Customer Reviews

Judo for Mixed Martial Arts: Advanced Throws, Takedowns, and Ground Fighting Techniques

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Wow. I thought this would be all throws. There are throws, counter throws, a whole soi age seciton, a whle osoto gari section, Tai Otoshis, Harai Goshis, and Uchimatas galor from all kinds of setups andcounters. Tere are a handful of throws off of the Kimura hold. There are even some good old double and single leg takedowns. There are methods of clinching and even striking to get the clinch. There's a section on Judo pins. Mount, Side Control, Scarf, reverse scarf,and north-south all have their own sections on transitions and sumissions. There are a lot of unique Hayastan/Gokor style subs I have NEVER seen in 13 years of MA training. The book ends with Ground and Pound techniques.

If you want to fight like Karo, this IS the book for you!

im a judoka and this book is one of the best available. it reminds all judoka to stop relying on the gi. the techniques are completely different from anything ive ever see before. also ive never seen such detail in a martial arts book. you literally get 3 camera angles for most techniques. the only thing i would say is if you dont have any judo experience you'll problably have trouble with this book, this is not basic judo.

As mentioned, the book is much more than throws. If you want to throw someone you typically need to clinch...this can be tough if strikes are allowed, especially if your opponent has a reach advantage. This book covers a few striking methods to close the gap and get into the clinch.

I was happy to see a very good section on the guard and submissions from this position.

This book covers a large amount of "phases" of combat including standing at a distance, clinching, throwing, and ground work and does it all very well. It will be truly valued by the kickboxer who wants to close the gap to clinch/throw, by the grappler, and the mixed martial artist. Victory Belt has put out another quality product.

This book is great for its purpose, which is to show guys how to pull of judo throws in mma and in no-gi situations. Karo Parisyan shows what he does best, for intermediate judo players who have a basic understanding of the throws and want to adapt them to no-gi, this is must have. While "Judo for MMA" has its strengths, it also has its weaknesses and in some ways feels like a rushed product.

1) Beginners to Judo might not fully understand what is going on with the techniques.

2) No instruction on proper falling for the person being thrown. I don't know anybody who would let you practice throws on them without you letting them also practice throws on you.

3) No information on about how to use the cage, which is absolutely crucial for setting up Judo throws in MMA fights.

4) Many filler techniques that just take up pages and that Karo Parisyan probably has never used in his fights(i.e. rolling kneebar, calf crush, not saying they are not good techniques). Every other book I have by Victory Belt is made almost entirely of techniques actually used by the fighters in their fights and examples given of the time they've used it in competition.


I personally don't consider this the best book for beginners to Judo because I believe that it is best for someone interested in learning judo to first learn it in the context of the sport of Judo, by taking a Judo class, as oppose to trying to learn it for mma or no-gi without a clear understanding of the principles. The reason why I say this, is because Judo throws have so much subtle technique and so many intricate parts, that they need to be taught, learned, and practiced at a slow pace. This explains why Judokas traditionally train with and compete in the gi, because the added friction forces them to perfect technical and complex throws that they would have otherwise discarded if they were exclusively wrestling shirtless with all the sweat and slipperiness. Once the judo practitioner perfects these throws in the gi, his body remembers the movement when he takes the gi off.

A better introduction to judo for complete beginners is "Guerilla Jiu Jitsu" by Dave Camarillo or "Judo Unleashed" by Neil Ohlenkamp, both of which happen to be books that teach you how to throw with the gi. In addition, Dave Camarillo's book teaches you how to fall, which absolutely important. "Judo Unleashed" is great overall introduction to actual sport of Judo. Of course, the best way to learn Judo is to join a local Judo club that hopefully has good instructor who has a creditable lineage, knows how to prepare guys for competition, knows how to slow down the training for beginners, and who respects you and your decision to cross-train in other arts(i.e. MMA or BJJ).

While in the end, "Judo for mma" has a lot of great techniques that useful for MMA and no-gi fights, especially the throw setups that counter wrestling takedowns and throw setups off of the standing kimura. I personally use some of these techniques myself when I see the opening for them when I grapple without the gi. I recommend this book, just not for the completely novice.

