use the referees and rules to one's own advantage. The style of the writing is very readable and interesting, so it is very much a book to be enjoyed. Besides Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Judo and Sambo stylists, Mixed-Martial-Arts competitors stand to benefit greatly from this book - to gain insight, skill and theory for their grappling game. Knowledge that took experts lifetimes to develop and test is presented here for us. For the grappler who wants to win, it is a definite must-read. Very impressive and hard to put-down!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Other Sports Judo Books Tap Out to Competitive Judo, August 30, 2006

By 

Victor Brisbin (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Competitive Judo (Paperback)

This book definitely fills a void in the literature of modern judo fighting. I say "judo fighting," because there is little in current national and international competition that resembles judo as "the gentle way." Admittedly "gentle" is a misnomer for the term "Ju".

Written for elite players, a small niche audience here in North America, the book is a worthwhile study in training methods and strategies to be successful in the rarefied world of Olympic-style judo.

The author, Mr. Angus, goes into detail on the importance of knowing the rules of the game, and then "being able to use the rules to your advantage, how to develop a match plan with the skills that are right for you and how to get the most out of training."

Attention is given to grip fighting as one of the gates to winning. In my personal opinion, as a continuing student of judo with far less competition experience than the author (but with years of experience in judo), an over-emphasis on grip fighting is ultimately harmful to the sport at any level. The author underlines the challenges of grip fighting by including a photo of his hands after 30 years of fighting for grips. It is apparent that gripfights have taken their toll on his joints.

Overall, a very educational look at elite judo. One small suggestion for improvement in any subsequent editions would be to edit the Japanese judo terms: the frequent misspellings of the techniques are slightly distracting from an otherwise fine book. Recommended reading.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coaching for the serious competitior, August 13, 2008

By 

Luther - See all my reviews

This review is from: Competitive Judo (Paperback)

I'm very impressed by Mr. Angus work. There is no book like this on the market. The author explains the training strategies that will take you to the next level, but contrary to other books, he gives you specific examples and a detailed break down.

This book will be worth to bjj players as well (I'm a bjj purple belt and occasionally judo player) because it addresses basics, yet fundamental, problems of competitors:

- how should I train out of season?

- how should I train in-season?

- how to peak for competition?

- what should I think during competition?

- what should I do when the fight is restarted?

There is also actual technique content, like the setups section, but the book is obviously more oriented on coaching. All this is very well done and organized.

Let's talk about the (little) bad:

- occasional not too serious spelling errors

- occasional annoying description errors (like left in place of right)

- the book could have been longer

Why I give it 5 stars?

This book is unique, it condenses in one place topics difficult to find and very useful for the serious amateur. The little problems don't really detract from the good content. I just wish the book was longer because some topics would benefit from an expanded treatment.

Recommended to the serious competitor.