BaffledExperts by Adam Norman

6: Forward throws

Judo’s forward throws are the quintessential oriental-martial-art throws. The fighters face off only until one opponent dips in front of the other, hurling him up quite mysteriously into the air and smashing him down onto the mat. These are the throws that give martial arts their reputation for magic.

Almost all forward throws begin with you facing your opponent, and they require that uke (your opponent) is standing square to you, with his feet beside each other. Since most people do not fight with their feet square, this is something of a problem.

Forward throws also require you to get past your opponent’s arms, so that you can face in the same direction as him. He likely won’t let you do this and can prevent you by simply pushing you away as you try to turn in and put your bum against his hips.

Neither of these problems is insurmountable, but either is enough to frustrate a throw. Still, the reward of a good forward throw outweighs the difficulty of achieving one. Further, forward throws are great in combination or to press your opponent until he makes a mistake.

Ippon Seoi Nage
The one arm shoulder throw is the first throw we teach at the dojo I attend, and it seems to be a classic of the art. This is the throw that James Bond or Dick Tracy would use.

To throw with ISN, start from a lapel and sleeve grip. It works best.

1. Pull uke onto his toes with both of your hands. Release your right grip, and drop and swing towards him.
2. Try, as much as possible, to get your feet where his are. Your hips should continue a little farther than your shoulders; while you will be squatting right in front of uke, the crack of your bum will press against his right thigh. As you are coming into position, reach under and around uke’s right arm with your right arm. Grip the shoulder of his uniform.
3. To complete the throw, straighten your legs to lift your opponent off the ground. Bend over to 45º or so, and turn (without moving your feet) to look behind you over your left shoulder.

In the video above, the instructor makes two embarrassing mistakes (don't worry about the second and third throws, though they are only insignificantly different):

1. He utterly gives his throws away by moving his right foot back before beginning to build up momentum.
2. He looks where his opponent is going to land, rather than behind himself. This endangers his opponent.

Turning your head and shoulders will finish the throw and put uke at your feet on his side. If you turn to look behind you, you help him land in a gentle breakfall. If you want to kill him, try to put your nose on the mat. This will force him to come down as if diving headfirst. You stand a passable chance of breaking his neck.

Koga is a great master of ISN. In the video below he uses it many, many times. The third throw, starting at 0:16 (and repeated in slow motion) is very instructive. Notice two things in particular: he commits entirely, and he turns his head so that he is looking right behind him, saving his opponent enormous damage. The potential for death is quite obvious in the throw right after (at 0:30), where Koga does not look behind himself, but instead does an amazing flip and lands on top of his opponent. 1:45 and 2:45 have some real close calls.

Using Ippon Seoi Nage
ISN may be the classic judo throw, but it is amazingly hard to actually catch someone with. It is too well known and too easy to counter. Uke will counter your ippon seoi nage by pushing her hips forward or by using her hands to stop you from turning in.

To use ISN, then, you will need to get your shoulders free to turn in. You can do this by removing your opponent’s grip or by ducking under her hands—because while it is easy to hold someone away at arm’s length, it is impossible to hold them up. You will also need to be really, really fast and not telegraph your attack. And yet, even if you beat her arms and catch her off guard, you will sometimes find that your throw just doesn’t work. It may not be clear why.

I think that forward throws usually fail because tori is throwing from the wrong position. If you start facing your opponent, you will be tempted to turn 180º to throw. Don’t. You need to turn quite a bit more.

Think of a tug-of-war. If all your opponents were standing with their feet side by side, you could pull a whole line of them over by yourself. To strengthen themselves, each of the team will put one leg back, making it possible for them to shift their weight and resist you.

In judo, your opponent will not be usually standing with her feet side-by-side. Your opponent's feet will be staggered to resist you. So, if you only turn 180º from your starting position, you will be attempting to throw her in a direction in which she is not vulnerable.

Principle 3: Fit your hips in

The solution to an off-square opponent is to ‘fit in’. It is a fundamental part of judo.

When you go for a throw, you will need to move your feet so that your opponent’s feet are square relative to you. You can think of this as moving off the line of attack, or as making your hips square with your opponent’s. You will then throw to your 12 o’clock.

Don’t look at where her toes are pointing. They don’t matter. Instead, draw an imaginary line between her heels. You should move your feet so that they are parallel to that line.

Fitting in like this is crucial to getting a good throw. Almost all hip and shoulder throws start with uke (the person being thrown) balanced across the hips. If you don’t square your hips to your opponent’s, you will have a very hard time getting them off the ground—and back onto it upside down.

Principle 4: Bend your knees and use your bum

A good forward throw is done by lifting your opponent with your legs. Many beginners try to use their abs or their back. Only your legs are strong and fast enough.

To get a good throw, you need to sink low relative to your opponent. If you can get your bum to his knees, you are in the right position. Obviously, though, if you step in first and then try to sink down low, you will be much too slow and your uke will react with a very nasty counter—counters to hip throws are the most painful counters of all. He’ll drop you on the back of your head, as I have been dropped many times.

To get low, you need to drop as you are moving in, not after. I try to make my butt follow a downwardly-angled-but-straight line from where it starts when I am standing to where it finishes when I am throwing. A beginner’s butt usually traces a kind of question mark or curve. A beginner’s butt moves across until the feet are in position, and then down. This is both too slow and too gentle. Be offensive with your butt. Hit people in the knees with it.

