Tai-otoshi (Judo Masterclass Techniques) [Paperback]

I brought this book from Neil himself at the 1999 Southern Area seminar.

I would rate this as absolutely essential, both for coaches and athletes. Neil takes us through various different styles of tai-otoshi, counters and combinations, and training methods. Brilliantly illustrated too, with some good contest pictures.

No judo library can be without this book.

This book is just under 100 pages long, and is filled with high quality photographs showing the many techniques and ideas that are described in the book. In all cases these photographs are accompanied with the author's comments which are also detailed, insightful, and to the point.

The book begins with short chapters giving Neil's personal view of the technique and then a chapter on its history. While of interest it isn't until the 3rd chapter that the book really gets started.

Chapter 3 entitled the basics predominantely describes how the grips and posture are integral to the tai-otoshi technique. The section on grips is particularly interesting in that it describes how to break the opponent's grip, and how to handle an opponent that has taken either an upper or under grip. Issues related to posture covered in this chapter include the position of the head, legs, and arms.

The next chapter entitled Variations describes the many different ways that tai-otoshi may be applied. These include the trailing, pulling, and sideways tai-otoshi, different variations depending on the grips, as well as broader variations, such as those that target the wrong leg, the wide-split, and jumping tai-otoshi.

The next chapter covers combinations and shows how tai-otoshi can be implemented in combination with other techniques. Many of the combinations end with a tai-otoshi although a couple of examples of how tai-otoshi can set up other techniques are also provided. This chapter is followed by a chapter on defences and counters which as the name suggests, describes some defences to tai-otoshi.

A chapter on training for tai-otoshi follows, and includes a particularly interesting idea for training the technique one handed.

Two chapters on competition tai-otoshi and an epilogue complete the book, which provide a further opportunity to show more photographs of the technique being used in a competition setting.

In conclusion this really is an excellent source of material describing what is a very popular technique in Judo and is a book that i continually dip into for new ideas and advice...Highly recommended

This book is brilliant. It shows clearly how the trow works and tonnes of variations of the throw for every situation. Neil Adam was a one of the greatest judo players ever and now you can learn his favourite technique the way he would preform it.