The Difficult Way

Uke

2012-01-25T20:35:00.000Z

Kosei is sad!

Kosei is sad, because he wants to do Judo, but can’t because he has no one to practice with.

Now Kosei is happy!

Kosei is happy, because now he has a partner, he can practice Judo.

To do Judo, takes two people.

To learn Judo, takes two people working together

In order for a beginner to learn Judo its vital that they have a good uke. And as the beginner progresses through being an intermediate to being advanced the importance of them working with a good uke not only remains, but the importance of them being a good uke becomes ever more important.

So how do you become a good uke?

Well it starts with the foundation...

Ukemi

Ukemi is the foundation of being a good uke because fundamental to being a good uke is confidence in being thrown and being comfortable going over.

If a beginner doesn’t learn to be good at break falling and comfortable being thrown they will never become a good Judo player and will probably drop out of the sport.

Central to ensuring good ukemi in beginners is regular practice and appropriate practice.

Appropriate practice should also be matched with appropriate pairing.

Appropriate practice

White belts should not be made to take falls from complex throws early in their Judo experience.

Rather the amount of time they are actually thrown outside of highly controlled circumstances should be minimised

Appropriate pairing

There’s never a scenario where a white belt should be paired with a black belt for the black belt to practice full commitment nagekomi. This is an example of inappropriate pairing.

It’s also ideal to avoid pairing white belts with other white belts for nagekomi. However, in small clubs or in beginner only classes this may be unavoidable.

Appropriate practice and appropriate pairing are important so that a beginner has time to develop their ukemi skills, before being thrown into the deep end and so that their early experiences of falling and being thrown are positive ones. So that they go forward associating falling and being thrown with safety and comfort, rather than pain, injury and danger.

If a basic competency and familiarity with falling is not established then a beginner will never be able to progress to the more advanced areas of being an uke.

YOU

Now naturally the above will be out of the control of you, the humble beginner, it will be in the control of your club coach/ that day’s instructor.

However, what you do have control over is your time management and your level of commitment.

Manage your time and demonstrate your commitment by turning up early and or stay late after each practice and spending 5/10/15 minutes practicing ukemi.

I know you’re busy, you have a job, kids, a WAG to please, but everyone can always make time. I’ll bet you can make time to go to the pub, make time to watch TV and make time to dick about on the internet like you are now- reading this...

You can make time either 5 minutes before or 5 minutes after practice to work on your ukemi.

A good Uke

What makes a good uke?

Aside from the obvious, being able to fall and take ukemi.

Being a good uke is actually quite a difficult thing to become, because the secret to being a good uke is understanding how the throw being practiced on you works so that you can then position yourself, react and allow yourself to be moved in the specific way that makes that throw easy to practice.

This is what makes being a good uke so hard for beginners as, because you’re a beginner you don’t have an understanding of how even one throw works let alone a wide variety of them.

You also may not have the fine motor skills and sensitivity of movement to position yourself and react in a helpful and constructive way.

Fortunately, however, as you learn more about Judo and, hopefully, get better at Judo you will start to understand how throws work more and more and so will learn what it is you need to do as an uke to help your partner – tori, achieve.

However, in the meantime between learning more about throws and understanding what it is you need to do and now. There are some major mistakes you can avoid and some things you can do to make life easier for your partners and thus make yourself a better practice partner.

Common errors

By far and away the most common errors beginners make when being an uke are Jigotai-ing and stepping off.

Jigotai-ing

Jigotai is Japanese and translates as something like ‘defensive posture’. Its characterised by bending at the knees and lowering the centre of gravity.

And will be familiar to anyone who has done Judo with a beginner.

Jigotai-ing is a natural reaction to someone trying to break your balance forward, because people who aren’t used to Judo don’t want to go off balance. As they’ve spent 20-40 years of their life learning not to fall over.

What makes Jigotai-ing such a problem for beginners acting as ukes is that it is so natural a reaction it is done unconsciously without the beginner realising it.

Here you see a stylised demo of a bad uke Jigotai-ing during an uchikomi session

Jigotai-ing is a natural reaction, but it is a natural reaction born out of fear.

A fear of being thrown, the more confident you are at being thrown i.e the better at ukemi you are. The more trust you have in your tori i.e working with a higher grade who has control.

Then you will experience less or no fear of being thrown and thus this natural fear reaction won’t happen.

However, you can’t overnight turn into a ukemi wizard who can float to earth like a feather rather than crash to it like a wounded elephant.

Nor can you always guarantee to be paired with controlled and considerate partners.

Thus you must take it upon yourself to stop Jigotai-ing and regulate yourself to make sure you aren’t Jigotai-ing whilst someone is performing uchikomi or nagekomi on you.

Want an incentive to help you ensure you do regulate yourself?

The more you Jigotai in uchikomi, the worse your partners techniques will be and thus the less control and ability to throw safely they will have.

This will get worse when it comes to nagekomi...

The more you Jigotai in nagekomi, the more your tori will have to power through to ensure the throw and the less control they will be able to exert. Thus the more likely you are to get hurt.

If you combine someone who’s never been able to perform a technically correct uchikomi because of uke Jigotai-ing. Then trying to power through his technically incorrect throw in nagekomi, because of uke Jigotai-ing.

You as uke are more likely to get hurt.

Stepping Off

Stepping off, like Jigotai-ing, is a natural defensive reaction to stop yourself being thrown. Its not only natural, but is effective being used often in randori to escape throw attempts.

Except in randori the objective is to practice attack and defence, in uchikomi and nagekomi as uke you aren’t supposed to be defending and thwarting your tori’s throw attempts you’re supposed to be enabling and assisting them.

An example of stepping off

Usually in uchikomi such an extreme stepping off is unusual and if a beginner was being that extreme they’d probably be asked to stop by their partner and definitely be on the receiving end of an explanatory lecture by an instructor on how to uke.

Normally, however, what you see from beginners is a more subtly but as hindering stepping off.

Uke will move their foot forwards with the sleeve pull of tori.

So that this sleeve pull

Will see a beginner uke actually step forward slightly as their upper body is pulled off balance.

This is, again, a natural reaction engrained through 20-40 years of learning that human beings shouldn’t fall over.

So they take a compensatory step forward to reset their balance, creating something like this

Which when you visualise how their hips are now set

Demonstrates how disruptive that is to a tori’s throw attempt.

Here we see stepping off combined with a throw in a static and moving nagekomi situation.

You will observe in both situations, moving and static, that uke steps forward slightly with tori’s kuzushi action to the sleeve hand.

This creating a gap between his planted and advanced feet, represented by blue and red lines respectively.

This changes his hip position and throwing angle, causing tori’s throw to look untidy.

Unlike Jigotai-ing, stepping off often means the throw goes awry, but doesn’t have as high injury potential as a result.

However, it is as annoying for a tori trying to learn and as detrimental to your toris development if you’re stepping off during uchikomi and nagekomi.

Again it is up to you to regulate yourself to ensure you aren’t stepping off.

If you think you may be guilty off this but aren’t sure call over an instructor and ask them to watch and see if that is what you’re doing and then get them to help you fix it.

The fix is, if you haven’t already guessed it...

More confidence in your ukemi and confidence in the control and responsibility of your tori.

The final major error is...

Stiff Arming

No, just no.

If you’re stiff arming during uchikomi and nagekomi you need a few of these

But how do I...?

Naturally as a conscientious person who wants to get better, well if you’ve been reading this article for this long you’re either conscientious and want to get better or really sad...

You will want to know how you can self-regulate and not commit some of the major uke-ing errors.

Whats, my first answer going to be?

Did you guess ‘More ukemi’?

Good.

Ok, but lets assume that after all my badgering you are actually doing as much Ukemi as humanly possible.

You’ve also picked the most controlled and responsible partner you can find to work with.

What next?

There are a couple of simple things you can do become a better uke.

Allowing yourself to be made ready to be thrown

The major or common errors I outlined previously all stem from a lack of willingness to allow yourself to be made ready to be thrown.

You will all hopefully be familiar with the 3 stage throw process

Kuzushi

Tsukuri

Kake

However, what many people do is only look at this from the perspective of a tori.

When doing Judo you will spend as much time as an uke as you will a tori so you will need to be able to look at a the throwing process from the other perspective.

To this end I propose this simplified process that an uke goes through:

Allowing yourself to be made ready to be thrown.

Being made ready to be thrown

Going with the throwing action

Taking ukemi

Now this is obviously not a perfect model, its my own back of a fag packet model. However, let’s just roll with it for now, for the sake of the article.

Of the four I would argue that three are active and one is passive.

The active three:

Allowing yourself to be made ready to be thrown.

Going with the throwing action

Taking ukemi

As they require consciousness, positioning, personal adjustment and specific movements by the uke.

The passive one:

Being made ready to be thrown

I.e having kuzushi and tsukuri applied to you are facilitate by your active steps, but are not ‘active’ in the same way as the other three.

So at this point lets pull back from theoretical waffling and look at some real world examples.

Now, because allowing yourself to be made ready to be thrown and Being made ready to be thrown are visual indistinguishable. The first being mental and attitudinal and facilitating the second.

One camera they happen as one, however, I argue for a beginner the ‘allowing yourself’ stage of consciously deciding ‘OK I’m not in danger, I’m not going to get hurt, I can get thrown safely and thus will allow myself to have my balance broken’. Needs to be acknowledged in order to be performed.

So in this visual example Uke is allowing himself to be made ready to be thrown and Being made ready to be thrown simultaneously.

And here he doesn’t do an exaggerated on tip toes action, but allows his upper body to come forward and his COG to be shifted.

An advanced Judoka like the tori in the video does these two things naturally.

However as a beginner you need to learn to psychologically and mentally reassure yourself of your safety and the lack of danger in order yourself to allow yourself to be made ready to be thrown and then as a consequence enable your tori to make you made ready to be thrown.

Understanding the throw being done to you

As I mentioned early on in the article, the hardest part about being a truly good uke, is that you need to have an understanding of the mechanics and workings of the throw that is being done to you.

Now, obviously as a beginner, there is no way you can know and understand every throw. I as a semi-competent 1^st dan only know a bit and understand a bit of a handful of throws, probably fewer than 4/5.

However, you don’t have to know the ins and outs of every throw to be a good uke as a beginner.

You just need to keep some simple principles in mind.

Feet shoulder’s width apart...

If you’ve never been told to stand ‘feet shoulder’s width apart’ you’ve probably not done Judo.

However, let’s think about this old maxim for a moment.

Why do we stand with our feet shoulder’s width apart and not say as wide apart as we can or even at a mere gnat’s crotchet width apart?

Well as it turns out shoulder’s width is a pretty ideal foot placement to allow tori to enter for most throws and for uke’s balance to be effectively broken.

So with that in mind lets think about foot placement.

If you’re static this is a relative non issue for most throws you just get to the old shoulder’s width and that’s it.

Add in movement, however, and a free flowing nagekomi session which moves around the whole mat. Or even a simple ashiwaza to major throw combination during which tori has to T-up.

Then you need to start thinking about your foot placement and your tori’s throw.

For example if you’ve just stepped off an ashiwaza or are moving around and your partner wants to do a Tai otoshi.

Having your feet spread wide apart is going to make it really awkward for them

Consider especially if your tori is shorter than you.

If you’re a lanky 6ft 3 working with a stocky 5ft 8 then you’re going to have to think that if they’re practicing Tai otoshi during a moving situation. Then you as the lanky one will have to appreciate that they need you to bring you feet close together or closer together than normal to help them do the throw.

They’ve got enough to worry about without having to do the splits, because you aren’t thinking about your foot placement relative to their throw and or stature.

Similarly if your tori is practicing a throw like Seoi nage they won’t want you to bring your feet together

And if we reverse the Tai otoshi scenario imagine now you’re the taller player having to work with the shorter one. You’re going to want a good gap between their feet in order to get in for your Seoi nage.

This also applies to drilling situations where you, as an uke, have to step off a major attack which is followed up by an ashiwaza attack.

If you step off a Tai otoshi and bring your legs close together when your tori wants to follow up with an O uchi or Ko uchi you’re being unhelpful.

So think about what throws your tori is going to be doing and how you should stand to best help enable them to do that throw.

Oh and btw, whatever you do. Do not google image search for ‘knees together’ with safe search off. Just don’t.

So on a characteristically high note let’s draw things to a close...

Conclusions

Ukemi

Ukemi and the confidence it brings when being thrown is what underpins everything.

If you can’t breakfall you can’t uke.

Self-regulation

Like those on Wall Street and in the Square Mile, I’m keen on self-regulation.

It is your responsibility as constructive member of your club and as a practice partner to ensure you aren’t making mistakes that you have control over.

However, don’t be afraid to ask for help and supervision. Like Wall Street and the Square Mile a bailout is only a request, or two, away.

Be Active not Passive

As an Uke you should be working almost as much as tori and you need to be concentrating just as hard.

There’s no point just switching off and thinking about what you’re having for tea. You need to concentrate on how you’re doing to ensure the best practice experience for your partner.

It takes two to Judo...

Think about your partner’s practice

What throws is he doing?

How should you position yourself for them – feet wide, narrow? Weight on the toes, the heels?

Should you speed up or decelerate relative to your tori? If so when?

Above All

Mutual benefit and welfare.

The better uke you are, the better your club mates will be.

The better your practice partners, the better you will get.

Greatness begets greatness.

Work on being a good uke, it will make you a better Judo player in the long run.

Forget about Kuzushi

2012-01-25T20:20:00.000Z

Chaps, I have news.

Kuzushi isn’t important as a beginner you’re better off forgetting about kuzushi. It will improve your Judo if you don’t worry about kuzushi and stop thinking about it.

