Is it bad to use high grips(high collar grip and over-the-shoulder grip) against a taller opponent in randori/shiai?
i personally wouldnt recommend it. and i believe that neither would my coaches. my logic would be that if he's taller and you want to grip up there, you're gonna have to reach, and if you reach youll be leaning forward, and if you're leaning forward you're losing your balance. when instead you should be sucking him in concentrating on closing he gap (meaning: if your have a right hand grip, then your right elboy shouldnt be hanging in the air but should be pointing down resting somewhere on his chest). so you sholud (as a general rule, different people like different grips) grip about shoulder level and suck in, when using the classical grip.
on the other hand now, one might argue that its ok if you feel that you're strong and mor powerful then you can go up there and get that behind the neck collar grip and break this tall fella in half. again the elbow would be donw and sucking in. its just that reaching up there that turns ME off. so i guess its ok as long as you're in control
i hope that wasnt too unclear.
I'm 6'4" and I love it when shorter people reach up to take a high collar grip. They remove their ability to block me effectively on that side and getting my hips in is much easier.
i tend to agree that its generally a bad idea... BUT.. there are exceptions to every theory or thought in judo.
if the shorter guy gets the taller fella bent forward then there is no reason not to grab high once he is bent over. if the shorter fella is so damn strong that he can make the tall fella bend over easily then fine. and.. there is always the fella who is just so good at that grip height makes no differene at all.
for me.. ill only grip high on taller fellas when i have them bent over.
Josh has ipponed the correct.
Ben R.
Josh & Grobar are correct. It is damn hard to get a tall, strong, experienced dude bent over though. You have to really rough em up. Tall newbie judoka, i.e. wrestlers give you the grip however. I can usually determine pretty quickly if I can get a high collar grip on a tall dude.
Sometimes I'll make the tall dude feel I am determined to bend him over and get the high collar grip then plow in with a obi half hip.
By far the best short, strong dude vs. huge tall high grippers was Y. Yamashita. He developed an undergrip so potent that the big tall dudes would have to go lower than his grip or get tossed.
I'm 5'8" 200 pounds. Most guys i face or practice with in my weight range are 5'11" and taller. I won't grip up high unless they are leaning too far forward but only to prevent them from straightening out long enough until i get inside. I prefer a lower grip because i want it to be closer to MY center allowing me a stronger base...
undergrip = standard lapel grip???
Yup, by undergrip I meant beneath the opponent's.