jonreading

To be fair, I do not think I can recall seeing a judo match where uke grabs tori with a classic lapel/sleeve grab. I have only seen that classic grab when performing kata. Usually, I see a single grab that works its way into a sleeve/lapel right before a throw. I cannot advocate for a point of origin, but I feel sorry for the poor sucker that grabs with two hands without kuzushi.

This is one of our judo guys, Mark Fletcher:
http://youtu.be/QkZfwvAfyv0
For those of you that know Mark, he is scary.

You can see him work his grab in this clip; he actually breaks back to a single grab to advance to a back grip, too.

I bring this up to illustrate 2 things:
1. While judo is commonly thought of a Japanese, it is a world sport that has been influenced in tradition by countries other than Japan Just look at how badly the Olympic Committee can screw up the sport... So does that mean it is not Judo? Notwithstanding sport v. kodokan
2. I think we can (and do) mistake tradition with instruction. Both of them get screwed up with application. For example, if I do not teach striking in aikido, does that mean:
A. There is no striking in traditional aikido
B. Your basic knowledge of striking is sufficient to exclude that instruction
C. If performed correctly, waza in application rarely needs striking
D. I do not know striking and have excluded it from the curriculum
I have heard all three options expressed by aikido instructors at some point, even recently. Option D is unfortunate, but true.