Karo Parysian is a great fighter and teacher. Uniquely, I didn't really respect him when I read the first couple pages of this book since he has a very bad temper and is kind of cocky (over confidence) because he knows and believes that he's way too good for any of his opponent then that caused him to be lazy and not well prepared.
But after I read the overall story that he start changing his way of thinking and lifestyle, then I started to respect him more.

Man, after I read and learnd most of the technics in this book, it opens my eyes that any people,, even me, if given this kind of a talent, might be as lazy or even lazier than him at that time ;p

Crisp and great technics, great introduction for the whole book and every technics. It's even better since it's not just good for MMA, I believe if you master these technics pretty well, it would be a great judo technic for any kind of fight.
great job, Karo, I really hope that you can get a title shot someday or a great match up with one lighter weight down's legend, BJ Penn. That would be so awesome, since both of you have a superior grappling skills (BJ Penn with BJJ and Karo with judo).
Thanks

Karo has put a highly entertaining and instructional piece of work together in Judo for MMA. My family and friends have studied No-gi BJJ for a little over a year now. Having boxing backgrounds we were quite nervous about our ground game so we started studying Eddie Bravos work.We learned so much but i always felt misplaced with BJJ. Im a skinny man so wrestling has never really been my cup of tea. And then I found Karo's book and felt and excitement i didnt quite understand. That is of course until i dropped a friend into a scarf-hold and executed a near side arm bar. Karo's book is filled with a type of knowledge that can only be described as priceless. Seoi-nage seduced me. Because of this work I've come to a decision of studying this art form to a higher degree. On the feet Karo shows Judo to be such a visually remarkable system of martial arts and though the ground game isnt as flashy as BJJ it definetly gets the job done.
Example: Of a group of six, three of us have greco roman backgrounds. Of course, the aspects of judo are quite familiar to them. But when i mixed judo with my boxing background, suddenly i wasnt shot down anymore. Kimora control, overhook head control, the osoto-gari techniques, and my new found love= the scarf-hold, brought a whole new aspect to my game. This book is a life lesson and Karo is a great teacher. Ive read the work over four times and refrence it constantly.
Victory Belt put together a true blessing with judo for mma.

Karo is the best mixed martial artist/judoka to have adapted Judo throws to the MMA game. Some fighters are better Judo players than he is, and some are better mixed martial artists, but no one combines the two as good as Karo. In this book, he breaks down the grips that allow him to apply judo throws in a no-gi context. Many excellent throws and some great ground techniques. Victory Belt is amazing and this book fits with the high quality of instructional manuals they have published so far.

Another well laid our Krauss/Cordoza. Karo is a legend of the sport, a true mixed martial artist. He probably doesn't get the respect he deserves from the MMA community. This book, unlike a lot of others in this spectrum talks about the importance of set ups! Karo being a phenomenal Judoka made the correct adjustments required to be effective in MMA. More than that, he designed the platforms needed for throws to work in the cage.
This book takes you through his take on Ne Waza (ground work) but I think the true genius lay in the throws and take downs. If you understand Judo this book will lead you on the right path to making your art realistic in a street setting and cage setting.

This book contains a wide variety of useful judo techniques. However it is important to note that while most of these techniques originate from Judo, they have been adapted for MMA/UFC where an opponent does not necessarily wear a Gi or Dobak. This does make the techniques more versatile.

This book serves equally well for a martial artist seeking to expand his arsenal or someone training for some sort of competitive fighting. If you are in Judo, the detail presented in the book can give you much greater insight into the techniques than will your colleagues who only attend class.

The only drawback for competitive judo is that the author includes a number of leg based techniques, which although completely effective, are no longer sanctioned in Judo competition.

Last but not least, though this book is larger than most, you really can take it pretty much anywhere.

Very good information about specific grips to use in the clinch to replace the grips you lose when your opponent isn't wearing a gi. It does lack information about kazushi, or the un-balancing that is needed to set up Judo throws. You'll need a little bit of Judo knowledge to get the most out of the throwing techniques in this book. "The Sport of Judo", by Kobayashi is a good one for that: very short and to the point and explains the un-balancing that is missing from Kayo's book.

Otherwise it's great; some good grappling techniques that would fit nicely into just about any mixed martial artist's tool box, some stuff on g n' p. One thing I like is that when Karo gives a technique he also tells you which fights he's used it in so you can see the technique in action.

Score another win for Victory Belt.