Analysis of the fighting phase before the first grip in the finals of the judo world championship 2007

Several studies analyzed the temporal structure of the judo fight, having the objective of determining combat time average (time between the signal hajime and mattè) and the average time of the break (time between the signal mattè and hajime). It is a common opinion, especially among high level coaches and athletes, the importance, compared to your opponent, to make the first grip in a secure favourable position for the development of the art projection and consequently for the achieving victory. Since the judo match develops from the grips (kumi kata) on the judogi of the two competitors, the objective of this study was to analyze the time between hajime and the first grip, number of kumi kata fights, Judogi percentage area of first grip. Through the video analysis of fighting in a high level competition (world championship finals 2007) we saw that the traditional grips (lapel and sleeve), as in the traditional kumi kata, are privileged.