Probably quite a few confused and or shocked faces on people after having read that. After all kuzushi is one of the sacred cows of Judo, people spend hours working on their kuzushi and all Judo coaches stress its importance. And as regular readers will know I’m a strong advocate of the basics and practicing simple, fundamental Judo skills, so how can I justify saying kuzushi isn’t important and why would I advocate forgetting about kuzushi?

Having spent quite a lot of time observing and working with beginners and, of course, struggling with Judo myself I have consistently seen ‘kuzushi’ being touted as the mythical cure to all beginner problems. If I had a pound for everytime I’d heard a coach say ‘you need more kuzushi’ or during randori ‘you need to break his balance’ I would be able to pay off my student loan... well probably not, but I could at least get in a few rounds in the pub.

The thing is that a beginner’s problems are actually rarely down to a lack of kuzushi. Of course that is not to say that when first introducing a throw that you shouldn’t teach and instil a correct kuzushi action for the throw. That is of course vital and use of the hands and body to create kuzushi for throws in uchikomi, moving and static, is crucial.

However, we need to rethink the importance we place on kuzushi when explaining and teaching the throwing process to beginners.

Under the current model throws are introduced in 3 stages:

Kuzushi

Tsukuri

Kake

As instructors we pay lots of attention to the kuzushi phase, less to the tsukuri and even less to the kake.

The effect of this emphasis on the kuzushi phase is a distortion of priorities and a flawed understanding of the throwing process by the beginner and often by coaches.

This manifests itself in two main ways –

Compartmentalisation of the throw

Lack of awareness of moments of opportunity for the throw

Compartmentalisation of the throw

A consequence of the way we break down throws into the three stages outlined above and the over emphasis placed on kuzushi it is very common to see beginners doing what I call ‘compartmentalizing’ the throw.

That is to say that they do a big jerk/ tsurikomi action and then, just, sort of, stop. Then they try and go to tsukuri etc... Obviously this fails pretty much every time.

I believe that the way in which we hive off the various parts of the throw, which is of course a legitimate and valuable method of teaching. Does, if left un-contextualised, cause conceptual problems for beginners when they attempt to throw in a live resisting situation such as a randori.

I’m not advocating full abolition of the kuzushi-tsukuri-kake metric of throwing

Rather that it is full contextualized so that beginners understand that the three phases aren’t firewalled from each other and that the line between kuzushi and tsukuri and thus kake is quite fluid, malleable and often indiscernible.

A good example of how this compartmentalisation of throwing leads to what I call ‘compartmentalisation-itis’ is when drilling uchikomi or nagekomi.

The beginner will stand opposite their partner and apply kuzushi, usually tsurikomi in the position.

Tugging uke off balance and then when uke is tilted forwards onto their toes stepping to the point of the triangle and commencing their tsukuri.

This usually causes problems because tori off balances uke and then steps in. It is very hard to preserve the tension in the arms to keep uke off balance whilst stepping in so tori almost always undoes all the kuzushi work they have done and return uke to balance as they step in.

The result is almost always having to force the throw under sub-optimal conditions and of course enforcing sloppy and incorrect technique.

This issue becomes even more acute when it comes to randori because tori has not programmed his body to associate kuzushi with tsukuri. Rather, to separate the two as distinct and compartmentalised actions. Tori is unable to apply kuzushi properly in conjunction with tsukuri and so defaults to attacking an on balance uke with the inevitable result – throw failure.

You can observe from competition footage and from footage of quality nagekomi that no one ever starts square on to their uke off balances them, then fits in, then completes the throw. Kuzushi and tsukuri are always indistinguishable and drawing a marker between tsukuri and kake practically impossible.

This is because in a realistic throwing situation all three happen basically simultaneously.

However, for teaching purposes its necessary to break the three down so people can understand the principles and not get overwhelmed by the complexity of the complete throwing action.

Think about the three step metric of – kuzushi, tsukuri and kake as like the stabilisers on a bike. Only necessary for absolute beginners and learning the basics. However, being stable and not falling off the bike remains vital no matter how high you progress...

So when approaching throwing in uchikomi, nagekomi and randori remember that if you crudely partition kuzushi, tsukuri and kake you will be on route to throw failure and a much shallower learning curve.

Another issue arising from compartmentalisation-itis is that we fail to contextualise the kuzushi-tsukuri-kake sequence within the wider throwing sequence. Therefore failing to ensure that beginners understand where they fit in, in relation to kumikata, dodome, zanshin and most importantly debana.

This causes a lack of awareness of moments of opportunity and often causes beginners to go down the wrong route when they try and reverse engineer their way to debana from a total throwing action encased with a dynamic situation - randori.

Lack of awareness of moments of opportunity

When I was even more of a beginner than I am now I was constantly searching for that secret, the key that separated people who could throw, seemingly at will, from me who couldn’t throw a tantrum if he tried.

Like most beginners I focused my search in two areas-

Set ups

Geometry

Set ups

The issue with set-ups can be largely semantic.

So I will explain exactly what I mean by going down the rabbit hole of ‘set-ups’, that beginners think that an action produces a pre-determined and immutable reaction which has its own pre-determined and immutable action. So to take an example of Ko uchi gari into Seoi nage, beginners need to remember and realise that the Seoi nage is only appropriate as an action if the reaction to the Ko uchi gari makes Seoi nage the appropriate action.

So just doing a Ko uchi doesn’t automatically create an opportunity for a Seoi nage.

This is where a searching for ‘the answer’ to throwing in set-ups leads people astray. The Ko uchi gari doesn’t produce the Seoi nage, however, it does create ‘moments of opportunity’/ debana one of which could be a Seoi nage or it could be a Tai otoshi etc...

It all depends on how exactly uke has moved relative to tori and tori relative to uke and a myriad of other complicated interrelated factors.

So beginners often incorrectly try to reduce Judo to simplistic algebraic euqtions of, for example, Ko uchi gari + Seoi nage = Ippon.

This isn’t incorrect, is a waste of the beginner’s time to pursue it and will stultify development.

Geometry

Often beginners seek answers to the ‘throwing puzzle’ in geometry through a close study of recordings and videos of people doing Judo.

As a result they often contrive that the solutions to their problems throwing people lies in geometry. If they can get uke to step back with their left foot at a 45 degree angle and simultaneously advance their own foot 7.5 inches at 13 degrees then they will have the perfect set up to throw their partner.

As any experienced and knowledgeable Judoka will tell you going down this route is a hiding to nothing.

And although I often use concepts and ideas that could be called ‘Judo geometry’ in my posts, such as T-ing up and the triangle. The difference is that these geometrical shapes or examples are always presented as concepts and rough guides rather than die cast rules.

So if you’re beginner and you’re doing what I used to do which is watch Koga and Jeon dvds almost with a protractor out trying to calculate the angles of what they were doing. Please stop. Its not where the answer to your issues lies and you’re wasting your time.

So what then?

As usual I’ve waffled on a lot about what you shouldn’t do, but spent little time discussing what you should do.

Well the reality is that there is no one answer to throwing more people, there is no single key to kuzushi and no single solution to throwing more people more often.

However, what I would like anyone reading this to take away is that they get out of their heads the notion that ‘kuzushi’ is a mystical force or magical entity divorced from the rest of throw and separate from movement, gripping, positioning etc...

Often I read on forums and elsewhere beginners saying they will concentrate of ‘just trying to off balance’ their partners in randori.

This concept is fundamentally flawed you can’t just off balance people in a vacuum. Its dependent on your movement, your grip, your positioning and uke’s grip, movement and positioning. Nor can you divorce the off balancing from the throwing action.

Also if you do manage to off balance someone using your hands. Why in the hell would you waste that success by not throwing them?

You can’t divorce kuzushi from the entire dynamic process that is Judo. Nor can you divorce kuzushi from the rest of a throw – the moment of opportunity, fitting in, and execution.

Kuzushi isn’t the lone kid leaning against the wall at the school disco, its right there on the dance floor getting involved with everyone else.

So next time you step on the mat, please remember kuzushi is embedded in the throwing process which occurs as a result of movement and gripping.

As always critiques, comments and questions are welcome.

Ko uchi gari

2011-09-29T21:41:00.000+01:00

Ko uchi gari is a small technique, but a phenomenally powerful one when pulled off perfectly, capable of knocking someone unconscious.

When its not being used to flatten people Ko uchi gari is a perfect attacking technique to induce movement and create opportunities and as such is very often used as the first technique in combinations with major throws.

A deceptively simple looking technique, there are several key points that should be born in mind when practicing it.

Body positioning

Body positioning is the biggest cause of throw failure and wasted practice time when it comes to Ko uchi gari. Or more accurately, incorrect body positioning is the biggest issue.

Its very common when beginners are introduced to Ko uchi gari or are practicing it either as a solo technique or as part of a combination, that they bend over at the waist as the apply kuzushi or try to sweep.

It is vital to ensure a good Ko uchi gari that tori’s body is upright when attacking.

However, this doesn’t mean that tori should be bolt upright on tip toes.

Tori’s upper body should be upright, but his centre of gravity lowered so that it is below uke’s.

Tori should also concentrate on attacking the chest, ensuring that he doesn’t enter for the thow side on.

Instead tori should attempt to ensure he is making as much chest contact as possible and that as much as possible his shoulders are in the same plane as uke’s.

Correct body positioning is vital and by ensuring your position your body for Ko uchi gari, correctly. You will find that the other aspects start to fall into place fairly naturally.

Hands

As in other ‘Gari techniques’ tori should concentrate on attacking the chest with the hand action.

The tsurite is very important in all ‘Gari techniques’ and is equally important in Ko uchi gari.

The forearm makes firm and sustained contact with uke’s chest.

The sleeve hand draws downwards and towards tori’s hip.

As in all techniques both hands should work together and simultaneously. So that uke’s weight is shifted on to the rear of the heel about to be reaped.

So that when the foot action is performed uke is perfectly position to be thrown.

Feet

As I see it there are two main ‘schools of thought’ on the foot action for Ko uchi gari.

There is the school I ascribe to which is the oikomi school of thought, in which a tsugi ashi foot movement is used to create a very powerful explosive attack and there is the ‘touch step/kick out’ school where the attack is less explosively and relies more on the reaping action.

Regardless of the exact footwork one point remains constant.

The foot should be turned over and cupped so that the sole of the foot is what makes contact with uke’s ankle, not the ridge of the side of the foot or the instep.

Tsugi ashi

In this form of Ko uchi gari the tusgi ashi foot movement is used to generate force and then applied to power the reaping action.

The rear foot is brought to the front foot to provide impetus for the action of the advanced reaping foot.

The foot is then reaped roughly into the area indicated by the red box.

Some reap almost directly forwards akin to Ko soto gari others add some degree of diagonal angle to the reap.

I personally prefer this version, because it suits my style of Judo, which as a heavyweight tends to be fairly sedate with little movement. So opportunities for the drawing out/hikidashi style of Ko uchi gari so often practiced in this drill.

Are very few and far between.

As an aside, I loathe this drill with an absolute passion.

I think its literally the worst drill in Judo and whenever I’m at a club and end up doing it, every second of it I feel my blood pressure rising.

I hate it for two main reasons.

Basically no one uke’s for it properly. Instead of stepping forward and allowing themselves to have the weight brought onto their heels. They stomp the foot forward as if doing a Sumo shiko and as a result no one learns anything except how to waste everybody’s time.

Its utterly useless for teaching beginners, because to try and avoid the Sumo stomp people try and rush to get the sweep in before uke’s clubbed foot becomes glued to the mat. They forget all about the hands, body positioning etc and concentrate solely on stepping back and sweeping as quickly as possible.

So its a shit drill, please stop using it coaches. Unless you really, really, really hammer home to uke that it isn’t a contest into who can stomp the mat the hardest and that they’re actually supposed to help their partner out...

And even then, there are better options.

Touch step

Another common footwork for Ko uchi gari, in my experience is what I call the touch step movement.

In the touch step foot pattern the planted foot is brought to the reaping foot.

The advanced to the side of the foot about to be reaped.

Then the reaping foot attacks the intended foot.

The foot is then reaped roughly into the area indicated by the red box

Some perform a very linear reaping action, most tend to do it in a shallow parabola.

Kick out

The ‘kick out’ Ko uchi gari is one of the other most commonly seen variations, it can be done with either the tsugi ashi foot action or the touch step foot action.

However, the initial footwork is done the reaping action is always the same.

The foot is literally kicked outwards laterally.

I don’t think its particularly important which action you do. Although I personally don’t teach the kick out, because I believe its too easily open to abuse.

Rather if you concentrate on getting the body positioning and hand action right then the exact foot action becomes of less consequence.

Combinations

Ko uchi gari is a fantastic technique for use in creating opportunities and linking to big throws. As such its used a lot in combinations.

Some examples of combinations involving Ko uchi gari.

Ko uchi gari into Uchi mata

Seoi nage into Ko uchi gari

Ko uchi gari into Tai otoshi

As always, I hope this has been useful to people and comments, critiques and criticisms are welcome.

Tsugi ashi

2011-09-19T20:30:00.000+01:00

So what is Tsugi ashi?

Tsugi ashi refers to a stepping pattern in Judo where one foot replaces the other before that foot can move. So that the trailing foot moves to the front foot then the front foot advances or the front foot retreats to the trailing foot then the trailing foot retreats.

The basic movement looks like this

Broken down we see that tori starts in a sort of T-ed upposition

Tori then moves his trailing foot to his front foot

And advances with his front foot

The whole movement looks like this:

Throughout the movement tori keeps his hips central and his head roughly above his hips.

The same process is repeated when retreating, the advanced foot retreats first to the position of the trailing foot. Then the trailing foot retreats.

The core of the tsugi ashi movement lies in the production and transference of power from the advanced or trailing foot through the hips into the upper body of tori. Normally, however, the power generation is from the trailing foot through the hips as tsugi ashi is rarely used in competition or randori going backwards.

