Judo for Mixed Martial Arts by Karo Parisyan

Judo for Mixed Martial Arts is kind of a love it or hate it book. It’s a 250 page Victory Belt product, so the production value is high and there’s plenty of content. In many ways, it SHOULD be a good book, but for some reason every time I pick it up I find myself disappointed.

Karo’s personality comes through in the text, right from the start. That fact will immediately force most readers to one side or the other in the love/hate spectrum. If you like Karo, you don't mind when his personality shows through. If you think Karo is arrogant and mouthy, well, you’ll probably not like reading the text.

Fear not, there are plenty of pictures, and like other books from this publisher, there are clear and tell a good picture of the techniques. Each technique is described in detail, with step-by-step photos from different angles. The presentation is just flat good.

Once you start getting into the techniques, I somehow find myself interested, and disappointed at the same time. One of the biggest questions about how judo would translate to a no-gi sport is the difference in grips. Parisyan covers that subject so, but I somehow found myself wanting more. I should probably disclaim that I’m a huge fan of all things grappling – I watch NCAA wrestling championships and all the judo and wrestling during the Olympics. So, when I start delving into an instructional, I’m usually looking for something at least a little new or deeper. I just feel like a lot of Parisyan’s material can be found in better wrestling manuals.

I’m going to take this moment to explain a little bit of my consternation with this book and the grappling world in general. An Osoto Gari and an outside trip are not the same thing. An Ouchi Gari and an inside trip are not the same thing. There are technical differences and they do different jobs (stuff I might go into at length another time). When I read this, and other, modern judo texts, I see that lined being blurred in ways that aren’t positive.

This book has lot of that feel. The drop Seoi Nage is good stuff, but a lot of the ashi waza I think reside in that place between wrestling and judo, when it would be better as one or the other.

There are a couple of gems in the submission section. The cobra choke, and the side control escape to anaconda are both good, effective techniques with a lot of potential. Unfortunately, the rest of the section feels very basic. I am a huge fan of Judo Gene Labell, and I would’ve hoped one of his disciples would have some more interesting submission moves in his book.

In the end, maybe it’s my hang-ups that are the problem and not the book. It’s possible. Maybe I just had too many expectations. Still, every time I flip through Parisyan’s book, I put it down feeling disappointed.

If you’re a lover of all things grappling and a newcomer, this book might have a place on your shelf. For everyone else, I just feel like there is better material available in other places.