The start of Koshi-Waza (Hip Techniques) training

So far we haven't done much with hip techniques. Beginners are usually taught Ogoshi, which is the most basic of hip techniques, but the other hip throws are not as well-known. This Sunday we will begin work on hip techniques. It will probably take several Sunday sessions before we manage to cover them all.

There are 11 established hip techniques. Some are regularly seen in competition. Some are rarely. Some are almost never seen or are too similar to other established throws. One is actually illegal. I will only be teaching the popular and relevant ones. Here's an overview:

Ogoshi (Major Hip)

As mentioned earlier, Ogoshi is the most basic of hip techniques. It's one of the first few throws taught to beginners because it's relatively easy to learn and it teaches them all the fundamentals of what hip techniques are all about. As basic as it is, Ogoshi is still a relevant throw and it is seen in modern competitions, although it's usually by heavyweights. Ogoshi is done with a grip around the waist and it can be done with either a belt grip or just a grip on the judogi. A belt grip is more secure but if tori accidentally grabs below the belt, it's a shido penalty. A good grasp of Ogoshi will help beginners to understanding of Koshi-Waza in general and will make it easier for them to learn other hip techniques.



Uki-Goshi (Floating Hip - will not be taught)

You would be forgiven if you thought the picture to the right depicts Ogoshi. That's because Uki-Goshi looks very much like Ogoshi. Tori's arm goes around the waist and grips the belt just like in Ogoshi. The difference is that in Ogoshi, tori loads uke up on his hips. In Uki-Goshi, he merely rotates uke over his hip. The difference is really academic because in randori and competition, you don't really think about whether you actually load the person up or merely rotate them over the hips. The difference between Uki-Goshi and Ogoshi is so minor it's not worth teaching as a separate technique. So, we will focus only on Ogoshi. If uke manages to step around and avoid the loading-up action, maybe tori can just rotate him over. Doesn't matter. To me it's Ogoshi.


Koshi-Guruma (Hip Wheel)

One of the most famous proponents of Koshi-Guruma is the legendary Toshihiko Koga. Well-known for his standing Ippon-Seoi-Nage, he would sometimes surprise his opponents with Koshi-Guruma when he had difficulty getting an entry for Ippon-Seoi. Koshi-Guruma has since emerged to be quite a popular competition technique and is used by heavyweights and lightweights alike. Like Ogoshi, Koshi-Guruma is quite an easy throw for beginners to grasp. In fact, the entry and loading up is very similar to Ogoshi. Only the gripping is different. Instead of gripping around uke's waist, tori grips around uke's neck. This throw must be done with full commitment though otherwise uke might be able to counter with Ura-Nage.

Tsuri-Goshi (Lifting Hip)
In the picture on the right, Tori's right-hand grip is on uke's belt with tori's right hand coming under uke's left armpit. This is one way to do Tsuri-Goshi but another, more common, approach seen in competition is where tori reaches over uke's left shoulder (as opposed to under the armpit). This is the approach used by many top European players. France's World Champion Stephane Traineau used this a lot throughout his career. The arm over the shoulder approach is the one that will be taught as the lifting motion required is easier to achieve with such a grip than one under the armpit.



Tsurikomi-Goshi (Lifting Pulling Hip - will not be taught)
Tsurikomi-Goshi as taught in its traditional form, as seen in the picture to the left, is totally impractical and is never seen in competition. The more practical version is done almost exactly like Tsuri-Goshi with an arm over uke's shoulder except instead of gripping the belt, tori grips the back of uke's jacket. The difference is so minor (like the difference between Uki-Goshi and Ogoshi) that I will not teach this as a separate technique. If tori gets the belt, it's Tsuri-Goshi, if he just manages to grip the back of the jacket, it's Tsurikomi-Goshi. The difference is purely academic. The action is the same.