One of the few exceptions is this classic tsurikomi/ kuzushi drill, which I do a few sets of every session and I would urge others to do as well:

One of the major flaws with beginners attempting the tsugi ashi movement comes when advancing. 9 times out of 10 a beginner will take a little step with their advanced foot first and then bring their trailing foot up to the advanced foot. This is natural as we are used to going forward by stepping with the advanced foot, it just makes sense. However, the movement, tsugi ashi, in Judo is very specific and serves a purpose to maximise forward transference of power and speedy entry. So it is vital that you ensure you only move the trailing foot first when advancing and only move the advanced foot first when retreating. Otherwise the movement fails.

Applying Tsugi ashi

Here Okano sensei demonstrates various applications of tsugi ashi:

Katanishi sensei demonstrates how tsugi ashi can be applied to the action- reaction sequence for forward throws:

Katanishi sensei demonstrates tsugi ashi as a ‘hip bump’ as part of the action-reaction sequence. This use of tsugi ashi was a favourite of Neil Adams albeit usually for Tai otoshi.

Here the applicability of the tsugi ashi movement for various throws including Ko uchi makikomi and Sukui nage is demonstrated:

Here for Ko uchi gari:

And here for Tai otoshi

Positioning for Nagewaza

2011-09-18T22:02:00.000+01:00

This is an updated, revised and expanded version of a previous article – Practising Combinations. If you wish to still view the original un-revised article it will remain on the blog, but is now superseded by this article.

One of the biggest issues beginners have is practicing combinations whilst moving and especially so when the movement isn’t linear and is a free moving situation.

There are of course a number of reasons behind this, lack of control, poor spacing, simply not being good at the individual throws etc...

However, a major factor is a lack of awareness of how to properly position yourself relative to your partner in order to throw them.

T-ing Up

I was taught the concept of positioning for nagewaza as ‘t-ing up’, I have heard Neil Adams refer to it as ‘setting your line up’ your coach or club may have a different name for it. Regardless of what you call it the principle is universal and fundamental.

If you’re T-ed up you’re standing with your lead foot advanced at the peak of the triangle, you other foot roughly shoulders width behind it and your partner standing with both feet level.

Imagine that there is an invisible line running between uke’s toes and that it is bisected by another invisible line that runs between tori’s feet. These lines bisect each other in such a way that the line between uke’s feet forms the horizontal cross bar of a T shape and that the line between tori’s feet forms the vertical upright bar of the T.

This position should be familiar to most people because it is roughly how you’re positioned after you’ve taken your first step when practicing uchikomi or nagekomi.

From this position you’re ideally placed to turn in for a throw and your opponent is ideally positioned to be thrown.

Note that the foot positioning is not set in stone and the trailing foot doesn’t have to be precisely behind the advanced foot.

The vertical line of the T is only a rough guide for foot placement and having the trailing foot ‘off centre’ of the T is not wrong.

Drilling positioning

In a static situation with a compliant partner its incredibly easy to get into the T-ed up position and then perform a throw.

However, beginners often struggle to T-up when moving around in a non linear fashion for uchikomi and nagekomi.

As such its usually necessary to drill moving around with a partner and positioning yourself to perform a throw.

Here in a free movement drill tori and uke moves around with tori leading the movement, getting into the T-ed up position and then performing tsurikomi.

Very few beginners, however, after being shown and having the T-ing up concept explained are able to go straight away into a free moving drill and control the movement so that the T-up properly.

So the drill needs to be introduced progressively. The most basic form of drilling for positioning is circling.

In which tori will start the movement by stepping out with his non-lead foot, for a right hander this will be his left, for a left hander his right, bringing uke around with him.

Here a simple circling drill is used to position tori and uke so that tori is T-ed up, lead foot at the peak of the triangle and therefore perfectly positioned to apply his throw.

This is relatively straightforward and most beginners are able to circle and T-up after a short amount of practice.

However, when attempting to apply the T-ing up concept to live uchikomi or nagekomi combination practice most beginners often struggle because its not a simple circling type action, unless the initial technique is a Hiza guruma or Sasae tsurikomi ashi.

Often beginners will find that after applying a technique like O uchi gari they’re left in this position.

Not T-ed up and impossibly placed to attempt any follow up technique except an O soto gari or Sasae tsurikomi ashi.

In this situation all that is necessary to T-up and be correctly positioned is a simple backswing with the trailing foot.

When a Ko uchi gari is the initial attack simply perform a ‘frontswing’ with the trailing foot to bring yourself into position.

Sometimes during free moving uchikomi or nagekomi you will need to create space as part of your tai sabaki to ensure you’re correctly positioned and T-ed up.

To do this a simple method is what I call ‘pulsing’ where you use the tsugi ashi foot movement to ‘pulse’ your partner away to create space.

Just for forward throws?

Although most of the examples so far have been of the T-ing up positioning concept being used for forward throws it also applies to backwards throws as well.

The T-ing up concept being used to position for O uchi gari

The T-ing up concept being used to position for O uchi gari following an O soto gari attack

T-ing up for combinations

The real usefulness of the T-ing up concept is in helping people position themselves properly for practicing combinations.

Here for a Ko soto gari to Tai otoshi combination

O soto gari to O uchi gari

O uchi gari to Tai otoshi in kenka yotsu

Should I do this in randori?

Often when introduced to the T-ing up concept beginners will move around and try and get in precisely that position with the feet in complete alignment and attempt throws. This will almost always fail as the position’s purpose is to teach a concept not a cast iron rule.

Also beginners often try walking around T-ed up, again this is a mistake as its a position that’s basically impossible to get into or maintain against skilled opposition without being thrown and again the position is conceptual not mandatory.

That being said the concept can often be seen being applied in contests and randori. Here in a ‘grip to throw’ sequence Jeon of Korea brings his opponent into the T-ed up position through use of movement and scores Ippon.

Drilling Kuzushi

2011-08-08T13:30:00.003+01:00

I have discussed tsurikomi and correct kuzushi action previously.

However, I never clearly outlined specific drills or routines for people to do to improve their tsurikomi and thus general kuzushi action.

I’m going to split this into two sections –

Static drills

Moving drills

Static drills

The basic tsurikomi drill looks like this:

However, I know from experience that very few people, even supposedly experienced level players like brown belts have trouble going straight into this drill if they’re unfamiliar with it.

So it’s necessary to introduce the drill in two phases –

Sleeve hand action

Lapel hand action

Sleeve hand action

The action of the sleeve hand involves uke’s sleeve being drawn out high so that uke’s wrist is at least level with tori’s forehead, preferable above tori’s head.

As tori draws uke’s sleeve forwards and outwards tori’s wrist must rotate so that by the peak of the pull the palm is facing towards the mat.

The grip starts as normal

And finishes with the hand rotated, palm facing down towards the mat

To drill this action grip uke’s sleeve underneath their elbow, in the classic ‘judo grip’ position and only on their sleeve take no grip of the lapel.

Then repeatedly draw out uke’s sleeve, off balancing uke.

You should be T-ed up with uke as you do this

And best practice is to dip slightly from the hips on the ‘decline’ of the movement and so that you can rise up to normal height on the ‘incline’ of the movement.

It is important to dip slightly on the ‘decline’, because otherwise when attempting to pull upwards on the ‘incline’ you will have a tendency to make yourself go on tip toes, which is obviously totally unrealistic, structurally weak and undermines the practice objectives.

Lapel hand action.

Grip uke’s lapel and lapel only, take no grip on the sleeve and again start T-ed up.

And then apply the tsurite action, bringing the pocket created by uke’s armpit to your forearm lifting simultaneously forwards and upwards.

A major error is to try and pull uke forwards by just jerking them with the arm like so

It is vital that your action brings the pocket created by uke’s armpit to your forearm and to ensure there is no slippage.

The wrist should also be kept straight and inline with the forearm, don’t allow your wrist to bend or flex.

Bringing it together

I would recommend that you practice each hand separately and then practice the two hands together.

If you were designing a set and rep weights type programme for your tsurikomi I would recommend that one set be:

10 sleeve pulls
10 lapel lifts
10 full tsurikomi entries

Do about 3-5 of these sets before and after every Judo session.

Concentrate on quality rather than quantity.

All sets should be down concentrating on smoothness and coordination of the action.

If it isn’t smooth and coordinated go back and start again.

Remember: First get it right, then get it fast.

Increase the reps in each set as competency- fluidity and coordination -improve i.e

15 sleeve pulls
15 lapel lifts
15 full tsurikomi entries

20 sleeve pulls
20 lapel lifts
20 full tsurikomi entries

Etc...

Moving drills

The above outlined static drills are excellent for improving your basic tsurikomi skills and will produce improvements in your static uchikomi and nagekomi.

However, at some point you will have to do some moving uchikomi, nagekomi or maybe even randori...

In a basic moving tsurikomi drill, as demonstrated by Inoue.

Tori retreats normally and then performs a backwards tsugi ashi step.

Note how tori sinks as he takes the tsugi ashi step, this facilitates him off balancing uke without raising his own COG.

This drill should be performed with multiple repetitions down the mat.

Again the focus should be fluidity and accuracy rather than speed and showy-ness.

When basic competency has been achieved with moving tsurikomi drilling as outlined above then more advanced drills can be done.

Note how tori only moves in tsugi ashi and uke is squatting to increase resistance for tori.

These moving drills can also be introduced in a phased manner as with the static drills where tori drills first the sleeve action in isolation and then the lapel action in isolation.

These isolation drills can be particularly effective in correcting problems with someone’s tsurikomi action.

Conclusion

I would strongly advise any Judoka who is serious about their Judo to devote time to practicing these drills under competent supervision.

I personally have done thousands of tsurikomi uchikomi like this:

And covered several miles of mat doing this

My coach would start every session with us doing about 5 sets on 20 static tsurikomi uchikomi- ‘half turns’ as he calls them. And my mate and I would book out a room on campus and spend 2 hours just drilling where we would do a couple of hundred tsurikomi drills static and moving apiece along with uchikomi for our tokuiwaza.

That’s not an example of badassery. That’s something anyone can achieve if they put their mind to it and are willing to put the hours in.

If you can’t get two hours on a mat to drill these things or your coach won’t give you the time to drill them. Then turn up 10 minutes early and stay 10 minutes late after each session and drill these with a partner or long suffering friend.

If you have absolutely no alternatives than attach a pair of bicycle inner tubes to the garage wall, draw a triangle in chalk and then practice doing your tsurikomi and observing the triangle.

Or if you don’t have a garage then shove a pair of innertubes in a rucksack with some pieces of chalk and go for a jog down to the park before or after work, mark out your triangle and attach your inners and get doing those half turns.

Practicing these drills will improve your throws and will help you throw more people more often. I can’t guarantee it will be immediate for you, but if you keep at it you will improve, you will get better and you will throw more people.

I promise.

O uchi gari

2011-07-31T12:55:00.000+01:00

After a few introduction articles, this one returns to a fuller in depth exploration of the throw.

As I only know how to do about 6 throws and I’ve already written about four of them this will be one of the last in depth articles, although I will continue the introduction articles until I have exhausted the Dai ikkyo and dai nikkyo.

I’ve opted for a slightly eclectic organisation for this article, I’ve started in the middle of the body and then moved outwards in a spiral, yeh I know sounds weird, but it will make sense once I stop waffling and star...

Body positioning

I’ve decided to start with body positioning for O uchi gari, because I believe that correct body positioning makes head positioning, hand action and use of the feet relatively straight forward whereas incorrect body positioning causes a whole host of problems throughout the rest of the throw.

Correct body positioning has two key components:

Having your COG lower than uke’s

Making chest to chest contact.

Body Positioning 1 – COG

Whenever practicing forward throws beginners are always instructed and reminded to ‘get under uke’ and ‘go low’, however, for some reason in O uchi gari this key piece of advice is rarely given, but is just as critical.

You must position yourself so that your COG is lower than uke’s, the best guide for this is – is you belt lower than uke’s.

As with forward throws a common mistake is to concentrate overly on lowering your COG below uke’s and not on striking the balance between lowering your COG and raising uke’s through off balancing them.

Here Yamashita demonstrates correct COG positioning for tori relative to uke in O uchi gari

Failing to properly lower your COG relative to uke is often combined with the second major error in body positioning for O uchi gari not making chest contact.

Body Positioning 2 – Chest to Chest contact

I have previously written at length about body positioningand chest contact for the Kari waza family, however, I believe it’s important enough to revisit.

As outlined in the linked article the most common error is coming in side on to uke, like so

Instead your should attempt to attack chest on chest and make contact, like so

Here Yamashita demonstrates correct chest to chest positioning for tori relative to uke in O uchi gari

Hand action

It is important to remember what the purpose of the hand action in O uchi gari is. The purpose is to break uke’s balance to the rear corner of the leg that is being reaped. So that uke’s weight is concentrated over their heel

There are two main hand actions for O uchi gari, for which the central difference is the action of the tsurite/lapel hand.

In the first action, which is generally considered the more canonical action tori’s tsurite forearm makes firm and sustained contact with uke’s chest and drives upwards keeping a straight wrist.

In the second action, which is equally valid, but often considered slightly non-canonical and is often not the expected version at grading and demonstrations etc... The tsurite action is upwards and over uke’s shoulder wrapping the gi around the upper arm.

For the hikite action, which remains constant regardless of the tsurite action, tori draws uke’s sleeve outwards and downwards towards his own hip.

Whichever combination of hand actions you choose it is vital that the hands must work together in concert.

Leg action

When performing the leg action for a canonical O uchi gari, it is vital that uke’s leg is reaped in a circle rather than lifted upwards from the mat.

Lifting uke’s leg up is less efficient as it is much easier for uke to retain their balance if their leg is merely lifted clear of the mat, than if it is drawn outwards away from their centre of gravity and out from under their hips.

