"Essential Judo" for All Martial Artists

[joesteph]

In the September 1999 issue of Black Belt is an article by Ken Harte, "Essential Judo: Six Throws Every Martial Artist Should Know." It has excellent photos and fine explanations of each of the six, and I recognize one of them from my Soo Bahk Do teacher, and another from my past self-defense JuJitsu sensei.

Japanese names don't accompany the English ones, but, in English, they're called Outside Body Sweeping Throw, Outer Rear Sweeping Throw, Inside Sweeping Thigh Throw, Suplex, Single Knee Drop Throw, and Body Drop Throw.

Of the six, five seem to be straightforward and easily applicable to a self-defense situation, such as someone seizing your clothing at the shoulder, while one different from the other five comes with a caution that, if not done right, you can injure yourself.

The article can be accessed at:

http://books.google.com/books?id=nc4DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA3&dq=Black+Belt&lr=&source=gbs_toc_pages&cad=0_1#PPA80,M2

[JusticeZero]

My only real question being, why those six in particular?

[joesteph]

Sometimes when addressing "every" martial artist, the thought kept in mind is that most are not dan members, so what is simple, efficient and effective is what is presented to the numerous lower belts.

One is an outer leg takedown, another an inner leg one. Standard; easy to learn. There's the throw over the hip, two with more finesse, and one for the quick and bold (Suplex). They require some more time to learn, but not much. Their simplicity (possibly except for Suplex), to me, puts them on par with "block, punch, kick" in karate, and the latter is what karateka are expected to know. In an altercation, how many throws do you actually need to know to execute self-defense?

One of my defense against the wrist grab requirements is to step and pull the opponent so as to unbalance him, strike him with a knife hand to the neck, then take advantage of the placement of the hand at the neck to pull him into a knee strike. I call it a teaching technique. Why? Because the moves aren't efficient. When I step and pull the opponent, I could be stepping more naturally with my other leg, and instead of a knife hand to the neck, I could be placing my arm in that same place; then I could be using the outer leg takedown--more efficient and just as effective.

I'm sure different martial artists, knowledgeable about different throws, could argue different selections, but I'd be very happy to be proficient in just those six.

[Throwdown0850]

Woot! it has the O soto Gari, love that throw, works great on even the largest opponents.

[white owl]

I like O soto gari, too. I have trouble pulling it off with a bigger opponent. They seem to just pick me up an plant me on my bum.

[bushido_man96]

I'm not a throwing expert, but I think that the ones listed in the article kind of comprise a set of basics that allows one to build into other throws.

Like Joe mentioned, you get an inner and an outer leg tripper, and the others give you variations on entries, depending on what is presented by the opponent. I think that they make a good starting point, and may be enough to be sufficient for self-defense purposes.

[Throwdown0850]

I like O soto gari, too. I have trouble pulling it off with a bigger opponent. They seem to just pick me up an plant me on my bum.

to help with that try to get the opponent to support most of their weight on the leg that you are going to sweep and you can do that by taking him to his "corner" when doing the technique so when you do the sweep your taking all his body weight out from him.

[ps1]

I like O soto gari, too. I have trouble pulling it off with a bigger opponent. They seem to just pick me up an plant me on my bum.

You're probably focusing too much on the action of your leg. That's a common mistake.

[sensei8]

I like O soto gari, too. I have trouble pulling it off with a bigger opponent. They seem to just pick me up an plant me on my bum.

You're probably focusing too much on the action of your leg. That's a common mistake.

Great point! I'm wondering also ps1, if their NOT driving forward to aide in the off-balance of the uke. This also could be a problem trying to execute Osoto Gari. What do you think?

[ps1]

I like O soto gari, too. I have trouble pulling it off with a bigger opponent. They seem to just pick me up an plant me on my bum.

You're probably focusing too much on the action of your leg. That's a common mistake.

Great point! I'm wondering also ps1, if their NOT driving forward to aide in the off-balance of the uke. This also could be a problem trying to execute Osoto Gari. What do you think?

absolutely correct!

The focus of Osoto gari should be driving the top half of the body far beyond the base provided by the legs. The leg reap is just icing on the cake, ensuring they can't step back to recover their balance.