When practicing, your opponent will let you take the grip you’d like so you could practice your technique. But in Randori or Shiai, when both opponents try to get their preferred grip, it might not be so easy to grab the way you want. That’s when the fighting for the grip begins.

If, for example, both Uke and Tori are right handed and take each other’s lapel and sleeve, they most likely to get into a deadlock situation where no one has an advantage over the other. In order to break this deadlock, one will need to have his preferred grip and prevent his opponent from taking his preferred grip.

This is done by breaking the opponent’s grip, moving him around, and basically, not letting him grab your Gi with a grip that is comfortable for him and is uncomfortable for you.

Grip fighting involves the entire body, from head to toes. Like a well oiled machine.

Strength

Practicing Judo for a while will increase ones forearms and fingers to develop a stronger grip, but when training at national and international levels, one cannot rely on natural strength and Judo Training.

There are many ways to increase grip strength, but I will focus on a few:

• Forearms curls
• Rope climbing
• Gi hanging
• Sand grasping
• Ball squeezing

Forearms curls

There are many ways to perform the forearms curs:

• Sitting on a bench, grab a barbell with palms facing up and lay the back of your wrists on the edge of the bench. Start by lowering the barbell by opening your fingers, but not to let the barbell fall, and closing your fingers around the barbell and once the fingers are closed around the barbell, bend at the wrist to bring the barbell towards your body. Make sure that your elbows remain on the bench at all times to prevent any injuries to your back, shoulders and neck. This is a good exercise which doesn’t require a lot of skill, and will work only your forearms
• Standing up, holding 2 dombbells of about 3-4kg each beside your legs, elbows straight, open your fingers to let the weight hang off your fingers and quickly close your fingers to close your grip and bend the wrist inwards. That is one repetition. Aim for 3-4 minutes at the time, with fast movements as possible. Make sure that the elbows are straight so not to create momentum or a bounce of the weights. Remember that the purpose is not to have an easy workout, but to really struggle with this.
• A variation of the first curl: standing up with a barbell behind your back, grab the barbell with your hands about 10-15cm apart. The barbell should be just underneath your bum. From this position, start curling your wrists. Again, make sure your elbows are straight to prevent bouncing of the weight, which will make it easier.

Gi Hanging

This is one of the best ways work on your grip, but also your arms, shoulders, core, and back. All you need is a Gi (preferably not your comp Gi and not a ripped Gi), and a vertical bar (chin up bar, strong tree branch, or anything your can hang off).

Take your Gi and place it over the bar in a way that the bar divides the Gi into left and right sleeves and lapels. Take a grip either by both lapels, both sleeves, or a lapel and a sleeve. Once you’ve take a good grip, hang off the Gi and lift your legs off the ground. If you wish to work on your core, lift your legs at 90 degrees in front of you. Hold at this position for as long as you can up to 60 seconds at a time. Repeat this 3-4 times. Once this is getting easier (i.e. you can complete this 4 time without any problems), hold a dumbell between your ankles, or thread a weight plate on your Judo belt and tie it around your waist.

Sand Grasping

Fill a bucket with sand from the beach. Make sure the sand is clean of any stones, glasses, and anything that can cut your hand when performing this exercise.

Once your bucket is full, start by putting your open hand in the sand and closing it into a fist. Do as many fists as you can while your hand is in the sand. Repeat 3-4 times.

Ball Squeezing

This one is an exercise that you can perform throughout the day. All you need is a strong stress ball, or preferably, a tennis ball. Just squeeze the ball with your fingers and palm or just your fingers, in different angles of your wrist to provide more challenge.

Please note that strong forearms are only one component of good Kumikata.

One last thing. When in Randori or Shiai, it is very important not to compromise on your Kumikata. A strong rival is not a good reason to take a bad Kumikata. That is why we have to fight for it.

For more reading, I recommend getting Judo Techniques & Tactics by Jimmy Pedro.

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Tags: forearms curls, Gi, grip, Kumi Kata, Kumikata
Filed under Judo Training |

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