Practicing O uchi gari

O uchi gari going forward

Katanishi advances with his left then suddenly decelerates allowing uke to continue retreating with his left despite Katanishi not advancing with his left.

He then advances with his right, cross stepping and placing it in front of uke’s right which is commencing its retreat.

Uke then continues his retreat whilst tori’s advanced right foot remains constant and tori’s trailing left foot accelerates to a position behind the right.

Tori then accelerates his advanced right foot to catch uke’s left foot as it is fully weighted.

Ippon

Seen from another angle

O uchi gari in a circle

Combinations

O uchi gari to Tai otoshi

O uchi gari to O soto gari

O uchi gari to Uchi mata

O uchi gari in Kenka yotsu

As I have discussed previously resolving the kenka yotsu situation usually requires T-ing up by missing the classical first step.

A classical T-ing up sequence

Whereas in a kenka yotsu T-ing up pattern the first step is missed.

In Competition

In competition O uchi gari can often look quite different to how it is performed in uchikomi and demonstrations.

This is not due to a flaw in the technique itself, rather to the difficulty of performing the technique canonically against a competent resisting opponent. Although you do see examples of it being performed canonically.

As a result O uchi gari often morphs into an Uchi mata esque technique. As demonstrated here in the infamous Resnick video.

And also in, oddly, far less controversial Inoue videos.

Fundamentals of Contest Judo - Transition

2011-05-16T23:01:00.000+01:00

So often when we practice Judo we do each segment of the Judo match in isolation- gripping is done separately from throwing, throwing from moving, tachiwaza from newaza. However, in a contest we have to be able to do all of these things seamlessly being able to grip, move, throw and transition into newaza without pausing significantly in between.

Coaches often therefore use training exercises to help people chain together the separate aspects that we usually train often in isolation. They will use drills where you break a grip, move, T-up and throw and as concerns this article they will use drills that try and replicate the transition from standing into groundwork.

In between the application of a throw, tachiwaza, and the application of a roll, strangle, pin or armlock – newaza- is the transition.

Conceptualising the transition

As I have been taught there are two key elements to the transition they are the connection and the catch. Note that I’m not referring to throwing situations where tori attempts a throw and lands in a pin or where uke becomes tori, during the throw, and lands in a pin. I’m talking about situations where a throw is not applied in a controlled fashion that lands tori in a position to apply a pin.

In these situations there are two key concepts:

The Connection

The Catch

The Connection

As Adams explains and demonstrates above after having performed a throw it is vital that tori remains in contact or connected to uke in order to place himself in the best place to then attack further in newaza.

Tori throws uke and releases his grip on the lapel, whilst maintaining hand contatct:

Tori’s hand moves from the lapel to uke’s lat muscle and retains control and grip of uke’s sleeve

As uke continues to roll from the throw, tori retains contact with his tsurite hand on uke’s lat muscle and his hikite hand moves to uke’s shoulder

As tori does so he manoeuvres around and with uke so that he retains contact.

Tori continues to stay with uke and finishes in a strong position ready to attack

Here are some examples of tori staying to uke in a contest situation

The Catch

Once you have stayed connected to uke its important that you’re able to attack swiftly and purposefully.

In order to go from being connected to uke and in a good control position to an attack you must ‘catch’ a control point.

A catch comes in many forms and some catches can lead to many techniques and entries.

A hook is a not the same as a catch.

Although a hook is often an excellent precursor to establishing the catch.

The catch is a grip on the collar or arm.

A common catch, for Judo, to start turnovers into pins and armlocks is on the collar

Another is on the forearm

And of course one of the most famous catches of all, in the crook of the elbow, for Adams Juji roll

Another common catch is to send the arm to catch the collar in order to tighten it for applying a strangle.

Tori grasps the collar slightly lower than normal

Tori then brings in the hand that he intends to apply the shimewaza with so that two hands are on the collar

Tori then uses the lower hand, that established the catch to tighten the jacket and thus the shimewaza

Staying connected to uke and getting the catch demonstrated in competition

Practicing the transition

In my opinion practicing the transition from tachiwaza to newaza is as important as practicing the respective parts of Judo. In every competition you enter at some point you will throw imperfectly and need to know how to effectively control the transition and then attack in newaza.

I believe the best way to practice the transition is progressively. That is to stay in a controlled and pre-determined way that builds fundamental skills and then develops them in a planned and structured way.

First and foremost is understanding how to throw and throw with control and to understand how to apply a selection of turnovers.

So once you know how to throw safely and in a controlled manner and have learnt a selection of turnovers you can begin practicing transition training.

Normally the core of transition training is attacking the turtle performing uchikomi until all aspects of the attack against the turtle and well in grained

After that it’s important to practice the throw and connection

Once accomplished at those you begin practicing the entire sequence – throw, connect, catch, turn, pin/submit, ippon.

This training methodology can be refined, personalised and specified so that if a player is good at the turn in uchikomi and is good at connecting with uke in live situations, but struggles with the catch in live situations.

Then the drill can be refined so that it becomes; throw, connect, catch, reset thus drilling the catch reflex to improve it.

This training can then shift phase, all above examples are of cooperative training, but as skill, competency and fluidity increase resistance can be progressively added to the drills until finally you reach a full randori situation with a continuation into groundwork permitted.

Tai Otoshi

2011-05-08T01:23:00.002+01:00

Tai Otoshi is one of the hardest single techniques to master, in Judo, not least because it is so appallingly taught in many places. A big, powerful technique it requires a very good mastery of fundamental skills and a keen sense of debana and when executed expertly, as a pure tewaza, beautifully epitomises Ju Yoku Go O Seisu.

So without further ado.

Fundamentals

In my opinion there are 3 fundamental things that beginners need to get right in order to ensure correct Tai Otoshi practice, they are head, hands and legs.

Hands

As I have discussed previously the tsurikomi action is at the heart of almost all Judo and this is no less true than in the case of Tai otoshi.

The biggest error with the hands in Tai otoshi is incorrect usage of the tsurite/ lapel hand. The tsurite arm must have the forearm inserted into the ‘pocket’ created by uke’s armpit and chest:

Alot of problems, not only with throw, but also to people’s joints, tendons and muscles are caused by incorrect usage of the tsurite during Tai otoshi.

The biggest, most common and most painful error is inserting the elbow of the tsurite/lapel arm across uke’s chest in a Morote seoi nage style:

and even worse...

Because uke isn’t properly loaded onto the back as in Morote seoi nage and instead in a halfway house between tori’s hip and upper thigh and because tori’s hands have fallen behind their head. This is a very weak position and to then attempt to complete the throw requires a lot of power to be extracted from joints that aren’t in the correct position to provide power, the result is very weak and will result in injury when attempted on a resisting opponent.

Tori’s tsurite hand should never fall behind their ear

Tori should ensure that the tsurite is inserted into the pocket and that it doesn’t fall behind their head.

Whilst keeping the tsurite forearm tucked into the pocket and not allowing it to fall behind the head. The action of the hikite/ sleeve arm should be that of a smooth and continuous upward pull.

Tori’s pull on the sleeve arm should remain high and not slacken off until the end of the throw.

If the tsurite arm is not slotted into the pocket and falls behind the head and if the hikite arm doesn’t have a good, continuous upward pull then uke will be drawn onto the hip and tori’s body will be put out of alignment

Tsurite in the pocket and hikite kept high is vital to a correct hand action.

Flaws in the hand action often lead to flaws in the positioning of the legs and the head and cause major structural problems with the throw.

Legs

There are two main schools of thought on the use of the legs in Tai otoshi. I call them the ‘Adams school’ and the ‘Japanese school’ the central difference between them is how tori’s weight is distributed between the two legs.

The ‘Adams school’ advocates a 50/50 weight distribution between the legs

The ‘Japanese school’ advocates a 70/30 weight distribution with the majority of the weight being put on the outstretched leg

It doesn’t really matter which school you adhere to, advocate or emulate. However, there is one constant between the two schools which is a fundamental principle of Tai otoshi, which must be adhered to no matter which school you prefer.

That you must never have more than 50% of your weight on the leg which you don’t throw uke over.

Here Nicholas Gill demonstrates how incorrect weight distribution puts uke back on balance and tori off balance.

Another major issue that people encounter with Tai otoshi which causes them to have incorrect weight distribution between the legs is the exaggerated backswing of the planted foot.

In Judo for uchikomi we start opposite our partners

Then step to the peak of the triangle

It is at this point, in Tai otoshi, that the exaggerated backswing tends to appear.

This tends to shift all of tori’s weight onto the non-throwing over leg, pulls their hands out of alignment and shifts their head over their non-throwing over leg.

Head

Where the head goes the weight follows. Not a revolutionary new diet regime, but a simple maxim for understanding weight distribution in Judo. In order for the legs to have the correct weight distribution and thus the upper body to be in the correct position for proper use of the hands the head must be used correctly.

Here Neil Adams explains the importance of head positioning for weight distribution.

If you over rotate your head and cause it to be over your non-throwing leg or ‘wrong leg’ as Adams calls it this will shift the weight distribution of your legs, pull your upper body out of alignment and ruin your hand action.

Summary

Head must be either central or over the ‘throwing over leg’ never over the ‘non-throwing over leg’.

You weight must be at least 50/50 between the two legs and never more than 50% on the ‘non-throwing over leg’.

Your hands must not fall behind your head, your tsurite/ lapel forearm must fit into the pocket of uke’s armpit and your hikite/sleeve arm must keep pulling upwards until the last minute.

Refinements

Uke to tori, not tori to uke

In the fundamentals section I outlined some of the core things necessary for a good Tai otoshi and covered some of the major and most common errors found in Tai otoshi. In this section I will cover some of the refinements on the core principles of Tai otoshi. As I’m not a Tai otoshi expert, far from it, I have chosen to call this refinements rather than ‘intermediate’ or ‘advanced’, because I think it reflects better the level of the advice.

Tai otoshi is a forwards technique, however, in practice we normal practice and learn it with what I call a ‘backwards pivot’, this means that tori advances with his foot to the peak of the triangle

And the brings his trailing foot to meet it, tori’s feet represented by red Ts and tori’s hips by a red circle

This, however, often causes a lot of problems for beginners with crashing their hips into uke and undoing their own kuzushi:

To avoid this it is vital that tori observes the triangle when breaking uke’s balance and entering and concentrates on bring uke towards him rather than himself towards uke.

When practicing Tai otoshi during moving uchikomi and nagekomi it is usually beneficial to concentrate on practicing it with a forward pivot whilst retreating.

3 toe kuzushi

Often for forward throws we are taught as part of our standard tsurikomi to break uke’s balance forward. In the case of Tai otoshi, however, this can often be counter productive.

Breaking uke’s balance directly over their big toes allows uke to utilise their hips to push forward and hip block the technique

If, however, you conceptualise your kuzushi as breaking uke’s balance over their three smallest toes instead of over their big toe it becomes much harder for uke to regain their balance.

3 toe kuzushi being practiced in uchikomi

Look where you throw

The phrase ‘look where you throw’ is issued to beginners so often it becomes cliché, however, often despite this constant repetition either through instructor ignorance or beginner incompetence, when it comes to Tai otoshi the advice ‘look where you throw’ is valmorphanized into ‘look where your chi might project uke if this were an aikijokers wet dream’

NOTE THIS ADVICE REFERS TO HEAD TURN DURING THE TSUKURI PHASE NOT KAKE

When beginners perform Tai otoshi, they have a tendency to over rotate their head, this was touched upon earlier, but I wanted to revisit it to emphasis how you should use your head.

All too often beginners have a tendency to turn and look as if they were throwing uke into the blue box, which is obviously impossible

Instead, in reality, you throw uke into the red box.

Adams demonstrates the correct head movement and how to properly look where you throw:

Combinations

As a stand alone technique Tai otoshi is very difficult to score with, however, when combined with other techniques opportunities for it open up a lot more and your success rate increases exponentially. Not only this, but Tai otoshi has a myriad of techniques that can accompany it making it one of the most versatile forward throws.

De ashi barai into Tai otoshi

Ko uchi gari into Tai otoshi

O uchi gari into Tai otoshi

Note how when performing the ashiwaza combinations Tori maintains the triangle and appropriate spacing.

I hope this has been useful and that people have got something out of it.

What’s the difference Seoi nage vs Seoi otoshi?

2011-05-02T21:27:00.000+01:00

Two of the commonly most confused throws are Seoi nage and Seoi otoshi, in particular this confusion arises amongst beginners who see a wide range of throws being referred to as ‘drop seoi nage’ and much fewer, but much more varied collection of throws referred to as seoi otoshi.

So let’s examine some common confusions

These are variously referred to as Seoi otoshi:

These as Seoi nage

And these as drop seoi nage

This proliferation of seemingly conflicting and disunified throws is further compounded by commentators branding various throws various names in the heat of the moment and then having that split second judgement treated as gospel or the enshrining of various techniques as such as such in grading syllabuses and becoming gospel.

Judo principles

However, the differences are relatively easily discernible if we apply simple Judo principles.

Is the throwing action effected by ‘nageru’ or ‘otosu’?

If the throwing action is effected by ‘nageru’ then it must involve an element of projection by tori.

If the throwing action is effected by ‘otosu’ then it must involve an element of dropping by tori.

Terminology reference

In the case of Seoi nage vs Seoi otoshi, however, we must dive in a little further and explore some of the ancilliary terms.

The most prominent of which is ‘seoi’. Seoi in Japanese means ‘to load onto the back’, thus a Seoi nage or Seoi otoshi must involve an element of loading of uke onto tori’s back.

We can delve deeper still, into the positioning of tori’s arms.

If tori’s arm is clamped under and around uke’s shoulder joint the grip is described as ‘ippon’

If tori’s arm is gripping uke’s lapel and the elbow is inserted into uke’s armpit the grip is described as ‘morote’.

