~.AFJA AFJA Technical Series No. 1.

Requirements-for Sankyu (3rd ClassSasae Tsuri Komi Ashi.. Foot Stop

General IntroductionThere are five foot or kg tech-

niques in the first Kyo of the GoK yoNoWaza. Three of them are minor

foot techniques, and two are majortechniques. Try as you will, there arevery few Judoists who can tell youwhat the difference is between a maj-or and a minor technique. Actually,it is not all of the nage waza orthrowing techniques that are brokendown into major and minor, but onlythe foot techniques because all of theminor techniques are foot techniques.So when we speak of minor tech-niques, we should probably say minorfoot techniques.

The difference between the minor

techniques and the major is verysimple. All of the minor techniquesare those which include a forwardmovement of the foot and leg. Allother techniques are major; it's assimple as that. But there is a furtherbreakdown in the minor foot tech-

niques which is very important, be-cause it tells us something about the

way the throws can be made andcountered.

Four Types of Minor Fool TechniquesThere are in general four types of

minor foot techniques, the first twotwo are sweeping foot techniques andswinging foot techniques. The secondtwo are reaping foot technique andhooking or dashing foot techniques.Sweeping Foot- Techniques

We mean by sweeping foot tech-niques those in which the throweruses his foot as a broom to sweep hisopponen't foot or feet out from underhim. In this category are de ashi harai,ko soto gari, okuri ashi harai, nidanko soto gari, and harai tsuri komi ashiin one of its forms. It is very import-ant to realize that the action of the

thrower in these techniques is to keephis body fairly close to his opponent'sand by lifting and sweeping at thesame time, rotate his opponent's bodylike a propeller around his waist tolevel him out in the air as he isthrown. The object is always to go tothe opponent with the sweep and

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Brown Belt)

drive his foot out from under him.

This is not the case in the swingingfoot techniques.Swinging Foot Techniques

By the swinging foot techniques wemean hiza guruma and sasae tsurikomi ashi (covered in this series).They are called swinging foot tech-niques because the thrower holds thefoot or leg of his opponent still onor 'near the mat and swings himaround over it. Remembering thatsasae tsuri komi ashi is a swingingfoot technique will help you to under-stand and learn it.

The PlayersSasae tsuri komi ashi in this photo

sequence is demonstrated by two out-standing young American Judists. Thethrower is Rene Zeelenberg, who plac-ed in the National AAU Champion-ships' Light Middleweight Division in1965 and 1967. Rene is in the AirForce stationed at Travis AFB, Cal-ifornia. He who is thrown is Len Car-

ter, top lightweight Judoist of theSoutheast from Charleston, S.C.

, cif-

Sasae Tsurikomi Ashi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Beginning 'the. Off-BalanceIn the photos above Rene (left) is

just starting the movement which willoff-balance Len for the throw. He is

pushing with his left hand and start-ing a big step around to the side withhis left foot to make Len step backwith his right foot.Circling or Swinging

In the two photos above you seeclearly the action of the thrower incircling around his opponen t to theleft so that he can swing him aroundin a circle and overbalance him. In

the left photo Rene is just finishinghis left step. Note carefully how hisleft foot is turned in. This will allow

him to turn or swing his body muchmore during the throw. Rene's gripis slightly unorthodox, as he is grip-ping both lapels, his favorite methodof holding. There is absolutely noreason why this should not be done.World Champion Anton Geesinkholds exactly the same grip whenthrowing with his left sasae tsuri komiashi, his most important and reliable

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throw. He has won many contestswith it, including throws against Ka-minaga in both of his victories in the1964 Olympics. As long as the pull ofthe thrower's right arm is up andaround hard enough, any grip thatworks is satisfactory.Body Twist for Off-Balance

Compa~ing the two photos abovewill show the twist Rene is using tomake the off-balance (kuzushi). No-tice that you can see his back in theleft photo, but just a split second laterin the right photo you see much of hisfront. It may even seem that he isn'tpulling at all, when in reality he isalmost snapping Len off his feet.Starting the 'Entry

With his left foot firmly plantedand his left leg bent to give him springand mobility, Rene is driving in forthe entry in the right photo above.His first action not only forced Lento step back with his right foot, buthis left foot stepped back slightly too,as you can see in the right photo. Nowthat the big pull to his left front has

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started, Len tries to step forward torecover; but it is too late. His advanc-ing left foot will run smack intoRene's holding or blocking foot, andhe will tip forward over it.Swinging Through

Sometimes it is said in sasae (as thisthrow is often called by experiencedJudomen) that you just get out of theway to the side and then throw youropponent through the hole or spacewhere you just stood. This action iswell demonstrated in the two photosabove, and it is a good way for you tothink of making the throw. The ideais to step to the side quickly whenyour opponent is coming forward, andthe swing him straight forward theway his toe is pointing, block his footand throw him right where you juststood. The foot action is complement-ed by a swift twist of the body, anda swinging pull of both arms andhands. You may be able to get abetter pull in sasae by making believethat your arms are in a cast and youcan't move them without swinging

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your body. Remember that you'llnever get a strong pull with your armsalone, you must swing your body. Youshould also think of throwing youropponent up and over your leftshoulder.

