Tai-otoshi

Tori breaks Uke’s balance to his right front corner, opens his body to the left, steps his right foot in front of Uke’s right foot, pulls Uke forward, and throws him down.

Tai-otoshi-driving in at the moment Uke steps back, Tori and Uke grapple in right natural posture. Tori steps back with the right foot, then the left foot, while pulling Uke; he then comes to a halt, pressing Uke down slightly. Uke responds by stepping forward with his left foot, then his right foot, but because he holds his ground in a slightly forward-leaning posture, he steps back with his right foot and begins to return to his previous posture.

At this moment, Tori lessens the pulling action of both hands and pushes slightly with the left hand instead. Uke responds by straightening up while beginning to step back with his right foot. At the moment Uke’s right foot passes the back of his left foot, Tori steps his right foot between Uke’s feet, and steps his left foot back and round, so that he assumes a right han-mi posture. He pulls up with the left hand, and lifts and pulls up with the right hand. Uke is not able to transfer his weight onto his right foot, and he rises forward from a slightly left posture over the tips of both feet, and his balance breaks.

Supporting his body on the right leg, Tori opens his body to the left, and steps his left foot back and round, while lifting Uke further with both hands and breaking his balance. Supporting his body on the left leg, Tori lowers his waist, and steps his right foot in front of Uke’s right foot across his ankle. At this point, Tori is in a stable posture with a wide leg stance, the left knee is bent and the right leg stretched.

Tori pulls and lifts further with his right hand, pulls down with the left hand, and channels energy into his hands, hips, and legs to throw Uke forward. Uke will be thrown in a large circle around the tip of his right foot.

Tori acts at the moment uke steps back by using uke’s momentum to throw him. It is important to lead and move uke lightly at that moment. This technique is difficult to execute if uke’s posture is rigid. Uke tries to maintain his balance by stepping back with his right foot, and at the moment it just passes his left foot, tori lessens the pushing action of both hands and pulls upwards instead, so that uke is lifted upwards and his balance breaks. If tori executes this too slowly, uke will completely transfer his weight onto the right foot. Therefore, tori will not be able to lift and break his balance.

Tori opens his body to the left, and when he steps his right foot in front of uke’s right foot, he crosses uke’s foot lightly. At this moment, tori’s left leg is placed slightly apart from the front of uke’s left leg, the bent knee supports the body weight, and the waist is lowered for stability. He bends back slightly and sticks his chest out. Tori’s back and the back of his waist should not touch the front of uke’s body. If it touches the front of his waist, uke will be able to resist quite firmly, and push tori’s waist, so that he cannot execute the throw from an unstable posture.

Tori lifts uke up by lifting and pulling with both hands. He projects energy in the direction uke’s right foot is pointing, and pulls him down at the moment his balance is thoroughly broken. Uke will be thrown forward in a large circle around the tip of his right foot. If tori pulls uke round to the left with both hands, uke will respond by twisting his left foot round to the rear, so that tori’s technique does not work. This is a te-waza technique, but tori must channel strength into his hands, waist, and legs in combination to complete the throw.

Tori feints a right ouchi-gari, stepping his right foot between uke’s feet, so that uke steps back with his right foot to maintain his posture, and begins to raise his left foot. Tori can apply the principles of this technique to throw him at the moment he has stepped back with his right foot. The opportunity to execute tai-otoshi is at the moment after uke steps with his right foot: tori positions him (tsukuri) toward the right front corner and executes the throw. If he pulls and leads uke towards the right, he positions him directly to the right side and throws him towards the right side.