Seoi Nage

So by the application of Judo principles and an awareness of the terminology we can understand that a throw is a Seoi nage, when it involves the loading of uke onto tori’s back, accompanied by either an ippon or morote grip and then the throwing action effected by the projection of uke.

Seoi Otoshi

So by the application of Judo principles and an awareness of the terminology we can understand that a throw is a Seoi otoshi, when it involves the loading of uke onto tori’s back, accompanied by either an ippon or morote grip and then the throwing action effected by the dropping of tori.

Common confusions

The main source of confusion comes from coaches and commentators whereby both Seoi otoshi and Seoi nage are refered to as ‘drop seoi nage’.

The confusion, commonly, arises during a dynamic situation where tori drops down to their knees and then springs back up to complete the throw. As tori has dropped many people assume it to be a ‘Seoi otoshi’, however, as tori springs back and up and effects the throwing action by sprining back up and projecting uke it is ‘Seoi nage’.

The other common source of confusion comes from grading syllabuses like the BJA’s describing Seoi nage as Seoi otoshi.

The BJA and many other syllabuses consider this to be Seoi otoshi:

Whereas it is an application of Seoi nage, in particular, Morote seoi nage. As uke is loaded onto the back and the throw effected by projecting uke, rather than tori’s body dropping.

Further confusion is created by coaches drawing artificial distinctions between Seoi otoshi and ‘drop seoi nage’ depending on whether one or two knees is touching the mat.

Whether one knee or two is touching the mat is irrelevant as I have mentioned above it is how the throw is effected that distinguishes ‘Otoshi’ from ‘Nage’.

This is such a problem that the Kodokan has gone to the length of special creating some English webpages to correct the issue, they can be found here:

Seoi Nage

Seoi Otoshi

Sasae Tsurikomi Ashi

2011-04-28T14:58:00.002+01:00

I think that Sasae tsurikomi ashi is one of the most underrated and overlooked throws in Judo, which is a shame, because it is a fantastic technique with which you can score massive ippons and create movement and openings for a whole host of throws.

This is going to be a looser and less logical structure than I normally do, basically, because I couldn’t come up with a satisfactory structure.

Anyway without further ado, to business.

Offsetting

I have previously discussed the principle of offsetting for throws in my piece on O soto gari.

Offsetting as a principle is important to O soto gari, Sasae tsurikomi ashi and Hiza guruma and once you appreciate the principle of offsetting and start applying it in your uchikomi and randori you will see a dramatic improvement in your throwing.

Normally in practice for uchikomi and nagekomi we start off with our feet parallel with our partners, like so:

This is fine and correct for the majority of throws, however, starting off like this is the root cause of many structural problems with people's Sasae tsurikomi ashi.

Starting off parallel means tori has to step diagonally to position himself for the throw.

The problem is that this means tori will lean back diagonally away from uke.

The result of practicing like this in uchikomi and nagekomi is that in randori your Sasae will look like this:

Your posture is wrecked, uke’s balance isn’t broken properly, you have no real control over uke and you either topple backwards or you get leg grabbed and thrown for ippon.

In Sasae tsurikomi ashi, and all Judo throws, keeping posture is vital. In Sasae tsurikomi ashi you should rotate your upper body, but have it remain basically straight.

So it’s crucial to offset yourself before you begin any uchikomi or nagekomi.

Due to the importance of offsetting you frequently see Sasae tsurikomi ashi used and resulting in massive ippons when you have extreme right on right stances, in which the feet are naturally in the offset position.

Offsetting on the move

A lot of people and beginners especially struggle with Sasae in moving uchikomi and nagekomi mainly because the concept of offsetting hasn’t been explained to them, but also because those who have sort of sub consciously figured it out struggle to apply it on the move.

Once presented and explained, however, the process is relatively simple.

It is described here for a sleeve side Sasae, reverse the actions for a lapel side Sasae.

Tori begins retreating and when comfortable with the rhythm retreats with his left foot, assuming a right handed tori.

Tori then retreats his right foot in a backwards J type motion.

A visual example is presented below:

Timing

A common mistake and cause for throw failure when attacking with Sasae tsurikomi ashi is attacking the foot when it is already advanced and planted.

It’s very hard to throw uke when the foot is fully advanced unless uke is very unskilled or tori is very strong.

An analogy I like to use to explain the timing for Sasae is to imagine you’re carrying a big box so that you can’t see the floor. Whilst walking you stub your foot as you plant your foot and you stumble you may fall but it will be slow and you have a chance of recovery. However, if whilst walking you step and catch your foot as you’re stepping then you go absolute flying and break whatever’s in the box.

So in Sasae tsurikomi ashi you need to block uke’s foot as it meets the midway point, between being fully retreated

And fully advanced

You block uke’s foot as it advancing foot as it comes level with his planted foot

As uke is in the middle of transferring his weight, blocking the foot halfway through the movement will send uke flying.

Use of the hands

Part of Sasae tsurikomi ashi’s usefulness lies in the fact you can use it to both left and right without changing grips.

When performing Sasae to the sleeve side it is vital that you perform a correct, canonical tsurikomi action. The throw is after all, called, Sasae tsurikomi ashi.

This requires a smooth, strong and continual pull with the sleeve hand and good forearm contact on the chest with the tsurite hand. Lots of chest contact, ensuring the forearm fits into the pocket created by uke’s armpit.

When performing Sasae to the lapel side, which is more common, you have a choice of tsurite hand being in the traditional pocket position.

Or to have the elbow flared upwards

When performing Sasae to the lapel side the action on uke’s sleeve is vital to ensuring correct rotation and completion of the throw.

Tori must position his hand under uke’s elbow and drive it upwards and around in a strong wheeling action.

Combinations

One of the great things about Sasae is how many opportunities for breaking down defence, creating movement and creating throw opportunities it allows. Sasae can be used as a preparatory technique or combined with just about any forward throw, common ones are Tai otoshi, Seoi nage and Uchi mata.

However, due to a lack of quality video material demonstrating those combinations I will discuss Sasae and its ‘sister’ throw O soto gari and a combination I believe to be one of the best in the whole of Judo – Sasae tsurikomi ashi to Okuri ashi barai.

O soto gari and Sasae tsurikomi ashi are perfect partners because of how easy it is to link them in the action reaction sequence and how, when done properly both can elicit such massive reactions that make the subsequent action very easy and very powerful.

Katanishi outlines the action-reaction sequence

Yamashita adds further

And the video reversed to show how it would look for a right hander

Sasae tsurikomi ashi to Okuri ashi barai is, for me, one of the most awesome combinations in Judo, because it combines two very difficult techniques that when done properly result in enormous ippons and rely on subtlety over brute force.

I have a mighty tally of one male white belt and one female brown belt that I have felled with this combination in randori. However, they hit the mat very hard and very unexpectedly that it knocked the wind out of both of them. That’s how powerful a combination in can be even in the hands of a spud like me.

In the combination tori attacks with Sasae and uke manages to step off or over it. To do this uke has to over extend the leg that has been attacked as part of the Sasae attempt and as such needs to bring his trailing leg to his advanced leg in order to regain his balance. It is this recovery action that is exploited and attacked with the Okuri ashi barai.

As uke is still trying to recover balance and defences from the Sasae and this is a very uncommon and unexpected combination when you catch them with the Okuri ashi barai uke gets really launched.

This video demonstrates the movement pattern, tori doesn’t actually apply the Sasae but the stepping pattern is exactly the same. Note this combination is usually done with a lapel side Sasae as it makes the Okuri ashi barai easier.

Why not try and have a play with making your own combinations from Sasae tsurikomi ashi, however, remember to observe proper spacing and positioning

Hopefully that has given you some greater insight into a great, but underrated technique and has given you some ideas to improve your Sasae tsurikomi ashi.

Understanding the Judo ranking system

2011-04-16T20:05:00.001+01:00

For those of you unfamiliar with Judo’s rank system it is divided into two sections. The Kyu grades called collectively in Japanese Mudansha and Dan called collectively in Japanese Yudansha.

There are normally 6 levels of kyu grade with 6^th being the lowest and 1^st being the highest.

Referred to in Japanese as:

Rokkyū – 6^th kyu

Gokyū – 5^th kyu

Yonkyū - 4^th kyu

Sankyū - 3^rd kyu

Nikyū - 2^nd kyu

Ikkyu - 1^st kyu

There are 10 levels of dan ranks with 1^st being the lowest and 10^th being the highest.

Referred to in Japanese as:

Shodan – 1^st dan

Nidan - 2^nd dan

Sandan – 3^rd dan

Yondan – 4^th dan

Godan – 5^th dan

Rokudan – 6^th dan

Shichidan – 7^th dan (Also called Nanadan)

Hachidan – 8^th dan

Ku-dan – 9^th dan

Jū-dan – 10^th dan

6^th dan and above are considered high grades and are sometimes referred to as Kohaku grades.

The Origins of the Kyu and Dan system:

The Kyu and Dan system was invented for the Japanese board game Go in the 17th century by Honinbo Dosaku, a grandmaster of the game, and is now widely used throughout many Japanese disciplines not just the martial arts, for instance, Ikebana or the art of flower arranging.

The kyu and dan system was also adopted by the Japanese school system and a black sash was used in swimming to denote advanced swimmers from novices.

Kano adopted the kyu and dan system in 1883 issuing two dan grades to Shiro Saigo (Sugata Sanshiro of Yama Arashi fame) and Tsunejiro Tomita. Kano's move was part to help integrate Judo into the Japanese education system as was his aim and to differentiate from Jujutsu which used certificates or licenses to rank.

Shoden (entry level), Chude (middle level ) and Okuden (“secret teachings”). Different levels could be also included in each major level to designate further achievement depending on the Jujutsu school, schools had between 3 and 5 total levels some stretched up to 9.

Normally these ranks weren't indicated on the gi in anyway, but plaques would hang on dojo walls indicating level with the owners name. Some Jujutsu schools used black sashes to indicate advanced practitioners and some Jujutsu schools such as Tenjin shin'yō ryū (Kano possessed Okuden in this ryu and Kito ryu) used different colour stitching and fabric on gi to indicate rank.

Kano's adoption of the kyu and dan system and abandonment of the certificate system was part of his attempt to set Judo apart from Jujutsu, which had developed a thuggish reputation during the 19th century.

Until 1886 no black belt was worn to indicate dan rank in Judo all practitioners wore a white sash which was a common practice in Jujutsu for average level students and as such some saw the Kodokan as an inferior school of Jujutsu. The black sash was introduced to indicate senior Judoka in time for the famous Tokyo metropolitan police contest between the Kodokan and Jujutsu schools.

The black belt as we recognise it today was introduced to Judo at the same time as the modern Judogi in 1907.

Finalising of the Dan system:

In 1931 Kano wrote that 6-9th dans were to wear a kohaku (red and white panels) obi and 10th to 12th dans were to wear a solid red obi. All others were to wear white.
For those of you who speak or read Japanese here is the original quotation:

"十段以上を紅帯とし、その以外は白帯とする帯は修行の段階に依って色を異にし、初段より五段までを黒帯、六段より九段までを紅白のだんだら、十段以上を赤帯とし、その以外は白帯とする"

Kano thus specified that Judo would have 12 ranks, however, there was room left open for the possibility for more ranks which the quotation indicates would likely have worn a white belt. Other sources indicate that this would likely have been a double width white belt, presumable in order to distinguish it from a beginners white belt.

Upon Kano’s death this open ended 12 dan system was subsequently revised. As Kano only promoted up to 10^th dan it was decided that no one could override Kano and so no rank higher than 10^th dan would be awarded from the moment onwards. The belt colours were then altered from only 10^th to 12^th wearing a red belt to 9th to 10th dans being able to wear a red belt and 6th to 8th dans being able to wear a kohaku belt. The standard belt for randori and day to day Judo activities remained black, however.

A mistranslated Kodokan pamphlet Q&A section contains a line indicating that the colour for 10^th dan would be ‘purple’, however, this is a mistranslation from the Japanese into French and then French into English.

Coloured kyu belts:

The origins of coloured kyu belts are often believed to have originated with Mikinosuke Kawaishi. It should be noted also that contrary to popular belief Kawaishi did not study Jujutsu or Aikijujutsu or any other form of Koryu. He attended Himeij Middle School and then Waseda University, where he studied Judo and some Kendo. He was awarded shodan in Judo from the Dai Nippon Butokukai in February 1918, but his early Judo studies were in Himeji. He started at Waseda University in 1919, and in the following year enrolled at the Kodokan, where he became a 4^th dan in 1924. He left Japan in 1926 for the US where he taught Judo and graduated from Columbia university. He then travelled the Amazon in Brazil before arriving in London in 1931 due to disagreements and a court case he left England for France in 1935 where he proceeded to fall out with more people.

Gunji Koizumi is actually the likely originator of the coloured kyu belt system, whilst teaching at the London Budokwai.

The coloured belts for Kyu grades as we now know them were instituted in 1927 at the Budokwai in London. Then it was decided that 5th kyus would wear a white belt, a 4th kyus would wear a yellow belt, a 3rd kyus would wear a green belt, a 2nd kyus would wear a blue belt, a 1st kyus would wear a a brown belt. It was later decided that the number of kyu grades would be expanded to 6 and so orange belt became 4th kyu, yellow 5th kyu and white 6th kyu.

In 1927 Kawaishi was still settling into life in America and would not reach France where he is normally supposed to have developed the coloured kyu grades until 1935. Budokwai minutes also detail that at the 9th annual Budokwai display in 1926 Baron Hayashi and Prince Chichibu under the guidance of Koizumi and Tani, Hayashi awarded 3 dan grades and "belts of various colours". So the Budokwai was issuing coloured kyu grade belts in 1926 the year Kawaishi left Japan and had codified their issue by 1927.

