My first coach Gary Wilcox, loved this technique; it was his go-to follow up after his Uchi-mata attack….if you were (un)lucky enough to survive that you were unceremoniously greeted with a barrage of palm strikes to the chin while the big man hunted your collar. Although painful the lesson wasn’t lost on me: Judo is a combat sport and victory favors the tough.
Flash forward a few years and a chance encounter with Mario Sperry, and I learned another lesson, this time about the small details. I picked up two valuable insights to make the choke even better: the positioning of my wrist and my head.
Ultimately a combination of both approaches proved best: brawn and brains. I think most techniques probably work best when adapted through both lenses.
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