Uchimata is one of the most popular techniques in judo. Every major international competition, many smaller events, and most club randori sessions throughout the world are punctuated by uchimata, the inner thigh throw. Its basic principle of the lifting leg has endured decades of changes in judo. While other throws have gone in and out of fashion, uchimata has remained solidly at the top of the scoring tables. Though initially regarded as a tall man's throw, the introduction of weight categories made it necessary for judo exponents of all sizes to study it. As a result, the old form enshrined in nage-no- kata has been expanded to encompass different situations and opportunities. An uchimata expert must be able to cope with opponents who are bigger and smaller than himself or herself as well as opponents who adopt a variety of offensive and defensive postures. Yet despite the popularity of the throw, few top champions have shown such a wide grasp of the technique as hitoshi sugai, Japan's world light heavyweight champion in 1985-1987. In those two events, and in many other competitions at home and abroad, he demonstrated the effectiveness and the versatility of uchimata. This was all the more distinguished because, unlike many of his opponents, he used pure technique almost exclusively, rarely training with weights to harness extra power. In this masterly exposition of his favourite technique, he considers old and new forms of uchimata, as well as combinations, defences and counters that every uchimata specialist must understand. His analysis is based on the gripping situation. Ai- yotsu (same grips) and kenka-yotsu (opposite grips-left against right) call for different solutions, and sugai considers all the main options. And, as with all volumes in the Judo Masterclass Series, Uchimata is strengthened by outstanding competition photographs and chapters on history and training. It is a classic judo literature.