The probably reason that the origin of coloured kyu belts in Judo is attributed to Kawaishi is because he not only produced the famed Kawaishi method, by which techniques were numbered rather than named and so it was ease for people to conflate coloured kyu grade belts into the Kawaishi method. Also because the Budokwai was a private and clique organisation and there was little Judo teaching outside of the Budokwai. Whereas in France Judo was far more widespread under the likes of Aida Hikoichi and Ishiguro Keishichi and so when Kawaishi arrived in 1935, presumably bringing the Budokwai’s kyu belt system with him, it found a network of clubs nationwide which adopted the new belt practices and so became far wider spread and instituted in France than in England.

Japanese cultural origins of rank colours:

The colour white is associated with new life a.k.a beginnings through its association with womanhood and birth. This is why traditionally in Japan women have worn belts with a white stripe on them the joshi obi. White is also the funeral or Ososhiki colour in Japan so it's associated with endings. Hence why it was chosen to be both the beginning belt and the ultimate belt- 12th dan and above.

White is also associated with purity, pure intentions and honour, think Jita kyoei... This is why it is the colour of the Judogi and why in Japan it remains the only acceptable colour for Judogi with blue gi being tolerated in certain situations and dojo.

The colour red signifies happiness, the sun and completeness. The red belt signifies one who is complete or close to becoming complete in their mastering and/or knowledge of Judo. The kohaku obi shows that one is beginning the process of trying to accomplish becoming complete in Judo, the combination of white - beginning and red completeness.

The colour black being an absence of colour symbolizes emptiness, an absence of individualism and opening the mind and body to absorb knowledge and to "start a new chapter" in one's life. In Japan traditional wedding dress is black for the groom and guests. Black is considered a unique colour and shouldn't be combined with other colours except white.

The effects of Judo’s rank structure on martial arts

Judo’s ranking system has been almost universally taken up by the other Gendai budo that emerged from Japan in the same period. In particular the notions of ‘kyu’ and ‘dan’ with variously coloured belts making up the ‘kyu’ or beginner grades and ‘black’ marking the transition into the ‘dan’ or advanced grades and with red symbolizing the top rank, have spread to pretty much every style of martial arts from Tae Kwon do to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Indeed the effects of Judo’s rank system have spread beyond the confines of martial arts into the popular imagination. Where ‘the black belt’ has become associated with immense skill, wisdom, fighting prowess and overall deadliness. The black belt has become a symbol of mastery in popular culture to such an extent that the business management strategy Six Sigma issues the rank of ‘black belt’ to expert practicioners.

How modern dan ranks are awarded in Judo:

Dan ranks are issued by the national governing body (NGB) for Judo in each country and its affiliated organisations. The NGB is always the recognised governing body for Judo by that nations Olympic committee. All national NGBs are members of continental unions – EJU, AJU, JUA, PJC and OJU. These continental unions are all members of the International Judo federation, IJF, which is recognised by the International Olympic Committee as the world governing body for Judo. As well as each countries’ respective NGB and affiliates two other organisations issue dan ranks globally the IJF and the Kodokan.

In national NGBs dan ranks from 1^st to 5^th dan are awarded either on the basis of contest results and technical exams or purely on technical exams.

Awards for 6th dan and above are generally given for advancement and understanding of the principles and philosophy of Judo, not for fighting prowess.

At present there are 6 legitimate Judo 10^th dans worldwide. The Europeans; Henri Courtine of France, George Kerr of Great Britian and Jaap Nauwelaerts de Agé of Holland who have all been awarded 10th dan by their respective NGB. However, many consider the only ‘true’ 10^th dans to be those issued by the Kodokan, the three current Kodokan 10^th dan are pictured below.

(From L to R: Ichiro Abe -87- 10th dan, Yoshimi Osawa -83- 10th dan and Toshiro Daigo -84- 10th dan)

Dynamic Delay

2011-04-06T22:04:00.000+01:00

Before I start, I would like to say this has been one of most difficult of these articles to write. This is because it’s discussing a concept that is so broad in its application and so varied that trying to codify it into a single ‘doctrine’ or conceptual framework has proved very difficult. One of the main difficulties, for me, was coming up with a descriptively useful yet simultaneously concise definition of dynamic delay. The other was finding examples that showed the dynamic delay principle in isolation and not to open up to many rabbit holes the discussion or post to disappear down. I think and I hope, that I have managed to achieve that balancing act.

So without further ado, the fundamental Judo skill – Dynamic delay

"Dynamic delay is the process of controlled deceleration and subsequent acceleration by tori relative to uke’s constant motion."

It is easy for us to observe gradual and or obvious deceleration and acceleration, a car braking, Usain Bolt flying out of the blocks etc... However, what is harder for us to observe is sudden and momentary deceleration and acceleration and indeed one being a consequence of the other.

When seeking to explain and illustrate this principle it occurred to me that some of the clearest and most accessible examples come from outside the world of Judo and occur in team sports such as Rugby. In Judo often the action is concealed by the clothing of the two players and the myriad of minute adjustments and split second action. However, in a sport such as rugby with a lone figure in a wide open space with a clear view of the uncovered legs and feet it becomes more obvious.

The most famous example of dynamic delay in team sports, to an Englishman, is rugby player Jason Robinson. Robinson has a truly exceptional life story a former alcoholic who found God and phenomenal form on the pitch. Who went on to cover himself in glory representing his county, succeed in both codes of Rugby and be blessed with a unique a special privileged amongst sportsmen – scoring the winning try in the final minutes of his last ever match for his club. However, it was his mastery of dynamic delay that is of interest to us today.

Here is some footage of Robinson using the principle of dynamic delay to slice through the French backline and score a phenomenal try from the set-piece, apologies to those reading from France.

What is useful to us from this footage, apart from the excellence of English rugby in comparison to France... Is that Robinson accelerates after catching the ball and then spotting the opportunity (debana?) in an opening of the French line very rapidly decelerates to a stand-still and re-accelerates to sprinting speed in a matter of fractions of a second. By his rapid deceleration and acceleration Robinson completely out manoeuvres the French defence whose speed, in tracking across the field, remains constant.

I’m sure those of you familiar with Football, Hockey, American football etc... can think of similar examples from those sports. And please do so, if it helps you wrap your head around the concept. As, I believe, presented as a purely Judo phenomenon devoid of kinesiological context makes it harder rather than easier to understand.

So now if we return to my earlier definition of dynamic delay as:

“The process of controlled deceleration and subsequent acceleration by tori relative to uke’s constant motion.”

And apply that to the Robinson video where Robinson is tori and the French defence uke. Then I think we can start to make some sense of the issue at hand.

Let’s examine this video of the dynamic delay being applied to Okuri ashi barai.

Dynamic delay Okuri ashi barai

Tori and uke start moving in tandem, level with one another.

Tori then decelerates and delays his own movement, allowing uke’s advancing foot to continue, whilst tori’s feet remain level with uke’s trailing foot

Uke’s advanced foot touches the mat and Tori then accelerates into his advancing step whilst uke’s speed of motion remains constant

This dynamic delay and subsequent acceleration by tori, whilst uke’s speed of motion remained constant combines with the accelerated and exaggerated step by tori. The result is that there is potential energy loaded into tori’s trailing foot and it can accelerate much faster than uke’s trailing foot.

Tori’s foot, travelling faster than uke’s, makes contact with uke’s foot accelerating uke’s motion at a rate he is not prepared for.

Uke’s weight transfer process is disrupted by tori accelerating the trailing foot to a speed uke is unprepared for. Combined with a proportionate and appropriate kuzushi action tori disrupts uke’s weight transfer process in a way that is irrevocable and uke is thrown clean off their feet.

As regular readers will know I don’t favour this method of practicing Okuri ashi barai, precisely because it’s much harder for tori to control the dynamic delay process. It requires a very competent and intelligent uke to be fully accessible. However, if you apply the principles outlined in this post to my preferred method of Okuri ashi barai you will find they both rely on dynamic delay.

Dynamic delay is, however, not purely applicable to ashiwaza although that is where most people encounter it and it where most people struggle with it.

Dynamic delay for Tai otoshi

I have had to slow this video down twice as much as normal because Adams is just so fast.

Adams starts moving his uke

Adams then begins his dynamic delay sequence, he advances his left foot with an exaggerated forward step and visibly slows relative to his uke

Adams then brings his trailing right foot to his advanced left foot in a tsugi ashi type motion, coming soon on the blog, visibly slowing and pausing in a manner reminiscent of Robinson.

Adams then uses the impetus from the tsugi ashi action accelerates his left foot into position, whilst uke’s rate of motion remains constant.

Adams accelerates further as his trailing right foot advances to the point of the triangle uke’s rate of motion remains constant.

His trailing foot then spins his left into position and the advanced right foot shoots across for the Tai otoshi, accompanied by a strong, accomplished kuzushi action.

And the perfect ippon.

I have include two pieces of footage of Adams applying the dynamic delay principle to Tai otoshi after having dissected the first I will just leave a series of screen grabs for the second. I call this method of applying dynamic delay the stutter step, the reason should be obvious. This is a very common way of applying it for major forward throws on a retreating uke and can be used for the whole gamut of techniques – Uchi mata, Seoi nage, Harai goshi etc...

Dynamic delay for O uchi gari

There’s a slight miscommunication between Katanishi and his uke so we pick up the action with that miscommunication removed.

Katanishi advances with his left then suddenly decelerates allowing uke to continue retreating with his left despite Katanishi not advancing with his left.

He then advances with his right, cross stepping and placing it in front of uke’s right which is commencing its retreat.

Uke then continues his retreat whilst tori’s advanced right foot remains constant and tori’s trailing left foot accelerates to a position behind the right.

Tori then accelerates his advanced right foot to catch uke’s left foot as it is fully weighted.

Ippon

Seen from another angle

Hopefully now you have a fuller grasp of the process of dynamic delay, which I have defined as best I can as:

"The process of controlled deceleration and subsequent acceleration by tori relative to uke’s constant motion."

I’ll leave you with two examples of dynamic delay in action, not included in this piece to show the wide applicability of the principle. It is important to remember the definition and that this is a principle there is no one set method of achieving dynamic delay and all throws, players and situations can have their own methods.

Japan

2011-03-15T16:03:00.001Z

I'm sure all reading this are aware of events happening in Japan and the devastating consequences of the 11th of March earthquake and tsunami. Furthermore of the difficulties that Japan's nuclear scientists are having securing and stabilising their power plants.

I would like to extend my condolences to those who have lost friends and relatives in the recent tragedy and wish all those affected the best of luck and hope they have a speedy recovery.

If any of you reading would like to make donations to assist with the recovery efforts in Japan and aid the hundreds of thousands left homeless and struggling for basic supplies like food and water.

Here are some good and trusted avenues:

British Red Cross Tsunami Appeal -The Japanese Embassy in the United Kingdom endorses this appeal

The Japan centre

Google Crisis Response - Donating directly to the Japanese Red Cross

American Red Cross Tsunami Appeal - The Japanese Embassy in the United States endorses this appeal

A Full list of all denominational and non-denominational charity groups opertaing the United States to aid the people of Japan.

Thank you for any donations you can make.

Basic tai sabaki for drilling

2011-03-13T00:52:00.004Z

I was prompted to write this after a recent question on Judo forum and having seen so many beginners struggle with this all the time.

We’ve all been there moving uchikomi/ nagekomi time rolls around and you all form up at one end of the mat and then move down the mat in lines turning in for techniques. You look over at the black belts and they’re all spinning in and out of throws with perfect coordination, whilst your attempts could be generously described as resembling a frog in a blender.

So how do you go uncoordinated muppet to slick Judoka?

There are some simple steps, the first is to take control.

All credit for the excellent images of Okano sensei go to Bythesea of Judoforum.com.

Taking control

‘Judo is like dancing’ is an oft quoted phrase, however, it is true in many circumstances. I couldn’t dance my way out of a paper bag as my girlfriend so often reminds me. However, I know one thing that in dancing that one partner is supposed to take the lead.

A common problem with beginners practicing moving uchikomi/nagekomi together is that there is quite a bit of mis-stepping and no clear proper rhythm is established, this makes it very hard to do. A common example of this is when tori advances with his left and uke retreating with his left instead of uke retreating with his right.

In order to take control of the movement pattern. You first advance with your left foot, assuming a right hander, and pressure directly forward and past uke with your hikite/sleeve grip.

Like so:

This imparts impetus to uke and ensures they step back with the correct foot and puts you in control of the movement.

When retreating instead of pushing on the hikite/sleeve arm, tori pulls.

Space

Many beginners, because they associate being close to uke with being able to throw successfully, because in randori they get stiff armed and held out and are left unable to throw. Translate this into moving uchikomi/nagekomi and so always move very close to uke, this is disastrous for practicing.

There must be at least room for your body turned lengthways between you and uke.

Tori indicated in red and uke in blue

So when you commence moving uchikomi/nagekomi extend your arms fully and use that as a guide for how far away your body should be. Being too close will totally kill your ability to turn in correctly and wreck your practice.

So once you have taken control over the movement and achieved correct spacing its time for the actual movement pattern.

Moving when retreating

We begin like so

Then tori retreats with his left foot, indicated by the red line, which causes uke to advance, indicated by the blue line.

In a stylized/demonstrative form it would like this

Tori then brings his right foot level with his left foot and uke advances with his left foot to be level with his right foot. Tori’s movement indicated by the red lines, uke’s by the blue lines

Here is the movement shown in full.

Tori observes the triangle concept thus, green indicates toris’s movement and red the triangle

Moving when advancing

Throwing an uke when tori is advancing and uke is retreating is a very difficult skill and require a good uke and competent tori. There is an elite ninja, super secret method of doing this that I will detail in my forthcoming FOJ Dynamic Delay thread that I will publish when I‘m finally happy with it.

However, for now I will show the commonly taught hikidashi version.

