Kaze Uta Budo Kai Forum Archive

Had a really nice lesson from Clif Norgaard on harai goshi tonight. Goes something like this:

1. Start with normal grips. Step sideways, to tori's right (lapel grip) side. Repeat several times focusing on matching uke's step, noting rise & fall & overall rhythm. Imagine uke were at 12 o'clock & tori at 6 o'clock, with movement being from 9 to 3, left to right.

2. Starting position rotates slightly, say 45 degrees or so, such that uke is left from his starting position. If uke were at 12 o'clock & tori at 6 o'clock in #1 above, uke would be at 10 or 11 now. Take starting position & rotate counter-clockwise 45 degrees. Not sure how else to desribe this. Tori light pulls on uke's lapel as you step, trying to follow the exact same sideways path as in #1, 9 to 3 o'clock. Once in motion, take several tsugi ashi steps as in #1 also.


3. Starting position same as #2. Tori steps right foot, left foot, throws harai goshi while still travelling as above.

This forces us to throw on the move. The main thing is to keep the hands *very* light during the entire process.

You will end up with throws other than harai goshi. Uchi mata, ashi guruma, hane goshi, etc. That's perfectly fine.

???

Is this a similar motion to the uchi mata in Nage no Kata? I assume the different throw all emerge from a combination of varied spacing and fit.

I found the action to be similar. In Nage no Kata, the emphasis is placed on pulling with sleeve grip, whereas this setup works from the lapel. It's sort of a backwards picture like hiza guruma & ashi guruma are similar but sort of inside out.