Obi-otoshi

Tori pulls Uke by gripping his front belt with the right hand, and, while stepping in to the right side of Uke’s back, he holds Uke’s waist from his front side with the left hand, scoops him up, and drops him. Similar techniques are included in this section.

Tori and Uke grapple in right natural posture. Tori steps back with the right foot and, at the same time, reverse grips Uke’s front belt with the right hand (inserting the four fingers under the front belt with the knuckles facing away from him), and firmly draws Uke. He then steps back with the left foot while pulling and lifting him up with the left hand. At the same time he steps back with the left foot, he shifts the right foot in front of the tip of Uke’s right foot, thus ensuring he can quickly step the left foot in to Uke’s rear.

Uke is pulled and resists by thrusting with both hands, while advancing with the left, then right foot, and defends by thrusting his waist out and bending back because he is being pulled by the front of his belt.

At this moment, Tori draws with the right hand and brushes Uke’s right hand (gripping Tori’s left collar) away with the left hand from the inside, and thrusts it across Uke’s front abdomen. Pivoting on the right foot, he steps his left foot in behind Uke’s feet, maneuvers to the right side of Uke’s back, puts the left hand on Uke’s left rear thigh, and holding Uke’s lower body diagonally, pulls Uke up and breaks his balance toward the rear. Uke bends backwards and his weight falls over both heels, as his balance breaks.

At this moment, Tori’s left foot is placed near the inside of Uke’s left heel, and his right foot near the outside of Uke’s right heel. He assumes a stable posture with both knees bent, the waist lowered, and holds Uke’s upper body in his left armpit with the left arm placed diagonally from the right side of Uke’s chest to his left hip, and with the left front hip against Uke’s right buttock, and draws Uke against his body using both hands.

Tori pushes Uke’s buttocks up with his front waist, swings Uke up and scoops his lower body up with the left arm, while twisting his upper body to the left to throw Uke down. Uke is lifted up, and thrown diagonally toward Tori’s rear.

Firstly, tori pulls uke’s front belt, causing uke to bend back and break his balance towards the rear. Therefore, while maintaining firmness in the right pulling hand, tori draws uke tight against him and controls his body. Otherwise, uke can step back with the right foot, open the distance between them, and, assuming a stable posture, render tori’s technique ineffective. In other words, tori should position (tsukuri) uke in such a way that he is fixed to the spot, unable to move his feet (and lower body), and only his upper body can bend back.

There are two methods of gripping uke’s front belt: the reverse grip and the normal grip, in which the fingers are inserted from above the belt. A reverse grip will enhance the efficacy of tori’s tsukuri more than a normal grip, because uke will be pulled up slightly. However, a normal grip may also be used effectively in some situations.

Tori should use the right hand and pull continuously. While it may be advantageous to pull very firmly, uke will perceive his intention and be able to defend. To maximise his advantage, tori must firmly and quickly execute the following series of actions: grip uke’s body from the side with one arm, and use the front belt to draw uke in, step in behind uke, hold uke’s left waist, swing and pull him up. Tori should twist to the side while pulling uke’s body up and drop uke toward his rear.