Tori advances as uke retreats

Then bring his trailing foot into place

The sequence looks like this, the triangle concept illustrated in red, click to enlarge.

In action in a moving sequence it looks like this

. However, it is important to mention that 50% of drilling is the uke and if your uke doesn’t know how to move in a cooperative way then you’re wasting your time.

If everytime you try and perform moving uchikomi/nagekomi when retreating and your uke takes a massive clonking forward step as you try and turn in and wrecks your throw, then:

IT IS THEIR FAULT NOT YOURS

The same applies for when throwing or entering on an uke when they’re retreating. If they don’t bring their fight together to give you an easy triangle upon which to enter.

IT IS THEIR FAULT NOT YOURS

The remedy to this situation is to talk to your coach and communicate with your uke to try and remedy the situation.

Hopefully this has prove helpful and useful to you and will help improve your drilling

O soto gari

2011-03-09T23:56:00.001Z

I’ve been tempted to do some technique write ups for some time, however, given the variety of teaching – good and bad. As well as the myriad variations of O soto gari I shied away for fear of creating too much controversy. However, I’ve decided to bite the bullet and just bust one out and see what happens.

I have split this into 5 sections; Basic, Intermediate, Against Kenka Yotsu, Combinations and Advanced.

If you're from a non Judo background or are hazy on the Japanese terms see here for a glossary provided by Ben Reinhardt

So without further ado, once unto the breach.

Basic

There is a secret to O soto gari that is so basic and so simple, yet is over looked or simply not known about by so many coaches. It is a secret that being unaware of it can be traced as one of the root cause of so many problems with O soto gari. What is that secret?

It’s shockingly simple.

When starting O soto gari many people start standing straight on to uke and then step out to place their foot correctly

The effect of this is that it starts the entire throw direction going off in the wrong direction. Going diagonally away from uke, it twists tori’s hips away from uke’s and as a result wrecks tori’s ability to properly apply kuzushi with the tsurite.

The mind boggling simple fix and correct positioning is to slightly off set yourself from uke so that you entry step is an almost straight one

The reason behind this is simple and for those of you who have trouble with stiff arming. Try this little test in uchikomi.

Stand straight onto to you partner and have them stiff arm you whilst you try to enter.

Trying to push directly against uke’s strongest points will allow all your power to be dissipated.

However, if you place yourself slightly off centre with uke their ability to resist your entry effectively collapses.

Once you have correctly positioned yourself for O soto gari then you can start to learn the other key elements.

Tsukuri

Unusually for a Judo throw I’m going to start with tsukuri, then cover kuzushi, then kake. In fact in reality all throws should be taught this way, but in O soto gari it is particularly important.

Often people will enter for O soto gari shoulders first.

Whereas you should enter with the hips first, however, this doesn’t mean to come in as if you’re being lassoed around the waist.

It’s important to think in terms of placing your upper body next to uke’s body as if you were moving your entire body as one whole rather than stepping and then allowing the rest to follow. Envision it as one motion.

At this point it is probably worth mentioning foot placement. I know a lot of people have very entrenched opinions about foot placement. The reality is that in a randori or a shiai it will vary vastly on you, your opponent, ai yotsu, kenka yotsu and a variety of other factors. However, for the basic canonical form you should step level with uke’s foot leaving enough space between you and uke for your hips to fit into. This means exact distances etc... will vary from person to person and vary based on your uke.

Kuzushi

In Judo there are always many ways of achieving kuzushi, some of which aren’t to do with a hand action at all. However, for a beginner it is important to learn the canonical version of kuzushi in order to fully grasp the principle and the basics of the technique. This serves as a foundation for future adaptation and personalisation.

For O soto gari the tsurite – lapel hand – is the most vital. Your forearm must make firm and sustained contact with uke’s chest. It is important that you attack the chest.

Like so

Applying kuzushi like this will push your partners upper body away from you causing a loss of control and failure to achieve shimekomi

The incorrect hand action.

The tsurite should, as well as, having chest contact with uke act in an upwards motion, towards uke’s chin. This is so as to gain control over the head which facilitates control and off balancing of the whole upper body.

This action should be simultaneous to the action of the hikite – sleeve hand – both hands must work together and in concert.

The hikite action is that of a pulling across toris’ chest then down to tori’s far hip, if uke is of a similar or greater height.

The hikite action against someone smaller is that of pulling outwards, away from uke’s body, and upwards.

Note how Yamashita has positioned his body and hips relative to that of uke.

Kake

Perhaps the most critical factor for effective kake asides from effective kuzushi and tsukuri is the leg action.

The toes must be pointed to achieve maximum reaping power and the correct leg action;

The reaping leg should be brought as high as possible, the greater the height, without compromising stability the greater the power of the throw.

The reaping action should be performed in a full 180 degree arc so that the foot rises to this point

And then reaps uke’s leg with a smooth powerful action, to finish at this point.

The direction of the head movement should be level.

Up until the moment of the reap where it should be directed straight down

This should have covered all the pertinent points for learning the absolute basic O soto gari.

Intermediate

The intermediate period of learning O soto gari marks the transition from acquiring and familiarising yourself with the basic movements outlined above.

Here some of the finer points of O soto gari are addressed.

First is that of the action of the planted foot. On planting the foot it is important to dig the toes into the mat in a clawing action. By exaggerating this action you will ensure that you step on the ball of your foot rather than flat footed.

This aids in facilitating power transfer from the hips, forward into the reaping leg so that it can be applied to uke.

One of the main key intermediate skills of moving from the basic static uchikomi for O soto gari is being able to do O soto gari properly on the move.

As I emphasised strongly earlier, it is critical to off centre yourself relative to your uke to perform O soto gari. However, doing this on the move can be tricky.

If you’re unfamiliar with doing O soto gari uchikomi or nagekomi on the move. Then I recommend you follow this progression sequence.

Once you’re confident and capable from that progression sequence then you have built up the coordination to move onto the more complex methods.

There are two main methods, that I have seen, both rely on the chasse step.

The best way to illustrate these two methods is through video.

Apologies for the soundtrack I forgot to remove the original soundtrack when making it slow mo. Its either this or 50% speed Russian techno.

However, you should be able to see from the video that tori advances and steps slight off centre with his right as uke retreats with his left, then tori performs a tsugi ashi step and brings his left foot to his right and then accelerates forward to perform tsukuri.

This stepping pattern is highly effective in moving uchikomi and nagekomi and allows you to fit in many repetitions with the correct off centring and leading with the hips.

Note the high leg action in preparation for the reap.

An alternative action is the one favoured by Yamashita

In this action Yamashita advances for a few paces, then retreats then advances again.

At this point he twists in his tsurite side hip.

Then using that action combined with his advance performs a tsugi ashi action bringing his tsurite foot to his hikite foot.

And then accelerates into the technique

Again this audio track or half speed Russian techno.

These are of course drills based around a cooperative uke designed to instil the core movement skills.

Often, however, you will encounter situations for which these core drills are not specifically designed for, the challenge of kenka yotsu – opposing grips.

Kenka Yotsu

In Judo there are two types of grips.

Same side grips – Ai yostu, right on right, left on left

And opposite side grips – Kenka yotsu – right on left.

For the O soto gari specialist the kenka yotsu situation can present some unique challenges.

The Kenka yotsu situations usually sees uke and tori positioned as such, tori indicated in red and uke in blue.

There are two main methods of resolving this situation.

Firstly through ayumi ashi.

Tori and uke stand in the Kenka yotsu situation

Tori advances with his right foot,

He then advances with his left in time with uke’s reaction.

He is then in a perfect position to execute O soto gari

Note how in this instance tori does not attack uke straight on, but because this is a kenka yotsu situation he has had to adapt how he positions himself off centre in relation to uke.

The alternative and more often seen version in randori and competition is that of the Ken ken O soto gari.

Beginning in Kenka yotsu.

NOTE TORI IS A LEFT HANDER REVERSE ALL ACTIONS

Tori raises his leg to attack with O soto gari.

However, due to the kenka yotsu situation the throw can’t be completed in the usual manner. So tori clamps his foot to uke’s knee joint.

Note how tori applies kuzushi with his hands to weight the heel of the leg he is intends to reap. Whilst simultaneously applying pressure to the knee and thus preventing the movement of the leg he intends to reap.

At this point it is important tori points his toes to achieve maximum power

Tori then performs small hops to bring himself round, so that he is suitably off centred with uke and in perfect position for O soto gari.

He performs the reap

The video

O soto gari Combinations

O soto gari to Sasae tsurikomi ashi

O soto gari to Sasae tsurikomi is a classic combination for two reasons, because it utilises the action-reaction sequence which is at the heart of all good Judo and because both throw require tori to be slightly off set from uke.

Here Katanishi demonstrates how the action reaction sequence for O soto gari to Sasae tsurikomi ashi works. It’s such a good demonstration that I don’t think it needs breaking down. I have left it with the original French soundtrack for the benefit of those reading from France.

However suffice to say that Katanishi demonstrates that tori’s attacking action elicits a defensive forward reaction from uke which can then be exploited to throw them with Sasae tsurikomi ashi.

Katanishi shows the principle well, however, its important to remember that the ability to attack meaningfully with an O soto gari and have the awareness of debana to sense uke’s reactions, react to it, take control of uke and throw him with Sasae tsurikomi ashi in randori or shiai is a very advanced skill.

And here Yamashita shows some of the finer points of the application of the two techniques.

Worthy of particular note is how Yamashita controls uke’s hikite elbow, bending it up and round to generate kuzushi

O soto gari to O uchi gari

O soto gari to O uchi gari is another classic combination.

When advancing to attack with O soto gari

As you attempt to reap the leg, due to imperfect debana, kuzushi and shimekomi, uke is able to step back with their leg, foiling the technique.

However, this leaves you perfectly T-ed up with uke.

As Yamashita demonstrates with his hands

Seen from another angle it becomes clear

From here it is simple to apply O uchi gari

Of course it should remembered that this is a training drill and so the actions and reactions are somewhat contrived, however, it teaches the principle of action reaction to combine the two throws.

Advanced

When I know, I will tell you.

Dealing with a Stiffy

2011-02-26T22:27:00.001Z

The biggest bane of a beginner Judoka’s life is when standing randori rolls around. When facing black belts this means lots of airtime and tough landings. When facing other beginners it means the exhausting and dispiriting process of trying to do anything you’ve been taught as your partner shoves two iron bars in your chest and moves their entire lower body and legs as far away from you as possible.

All the throws you’ve been taught where your partner stands up right and you’re able to enter and get underneath now seem like they were dreamt up by some fantasist who’d never even seen a randori let alone done one.

You are encountering the number one enemy of aspiring Judoka everywhere – stiff arming.

There are countless threads on Judo related forums across the internet where beginners seek to find answers to this problem in those threads there is some good advice and some bad advice.

The number one piece of bad advice given is that of the silver bullet.

Anyone who tells you that the solution to stiff arming is to be found in a single technique is misguided. The solution to any beginner’s problem is never found in a single technique it is always found in the fundamentals.

The Club

Perhaps the most dispiriting aspect of stiff arming is that the main solutions to it lie outside of the control of a beginner and firmly in the hands of an instructor.

The main ways to overcome stiff arming during randori are:

· Ensure falling confidence through good ukemi training

· Instil trust in partners through properly supervised nagekomi

· Instil control in throwers to ensure safer landings and easier ukemi

· Delay standing randori, concentrating on newaza randori, ukemi, movement skills and nagekomi. Until a basic competence in falling and controlling an uke have been established.

· Supervised randori so that people are matched with partners who can practice with them safely and those who’re stiff arming or purely being defensive are reminded and encouraged to be positive.

However, as a beginner you have no influence over how a club is run, nor do you have the technical knowledge or technical ability to run or design these drills.

You

Probably the simplest thing you can do is to be selective about who you practice with everyone knows who the worst stiff arm offenders are and those whose idea of a standing randori is stomping around for five minutes, like a zombie bent over at the waist. Try and minimise the number of practices you have with these guys try and fill your randori slots with positive Judoka, usually these are the higher grades.

This of course may not be feasible in a small club with say only 10-15 members. In this case the number one thing to do is to communicate with your partner. Don’t lecture, don’t hector, don’t try and come off as their superior giving them instructions. However, try and suggest in a polite, constructive and humble way that you would like to do a more positive randori and focus on not being defensive and would they try and help you out. Also try pointing out politely how it’s not only wasting your practice time, but also theirs if they just spend 5 minutes being defensive without ever attacking.

If you feel able to without coming across as an arse, try and have a word with your instructor to see if they can help you out by cracking down on stiff arming with reminders and encouragements to be positive.

Of course there are those who simply won’t listen to polite reason, or to coaches. In this case I suggest a firm, open palm slap to their annoying twat face.

Alternatively...

Movement

You can try using movement to create opportunities to get around stiff arms.

Now I have previously talked about T-ing up extensively and reference it quite a lot.

If you’ve been following since the beginning on Bullshido then you should have had a few months of practicing this under your belt and it should be starting to sink in. If not and or you haven’t read that article, first read it and then come back to this.

Now here’s an example of how to take the principle of using movement to break down Jigotai, but apply it in a totally unrealistic way.

My issue with this video is that it assumes that a partner will move in a way that catastrophically destroys their balance and will remain there whilst you move around them. In a way its the Judo equivalent of this:

Probably a little harsh, but you get the general idea. Unrealistic reactions from an uke lead to unrealistic responses from tori in a way that makes the application of what is taught unworkable in an alive scenario, like randori.

A much better example is the first minute and a half or so of this old favourite of mine

As I’ve already spent time breaking down and explaining that video in the T-ing up thread I won’t repeat myself here. Except to say that the more you move and importantly the quicker you move the less effective stiff arming will become and the more opportunities will present themselves. Of course you must match your tempo to your ability and size what is moving quickly for a 66kg/145lb 2^nd dan is completely different from what is moving quickly for 100kg/ 220lb green belt. So don’t go crazy trying to spas run round the mat, keep controlled, keep a good grip and just step up the pace of your normal movement patterns.

