Judo: History, Theory, Practice

Rating:
Summary: Good Book - with Some Great Unique Features
Review: First my own qualifications - I am a Sankyu (3rd Degree Brown Belt in Judo) with 4+ years of Judo experience. Although I own some other 'classic' Judo textbooks, there are some great unique features in Putin's book that make it a worthwhile read. The first of these features is what I call the Combination Wheel - essentially for each throw that he describes in the book he has two 'wheels' - one showing combination throws that lead into the this throw and the other showing what combination throws can be used out of it. These combinations are more comprehensive than some of the more basic combos I've seen in books. The other differentiating factor is the chapter on nutrition and how to lose and maintain competitive weight.

Please understand that this is not a comprehensive Judo text - he only describes about a dozen throws and doesn't talk much about matwork - but it definitely is an interesting perspective on Judo.

As an added bonus, it talks a little bit about Sambo as well.

Rating:
Summary: If you are a Judo book collector
Review: I rated this book with 4 stars for two reasons:

A. It is reasonably well written book, and for its quality of writing it deserves no less than 4 stars

B. It does not deserve 5 stars because it does not excel at anything. It touches many subjects, but it does not give you much depth on any of these.

If you already have some other Judo books such as Kodokan Judo, Best Judo, A-Z of Judo, and if you've read some sports nutrition and conditioning guides than this book will not give you much more over it.

On the other hand, if you are a book collector, specially a Judo book collector you may want to have this book since it is partially written by Vladimir Putin, even though it is not clear which sections are written by Vladimir Putin.
Two other "co-authors" are distinguished Russian Judo coaches.

Rating:
Summary: A very good Judo book, in all honesty!
Review: I really like this Judo book.
It is not a 'fully comprehensive' book that shows you every technique of Judo, but it does show the most effective techniques, street-fighting techniques, weapons defenses; it teaches you about proper dieting, muscle conditioning, extensive balance and strength drills and games, the history of Judo and so on.
The greatest part of the book though, is it's extensive lesson on 'kuzushi': the art of breaking the opponent's balance in order to be able to execute a throw upon him/her. This section of the book is the best I have ever seen anywhere! It has many pages, one after another, showing an entry throw set-up, and around this throw are depicted eight backup throws that will work if the first one fails - which it almost always will, since the opponent is not unbalanced yet. These eight backup throws all make use of the position you have gotten into and the unbalancing you have executed upon the opponent as a result of attempting the first throw. This is REALLY USEFUL for all Judoka! You can use this knowledge during every competitive practice session (randori) at your club!
This is also a really cool book to have since it is written by the leader of the world's largest nation - President Vladimir Putin of Russia! This shows how Judo can help you achieve any goal you want to attain!