Completing the EntryIn the two photos above you'll see

the finish of the entry and the startof the kake or execution. In the leftphoto the inside of Rene's foot isjust making contact with Len's shin.The contact is a little high, but re-member that these are sequence ac-tion shots, not posed step by step.You may have noticed in the technicalseries on hiza guruma that AllanCoage's foot is a little high. This isnot to ,say that foot placement is notimportant in all foot techniques; it isvery important. However, at times thethrower's foot actually makes contactin one place and it is photographeda little higher. This is the case inthese photos. Rene's right foot isswinging through very rapidly. It isvery low in the right photo on the

left page, and has slid up the op-ponent's leg slightly in the left photoabove. In fact in the right photo abovethe foot is still following through inexcellent form with the toe pointed.Continuing the Pull

As the entry is completed and con-tact is made to hold the opponent'sfoot still while you swing him over it,you must keep twisting your body andpulling very hard. Note in the leftphoto above how Rene's right hand isstill pulling Len up and through intothe throw. By now Rene's left hand,although you can't see it, is bent andis pushing more across Len's chest to-ward the direction of the throw.Movement of the Arms

It may seem from the photos andfrom what we have said that thethrower's arms are just the means ofholding the opponent while the twis'tof the thrower's body does the work.1£ this were true, then a man withartificial arms could do the J u d 0throws. And this is true, to some de-gree. We know that there is a black

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belt Judoist in the US with one arti-ficial foot and part of the leg, and hedoes harai goshi with that artificialleg. Perhaps the most important partof the throwing action is the twistof the body, but the arms must beused too. Note that the arms of the

thrower are almost straight in the leftphoto on the last page. In the rightphoto they are starting to pull in andbend slightly as the body twists. Inthe photos above they bend more andthe left hand starts to push acrossrather than pull. Then in the photoson the next page the arms straightenagain, and thus pushing power isgained. What we mean to say is thatalthough you should not over em-phasize the action of the arms, as mostbeginners do, don't completely neglectit either.

A Straight BodyOne of the excellent features of this

photo sequence is the very correctbody position that Rene h 0 Idsthroughout the throw. Note that hisbody is straight from foot to shoulder

Sasae Tsurikomi Ashi (Continued) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .

in both of the photos on the last page.From this straight body comes thespeed of turning and the power thatmakes this throw devastating whendone correctly.Follow Through

As the thrower completes sasae,he should turn with his opponent sothat he is facing his side as he landson the mat. In contest situations he

can simply hold firmly to his oppon-ent with both hands and go directlyto the mat with him. Although notstrictly a maki komi action (makikomi means winding or binding pull),this will insure that the opponent doesnot turn his body in the air to escapefrom landing on his back. As Judobecomes better and better throughoutthe world, Judoists are training them-selves, like Shiro Saigo of old, neverto land on their backs even if theyare thrown through the air. Thus youmay have to follow your man clearto the mat to pin him down. If youdo, never fail to take a mat hold evenif you feel you have scored a point.Take it and then let the referee signal

the point and break your mat hold ifnecessary. So many times we see vic-tories slip away because (1) the throw-er did not follow through to drive hisopponent firmly to the mat for a fullscore, or (2) the thrower, having donehis best to get a full point, doesn't,but lets a mat-work chance slipthrough his fingers by hesitating justa second before he grapples. Don't letthat happen to you.Drills for Sasae

One of the best drills for self-de-

fense, for learning falls, and for build-ing skill in sasae is throwing out of ablow. To do this you stand facing youropponent and let him drive a straightright hand punch at your face, step-ping forward with his right foot ashe does so. Your hands are at yoursides. Just as he punches, you slideforward and to the side with yourright foot, your whole body openinglike a gate and avoiding his blow. Atthe same time, while his striking armcomes forward you swing your leftarm up under it, grasp his sleeve andpull him straight forward. As you do

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this your left foot blocks his right andyou throw him with sasae with the lefthand only. (this is of course for drill-ing on sasae on the right side. Thephotos in this sequence show sasae onthe left side).Alternate Attacks while Circling

Another excellent drill for sasae,which can be practiced for minutes onend without stopping, is alternate at-tacks while circling. The two playerstake their grip and then the firstswings his opponent in a circle, mak-ing him take a big step out with hisright foot. The first thrower thensteps out with his own right footaround to the side to attack with

sasae, but not hard enough to throw.The second player then recovers hisbalance a little, steps out with hisright foot further and executes sasaein turn on the first player, as his rightfoot is already extended. Take timebetween attacks to set up the correctmovement. Practicing these drills willhelp you polish the throw in realisticsituations. .