Ashiwaza

Although there is never a one technique answer to a beginner problem or even a group of techniques. In the case of stiff arming and purely defensive postures ashiwaza can be useful. Although they’re not always useful, if you’re 5ft 7 trying to do ashiwaza on a guy who’s 6ft 2 and stiff arming whilst bending over, ashiwaza are obviously not going to help you. Flapping your legs around a metre away from their ankles is obviously going to achieve nothing and be just as frustrating as the stiff arming.

If you’re thinking at this point, hold on, my coach is 5ft 7 and I’m 6ft 2 and he’s always foot sweeping me. Well your coach is probably at least a 2^nd dan with 10-20 years Judo experience. So this is one of those situations where a massive technique gap can overcome a physique gap.

So, when there isn’t a massive size disparity they can come in useful. This is because you can disrupt your opponent’s movement and stepping patterns that open up opportunities for throw attempts. Ashiwaza also tend to have the effect of relaxing their arms as your partner worries about their feet more than their upper body.

Pretty much all of the ‘minor’ ashiwaza are applicable:

De ashi barai

Ko soto gari

Sasae tsurikomi ashi

Okuri ashi barai

Ko uchi gari

Remember to try and stay controlled and not just wildly hack away at your partners ankles, easier said than done. To ensure that you’re on balance and capable of reacting to any opening your attack may create.

Grip fighting

I’m a strong believe in beginners minimising the grip fighting that they do during randori. Note that I have quite specific definitions for what I consider to be grip fighting and two categories within that as opposed to gripping.

To me gripping is the key concepts of control over your opponent using the gi eg. breaking your opponents posture whilst keeping the elbow down with a high collar grip, turning the palm outwards when gripping the sleeve to maintain control over your opponents hikite etc...

Grip fighting is the actual act of seeking, breaking or avoiding a grip. To me grip fighting can be broken down into positive and negative grip fighting. Positive grip fighting is where you break your opponents grip, or use grip fighting techniques to actively achieve your desired grip with the intention of throwing. Negative grip fighting where you just try and frustrate your opponents Judo without seeking to obtain you ideal grip in order to throw your opponent.

Negative grip fighting has no place in a beginners randori experience.

However, sometimes it is an option to consider to break your opponents grip in order to facilitate you attacking and throwing them. I think for a beginner this should only be done in extreme situations where your partner is being excessively defensive, won’t listen to you or your coach and all your positive attempts to use movement, ashiwaza etc... have failed.

Tricks

Note these are tricks for a reason, they are not long term solutions to the issue, they are tricks.

Against a left hander, as a right hander, you should always endeavour to have the inside grip, by which I mean this.

From here, against a left hander you can raise your elbow to break the strong structure of their arm to give you space to apply the proper tsurikomi action like so.

It should go without saying that this is only really applicable for forward techniques.

An alternative trick is to apply a small amount of upwards pressure to uke’s elbow joint to cause a relaxation in the arm to relieve pressure and create an opportunity for an attack

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NrAH_7Yxzg#t=1m0s

Don’t try Sutemi waza and Makikomi.

These are often very popular suggestions on internet message boards, however, they are not good suggestions. The idea stems from a faulty logic that uke is leaning totally forward and so in keeping with the philosophy of Judo that softness should give way to hardness i.e if pushing forward you should just go with the push and you will throw them.

This is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the mechanics of the throws suggested and also the balance of uke when they’re bent over in a stiff arm position. When uke is bent over and stiff arming their entire weight is being transmitted straight forward into tori. It is actually located underneath their stomach/chest.

Now this would seem to facilitate ideally a sutemi waza attack, however, because of the stiff arms tori is unable to actually get underneath uke’s centre of gravity. Getting underneath a partners centre of gravity for a sutemi waza is as hard if not harder than getting past their arms for an Uchi mata.

So what happens in a makikomi attack is that tori either twists uke and they both fall straight forward, uke rolls out to side of the attack, or if there is a major size and weight advantage on tori’s behalf uke gets wrapped around them and rolled over.

In a sutemi waza tori tries to get in under uke’s centre of gravity, but because of the stiff arms and inexperience ends up just dropping straight down onto their arse. Usually uke will flop or sprawl ending up on top of tori, will flop/ sprawl out to the side of tori occasionally landing on their side, or if there is a major size and weight advantage on tori’s behalf uke gets taken over by the momentum and rolls over and onto their back.

This is not good Judo, nor is it a beginner attempt at trying to work towards good Judo. It’s just bad Judo all round and should be avoided if you want to make real progress in Judo.

Don’t try Standing armlocks and strangles

Standing armlocks and strangles are very difficult and very dangerous techniques.

I’ll repeat that.

Standing armlocks and strangles are very difficult and very dangerous techniques.

Standing armlocks in particular are incredibly dangerous, they are very easy to apply sloppily, very easy to apply with too much force, without control and very difficult to submit quickly enough to.

This is inevitable if you start doing standing armlocks on all and sundry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_718dOW09k#t#1m59s

Please don’t try standing armlocks and strangles on people to get them to stop stiff arming, it is very dangerous and is going to end badly.

Hopefully that has been fairly comprehensive and has given you some positive ideas about how to deal with a stiffy as well as some ideas about practices to avoid.

What’s the difference – Ashiwaza

2011-02-24T19:48:00.001Z

Oh dear...

This new series inspired by blog poster Bob.

Ashiwaza are some of the most sublime and simultaneously frustrating techniques in the whole of Judo, except of course when butchered as in the photo above.

However, a lot of people tend to be rather fuzzy on what exactly the differences are between certain ashiwaza, what the principles behind them and the implications for the execution of the throwing action are.

When looking for reference to a technique or to clear up any confusion. You first go to, should be the Kodokan’s nage waza guide hosted on youtube at user tambietem’s channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/tambietem

So many of your questions may well be answered by this video:

Some of them may not be though. So I will do a little exploration of the main ashiwaza and split them into groups where I believe the greatest potential for confusion lies. This is not a how to or proper breakdown of the techniques merely a cursory overview to help show the differences in principle and application of the techniques.

Ko soto gari and De ashi barai - What’s the difference?

The route of this confusion is between what constitutes Harai and Gari. Most often this is found in the question of whether a throw is a Ko soto gari or De ashi barai. People will often say the difference lies in whether uke's foot is taken in front of them or straight forwards.

De ashi barai

As opposed to, Ko soto gari

However, this can't be the case because in Harai tsurikomi ashi uke's foot is taken behind them and in O uch gari uke's leg is taken out to their side. So direction of leg movement is not the contingent factor for Harai or Gari classification.

O soto gari, O uchi gari, Ko uchi gari and Ko soto gari all have one consistent principle that is that the majority of uke's weight should already concentrated on the leg that is attacked.

However, as many people know if you try and perform a De ashi barai on a foot that the majority of uke's weight is on then nothing will happen.

That is because the throwing principle behind Harai is weight transfer. The leg should be attacked as the majority of uke's weight is about to be transfered to or away from it. This is why Harai waza are much harder than Gari waza as the timing finesse in the fractions of a second when weight is about to be transfered away from or to a leg, is much more difficult to sense and react in time to.

And although all Judo techniques when performed in ideal conditions should be effortless the application of force to throw an opponent when the majority of their weight is already planted is greater than that when they are about to transfer their weight to or away from a leg.

A good way to envisage the difference is if you imagine walking down a set of stairs in the dark. As you move down the stairs you weight your foot in expectation of planting your foot on the step. So when you reach the bottom of the stairs and think there’s an extra step when there isn’t you weight your foot expecting it to reach solid ground at a certain point yet you don’t. The result is you fall. This is the essence of De ashi barai, uke expects for his weighted foot to contact the mat but at the vital second you sweep it out and uke falls.

A good way to envisage Ko soto gari is to stand up and allow yourself to rock back onto just your heels. Probably best to this near to a wall or something to grab onto... Then try it again excepting rocking back so that just the heel of one foot is supporting all your weight and in contact with the ground. Then think about how little a clip or reap it would take to make you fall.

Okuri ashi barai, Sasae tsurikomi ashi and Harai tsurikomi ashi - What’s the difference?

As noted in the above examination of the differences between Ko soto gari and De ashi barai a key indicator of the difference between the throw can lie in the words that make up its name. In this case we have two throws that have ‘Harai’ in the name and two throws with ‘tsurikomi’ in the name. However, despite these crossovers the three throws couldn’t be more different.

Okuri ashi barai - translations of this technique’s name range from double leg sweep, to sending foot sweep, to assisting foot sweep. I’m not going to pretend I know the definitive translation, as I speak no Japanese. However, I understand enough to know that two of the defining aspects of this technique are that both feet are swept together and simultaneously and that it is a harai action.

So this means as explained above that the attack must come as a foot is either weighted or un-weighted and in addition that during the attack uke’s feet must come together as part of the sweep.

What is critical, however, is that there is no blocking action and no tsurikomi action to the technique.

Sasae tsurikomi ashi – sasae comes from sasaeru which means to block, tsurikomi is explained here and ashi means foot or leg.

So the critical factor to remember is that you should concentrate on applying the tsurikomi action, which should ensure that the majority of uke’s weight is forward and over his toes, whilst applying a blocking action to uke’s leg.

As a result Sasae tsurikomi ashi is usually done when uke moves forward/ shifts their weight forward or moves in a circular direction which leaves them out of equilibrium and their weight forward. Critically the blocking action should, ideally, occur in the middle of the process of weight transfer. So as uke un-weights his foot as he lifts it off the ground to advance, the blocking action should ideally come between his advancing foot passing the placed foot and the advancing foot being placed on the ground and becoming fully weighted.

Attempting to apply Sasae tsurikomi ashi when the foot is planted and fully weighted will usually prove ineffective unless your opponent is poor or you tsurikomi action very very powerful.

Harai tsurikomi ashi contains the similar tsurikomi element, however, without the sasaeru element.

Note, it is important that in Harai tsurikomi ashi you attack only one foot, the retreating foot, whilst applying the tsurikomi action.

Harai tsurikomi ashi is nearly always executed when uke retreats, this isn’t always an obvious retreat as in uchikomi or nagekomi. However, the principle, of retreat remains a constant. This is probably one of the hardest throws in Judo so if you struggle with it, don’t be disheartened.

As uke retreats his weight tori applies the tsurikomi action shifting uke’s centre of gravity out and forwards. Whilst simultaneously entering and sweeping in the Harai fashion to accelerate the retreating action of uke’s foot so that it doesn’t touch the ground.

At this point the effect is as if uke’s weight has been loaded onto tori’s sweeping leg and hip, momentarily.

The red line indicates uke’s new centre of gravity

Uke’s centre of gravity in relation to tori

The most common confusion arises between Sasae tsurikomi ashi and Harai tsurikomi ashi especially when performed with oikomi entries from unusual grips.

Here’s an example of a technique easily mistakeable for a Harai tsurikomi ashi, which is in fact a Sasae tsurikomi ashi

Its not until the final slow motion angle at 1:05 that you can clearly see that the leg is being used in a blocking or supporting action rather than in sweeping action, clearly making the technique Sasae tsurikomi ashi.

If you’re wondering why Muneta has Pikachu on his gi, it’s because he’s a big fan of Pokemon.

Sasae tsurikomi ashi and Hiza guruma - What’s the difference?

Another commonly confused pair are Sasae tsurikomi ashi and Hiza guruma due to their superficial similarity in a competition or randori. Most coaches will say that the key difference lies in whether the technique is applied to the knee or the shin and that would appear correct as Sasae tsurikomi ashi is always demonstrated on the shin and Hiza guruma, well its the Knee wheel so obviously its on the knee, duh.

However, you can apply Sasae tsurikomi ashi to uke’s knee and Hiza guruma to uke’s upper thigh - Daigo Sono san.

As I’ve already explained in depth the key principles underlying Sasae tsurikomi ashi, I will concentrate on Hiza guruma.

The most important difference in principle between the two techniques lie in the difference between the throwing action inherent in the sasaeru action and the kuruma action. Note that it is a convention to romanize the Japanese verb with a ‘g’ when following a vowel, however, to leave it as the original ‘k’ sound when it isn’t following a vowel i.e Harai goshi and Koshi guruma. Both share the word ‘koshi’ or hip when it follows a vowel it is Romanized with a ‘g’ when a standalone word it retains the original ‘k’ sound.

As explained sasaeru means to block or sometimes to support. Kuruma means to wheel, specifically to wheel around a fixed point. If you think that blocking and wheeling around a fixed point is some anal and esoteric distinction, then step back and think what other techniques are kuruma waza – Kata guruma, Koshi guruma, Ashi guruma, O guruma and O soto guruma. If you tried to ‘block’ with those techniques your throw would be a disaster, in all you must pivot around a fixed point whether it be shoulders, hips or leg. The same applies to Hiza guruma.

Most of the Kuruma waza where uke is pivoted around a leg are rare in competition because the immense difficult of pulling them off, Hiza guruma is one of them. A rare example pulled off by Delgado of Portugal shows quite well how uke is truly pivoted around the leg, rather than the leg blocking uke.

So if you attack uke’s leg and make contact at the knee, but the throwing action is effected by a block then it is a Sasae. If you make contact on the shin, but the throwing action is effected by pivoting uke around a fixed point then it is a Hiza guruma.

Now this is a very fine definition to draw in a competition and frankly the classification doesn’t really matter that much. However, where this distinction is important is in developing your own understanding of the principles of the two techniques so that you can understand what principles make the two throws different and so better apply the techniques.

More ‘What’s the difference’ to follow covering; Uchi mata/Hane goshi, Seio nage/Seoi otoshi and more upon request.