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Judo Martial Arts Training - An Introduction to Throwing Techniques

Author: Tony Hackerott
Date Posted: May 21, 2009

For most people involved in judo, from beginners to seasoned veterans, the throwing skills are the most interesting and exciting part of the sport. Whenever there is a major competition, the spectators, who are usually almost all judo players themselves of varying degrees of ability, are there to see the throws. To the outsider judo can seem a strange and confusing sport; the rules are difficult to grasp and the scoring system seems almost incomprehensible. In fact most of the aspects of judo competition which are difficult to understand come from attempts to orient what was originally a very personal confrontation into a spectator sport.

The basic, definitive concept in judo is that of ippon, or a decisive victory over an opponent. This notion is inherited from the martial arts origin of the sport where the conflict was a matter of life or death for those involved. At the heart of that concept is an aesthetic notion of what constitutes a good, decisive throw, and the good throw is what all judo players set out to achieve every time they step on the mat. All judo matches begin standing up and the fighters have to try to throw each other; if they do not they are penalized for non-combativity or passivity. If they go to the ground in the course of their struggles they carry on fighting there. But it is not acceptable to just drag an opponent to the floor and finish him in groundwork. There are many throws in judo and different ones tend to suit different physiques.

The basic throwing techniques are grouped in five series of eight techniques called the go-kyo. These forty techniques by no means provide an exhaustive catalogue, however, and the Kodokan officially recognizes seventeen otherthrows, the shimmeiso-no-waza, some of which are major techniques often seen in modern competition. The go-kyo is still at the heart of judo, though, and the technical basis for all of the throwing techniques is to be found there.

As a general comment, it is important to distinguish between major techniques and trick techniques. A major technique will work time and again, even when an opponent has seen it, or even been thrown by it previously. Trick techniques on the other hand tend to work because of a surprise factor, although with effort and perseverance a trick can some-times be turned into a major technique. The techniques of the go-kyo are potentially all major techniques.

Any analysis of the major scoring techniques in modern competition shows that certain basic throws are successful time and time again. These throws are uchimata, seoi-nage, harai-goshi, tomoe-nageand tai-otoshi. They are seen in almost all weight categories as are leg grabs, foot sweeps and pick-ups and stand out as being the most effective techniques, even if only because they are the most difficult throws to prevent.

There is also a group of throws which are worthy of study called take-downs, including techniques such as hikkomi-gaeshi, obi-toh-gaeshiand sumi-gaeshi, which have evolved for dealing with extremely defensive opponents. While unlikely to score ippon because their throwing action is inherently less dynamic than the classical throws of the go-kyo, these are nevertheless skilful techniques for taking the fight to the ground.

According to the original Japanese concept of judo the ideal ippon was a single technique which, when performed in contest, represented the release of a lifetime's training. Traditionally the Japanese most admired the single direct attack made in a spirit of complete self-abandonment in which nothing was held back. The thrill of the sport for the spectator was in seeing the risk accepted and taken in an all-or-nothing spirit. Combination judo, or counter-attacks, were felt for a long time to be somehow less pure, but old attitudes are changing. Now, for many Japanese, just as in the West, the result is the most important thing and, at the end of the day, any kind of ippon is preferable to a referee's decision.

An analogy is often made between the ippon throw and the knock-out punch in boxing. It is a valid analogy, the difference being that in judo no violence is done to the opponent. Consider the difference between a combination which ends in an ippon throw and the boxer knocked out by a cluster of five or six punches to the head. In judo only the final technique is decisive, in boxing each and every punch does damage. Throwing an opponent for ippon is a form of self expression which is both athletic and artistic, but because the opponent knows how to fall there is no damage or violence involved. It only becomes an easy task after years of hard work. Indeed, even for experts contest remains arduous, because however good they become someone equally or almost as skilled is always waiting to confront them.

The difference between combat sports and other disciplines, such as gymnastics, where athletes compete for points against an objective standard as well as against each other is that in judo the fighter is only as good as his opponent allows him to be.

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Article Source: JKD Street Combat - online collection of Judo articles.

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