Uchi Mata
Uchi mata is a great throw and a real fight winner. It does not require the same sort of precision as ISN, and it can be done from more positions and against a more resistant opponent.

To throw using hoochie mama, start by taking a high grip on your opponent. A high grip will give you a bit more space when you close the distance between you.

1. Step in with your right foot and pull your opponent’s lapel and sleeve up to your ears (or as close as you can get) as you drop in. This will off balance him. Put your right foot just inside his right foot.
2. Pull your left foot in
3. As you come into position in front of your opponent, transfer your weight to your left foot
4. Pull with your left hand and push with your right hand, and
5. Raise your right leg into the crease between his right leg and groin. This will force you to bend over, and it will prevent him from stepping around you. If your leg bounces around his crotch on the way up, all the better.

Most beginners think that this throw is all about the raised leg. It's not.

Instead of lifting uke's leg, think about lifting uke up by the crotch on the back of your thigh. That is uchi mata. The leg barely does the work. Only your thigh and bum muscles are strong enough to throw, and uchi mata would be completely ineffective against flexible and tall people if it relied on lifting your opponent's leg.

You will indeed catch uke's left leg, but only by accident. As you make her turn her body, her hips will move ever so slightly to the right of your upraised leg. Your twisting will body twist her right leg and crotch out of the way, and your right leg will have to catch her left leg.

Finish the throw by looking all the way behind you. This should drop your opponent nicely onto his shoulders. If you don’t want to shatter him, try to remain standing, or come down gently. If you do want to kill your opponent, fall with him and land on his ribs.

Using Uchi Mata
Despite what the video says, I think hoochi mama is a fairly easy throw to set up. It works very well from many foot positions, and you will also find that it is possible to throw when you are not squatting very deeply. No doubt this accounts for much of uchi mata’s popularity.

Exercises to practice fitting in and dropping
To practice getting into the correct position for forward throws, face your opponent and take a grip. Start by stepping your right foot in then pulling in your left. Bring your heels together and spread your feet 90º. Most beginners keep their heels too far apart. Judo is a game of balance and finesse as well as strength, and you will find it much easier to throw if you can finesse your feet into the right spots.

Step out again left, then right. This is the important part: wherever your feet are after one step out, keep them there. Don’t shuffle yourself back into the position you would like; accept the position you have. Go in for the throw again, and get out again. After a few iterations, you will likely find that your feet are not at all in the correct position for the throw. Adapt.

When you practice stepping in and out, be careful that you avoid 'telegraphing’ your intentions. Beginners often look down or swing their arm or leg back to build momentum. Either is a dead give away.

As you get better at the approach, pick up your speed. You can improve by trying to jump in. But as you jump, try to not raise your head higher than your height. Instead, pull your legs up, use your ab muscles, and fall into position for the throw.

Defending forward throws
It is quite easy to defend forward throws, and doing so comes quite naturally. An inexperienced opponent will often ‘telegraph’ when she is going to attempt a throw. The easiest way to defend is to strengthen your arms and stop the rotation of your opponent. If she can’t rotate her shoulders, she can’t face in the same direction as you, and thus can’t throw you.

Still, while this will stop her from coming in, it won’t leave you in an advantageous position. To get that, you will have to lure her in. Luring, faking and countering are a big part of upper-level judo.

When luring your opponent in, you can take advantage of two things. First, forward throws take longer to execute than they take to defend. Second, the defenses are fairly safe; they don’t expose you much to another follow-up technique. So, as you feel like you are being pulled in, or as you see your opponent turning in, bend your knees, bring your elbows to your side a little, and push your hips forward. If she has not knocked you off balance (and beginners rarely do), this should be enough to stuff her throw.

Now your opponent will have done much work for you: she will be close to you and off balance—key parts of any throw. Instead of merely blocking her throw, you can counter her. The single best counter to a forward throw is tani otoshi. It comes later.

Principle 5: Turn 90º

If you are attempting a throw and get in nice and tight only have your opponent block you, do not step back out to try again. Getting in is hard work. Build on your position.

Try turning the throw 90º. In the case of the forward throws, the best follow up is kouchi gake moving into a leg pick combination.

Often, as your opponent blocks in one direction, he opens himself up in another. Uke will block ippon seoi nage by throwing his hips against your bum and pulling back with his arm. This makes him completely unable to defend kouchi gake, which pushes him in the very direction he was pulling.

Kouchi gake
If you have just finished attempting a right-handed ippon seoi nage,

1. Drop your right hand from uke’s biceps to his thigh
2. Slide your right foot from inside uke’s right foot to behind his heel and outside his foot
3. Push with the right side of your body against his hips and chest. Your foot should prevent him from stepping back, and your right hand can provide a little extra lift. The push should topple him onto his back.

The combination is almost exactly the same if you miss with uchi mata. Uke will be bearing his entire weight on his right foot. Trapping that foot is easy, since he can’t pick it up. Swing your right foot from between his legs down to behind his right foot. Pushing him while it’s trapped will topple him over.

Koga does a beautiful ISN to Kouchi gake fake in the video below (at 3:52)