Sode-Tsurikomi-Goshi (Sleeve Lifting Pulling Hip)

This is by far the most popular hip technique in modern competition today. Some competitors do it as a standing throw and some as a drop technique. The standing version is very popular among the Japanese and many of their top competitors such as Naohisa Takato and Kaori Matsumoto have made it one of their tokui-waza (favorite technique). The traditional version calls for tori to lift uke's arm up high (as seen in the picture on the right) but the modern version is done by pulling tori's arm straight across the chest. The drop version meanwhile resembles drop Seoi-Nage so much that many TV announcers will mistakenly refer to a drop Sode as a drop Seoi. The drop version is extremely popular among Europeans and the South Koreans do it a lot too. We will learn both standing and drop Sode.



Harai-Goshi (Sweeping Hip)

In doing Harai-Goshi, tori doesn't at any point load uke onto his hips. I guess it is classified as a hip technique because tori's hips are square in front of uke's hips during the throw. But the action of the leg (sweeping) is very crucial, so much so that I think it should be considered a leg technique. In fact, there is a leg technique called Oguruma which looks very much like Harai-Goshi except it doesn't involve a sweeping motion. Harai-Goshi's sweeping motion is very much like that of Uchimata (also another leg technique). In fact, many Uchimata specialists like the legendary Kosei Inoue and World Champion Takamasa Anai use both Uchimata and Harai-Goshi. It tends to be used by bigger players but Japan's lightweight World Champion Ami Kondo uses it too.



Hane-Goshi (Spring Hip - will not be taught)

This technique looks very much like Uchimata. It's almost never seen in competition. There was one famous case where Japan's Shohei Ono launched his opponent, Ugo Legrand of France, in the final of the World Championships with what looked like a Hane-Goshi but it probably was not intentional but an Uchimata that reached out a bit further towards uke's far leg than his near leg. Other than that one instance, you really never seen this technique in competition. For this reason, this technique will not be taught.





Utsuri-Goshi (Switching Hips)

Utsuri-Goshi is a fascinating technique that used to be almost never seen in competition. It is a complex technique that requires tori to first life uke up as if he was going to do Ura-Nage and then -- as its name implies -- switch the hip position from being behind uke to being in front of uke. Mind you, all this is supposed to be done while uke is mid-air! It seemed like an impossible sequence to pull off but in recent years a modern variation of this has become incredibly popular especially among the Europeans. Ukraine's Georgii Zantaraia is famous for this. Many Mongolians do it too. It's seldom seen among Japanese except for Naohisa Takato who counts this among his tokui-waza. The modern version is done as direct attack as opposed to a counter and usually ends up with an Uchimata-like finishing. It's a fantastic throw.


Ushiro-Goshi (Rear Hip - will not be taught)

This throw starts off exactly like Ura-Nage but the finishing is different. Instead of a throw (Nage), it involves what is essentially a drop (perhaps it should be called Ushiro-Otoshi). After tori picks uke up (using his hips for leverage), like he would do with Ura-Nage, he essentially drops him down. It's really not practical. If you already have uke up in the air like that, you'd want to ensure the ippon by throwing him backwards, not dropping him in front of your two feet. It's an impractical approach that's not useful for competition so it will not be taught.





Daki-Age (High Lift - will not be taught)

This technique is essentially a body slam and is illegal in judo. In fact, if you do this, you'll get hansoku-make (disqualification) straight away as you can seriously injure your opponent. It goes without saying we won't be teaching this technique, which belongs more in a professional wrestling ring than a judo mat. KL Judo is very competition-oriented and we regard judo as a sport. Safety is of paramount importance. As such we won't teach techniques that are dangerous even if they are traditional judo techniques. This includes things like Kani-Basami.





So, over the next few Sundays we will work on:
i) Ogoshi
ii) Koshi-Guruma
iii) Tsuri-Goshi
iv) Sode-Tsurikomi-Goshi
v) Harai-Goshi
vi) Utsuri-Goshi

We will not work on the following:
i) Uki-Goshi (too similar to Ogoshi)
ii) Tsurikomi-Goshi (too similar to Tsuri-Goshi)
iii) Hane-Goshi (impractical)
iv) Ushiro-Goshi (impractical)
v) Daki-Age (illegal)