Customer Reviews

Koshen Judo Old School Pre WWII Japan (Grappling) - 2 DVD Set

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

 

 

I think this DVD is a lot of fun. I get a real kick out of seeing a bunch of tough middle-aged guys still pounding out the groundwork. It's also cool to see an older style of judo and get a sense of the range in judo--particularly in pre-war judo.

While I enjoyed this a lot, there are some things you should be aware of before you plunk down any money. First, there's no English language track or subtitles. on the other hand, the Japanese in the explations uses a lot of judo terms. If you're a judo player whose taken some Japanese, this might not be a big deal. It's also generally clear what the person demonstrating the technique is doing. I personally don't think this lack is so big a deal.

Second, there are no chapter divisions. On my dvd player this means fastforwarding if I want to skip to a certain section. For me this is a definite annoyance, even though it probably shouldn't tick me off me as much as it does.

Third, the blurb above makes this sound like it's a showcase of Kimura Masahiko's judo. It's not. The focus is really on kosen judo in general. They use a lot of demonstrators on the dvd. I hadn't heard of them, but someone who was more into judo history might have.

Fourth, although the blurb says it's in color, it's mostly in black and white. I couldn't care less about this, but if you do you should know.

Having said all that, I enjoyed this dvd a lot. If you're interested in pre-war judo or in judo's groundwork practitioners, this dvd is great.

a must have for grapplers,along with Kimura are many greats,only thing ,that suked,was the copy right protection will not let this dvd play on some dvd players/ps2....but worked well on my computer.

Unfortunately they failed to mention there's no english dialogue or subtitles. While the techniques are interesting english would have been a big help in understanding certain moves.

It's simply unbelievable to view these Judoka at ages ranging from 60-80 (?). This goes to prove Judo practice does not need to end after 40. The speed and agility displayed is fantastic. A MUST SEE for everyone with an incling of interest in Judo.

This was not directed by Don Warrener; Don Warrener teaches martial arts in Ontario, Canada.

If this DVD is from before WWII (as it says in the title), Don Warrener hadn't been born. If (as it says in the description), it is from the 1970s, it is almost certainly the film "Kosen Judo", widely available on video sites and produced (I believe) by the Kodokan.

Exactly what I expected as far as knowing state of the art video equipment wasn't available during this time.

I've seen one of Kimura Sensei old Black and White videos before but wanted more so I could play it over and over to learn and teach the techniques.

The quality is fair and some techniques are repeated in slow-motion.