Quick Thoughts on the "Judo Masterclass" Series

Not a complete waste of money, but I always feel like I got ripped off...

If you've ever looked for Judo books, you've probably seen the "Judo Masterclass Techniques" series by Ippon Books (the same folks who do all of the "Fighting Films" Judo videos).  These books are small (a bit bigger than a folded sheet of paper) and reasonably thin (generally right at 100 pages), so they generally come out looking like very large pamphlets.

They're also very expensive.  For us in the US, we have to pay $20-$25 per pamphlet book.  Now, if a book serves as a great reference and the 100 pages are chock-full of good information, I think that's $25 well-spent...  These books, though... I always feel like I got ripped off.  When I think of a "Masterclass," I think of something geared towards those who already have a good command of the basics.  The Masterclass books invariably spend a lot of real estate on the basics, so you end up getting prescious little "master" material.  And this would be fine if it were a $7 book.  But it isn't.

I was thinking about this as I was reading Steve Scott's newest book, The Juji Gatame Encyclopedia.  It's 400+ pages all on what boils down to a single technique.  I'll be reviewing it when I'm done reading, but I hadn't gotten too far into it when I thought a great line for this book would be, "Like a Masterclass book, but not a ripoff!"  (Mr. Scott:  You can use that slogan for free!).  400+ pages, a bajillion detailed variations, defenses, problem areas...  I'm loving it so far.  This is what the Masterclass books should be.

But they aren't.

btemplates

4 comments:

Dr. AnnMaria said...

I agree. I read a ore-publication copy. Definitely worth the money - of course I love juji gatame

Patrick Parker said...

You should dig up a copy of m. Feldenkrais' combat judo book - i cant recall the title - but it is 50 chapters (!) On nothing but hadakajime - particularly in the combatives context. I dont think youd feel ripped off, since you ought to be able to get a pdf copy on the net for free :-)

Chad Morrison said...

Pat - I looked for it... Evidently the name is "Hadaka-Jime: Practical Unarmed Combat" The first several links that I came across either required me to download some possibly sketchy software or pay, so... I'll wait. But if you happen to have it on your hard drive somewheres, send it over!

Patrick Parker said...

Do a search on scribd for 'practical unarmed combat' and they shouold let you download a'copy :-)