Introduction to Koshi-nage

Koshinage 腰投げ

Bending over and pulling the opponent over the attacker's hip, then throwing the opponent to the ground on their back (hip throw).

This technique is the big new technique for the second kyu examination. A lot of the time, people put learning this off till about 2 months before they are going to test. (myself included) I want to teach this technique to the intermediate class audience so people have as much time to prepare as possible. I first really learned koshi during my second kyu test. Yea, that's right, during my test. Second kyu test has an open-uke format, and Stephen Duncan jumped up. He was THE biggest and scariest uke you can have on an exam...let alone my little second kyu exam.

What follows in this post, and on the mat is a synthesis of what I learned that night, and subsequent nights with Olson sensie who's judo background and academic approach infuse my koshinage teaching.

To start off, and for the sake of consistency I'll teach what I'm going to call an "omote" and "ura" variation to koshinage. Historically in our dojo we've only ever done the "ura". Omote and ura in this case are defined by whether or not uke's face crosses in front of your face (omote), or behind (ura). My hope is to see an omote and ura koshi on a second kyu or higher exam some day soon!

In order to teach to such a wide audience (pre-6th kyu up to Nidan) I focus primarily on the hip loading aspect of the throw. I'll leave it to uke to judge for themselfs (with a watchful eye from me) when they are prepared for the subsequent breakfall.

Here's some good reading: From Dan Penrod, chief instructor of the Budo Dojo in Beaverton OR> http://budodojo.com/CreatingKoshis.htm

And some good watching: my favorite koshi clip

Classic from Ikeda: Note Tres Hofmeister as uke

For the music alone ;0

From the ukemi master himself: Donovan Waite Sensei doing a koshi variation...and check the ukemi!

Speaking of ukemi. Here's Waite Sensei in "meeting the mat" clip on Youtube

Running...On the Mat

Of late I've become interested again in the activity of running, in whole because of a book I just finished called "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougal. It's a fantastic read and I recommend it without pause to anyone regardless of whether they run or not. But my relationship to running as a "fitness" activity is a pretty mixed bag. Olson Sensei would be correct in pointing out problems with doing something just for "fitness".

But history aside, i'm finding links between running and what we do on the mat.

The big key thing here is getting our moving bodies off our heals, which are only for supporting our standing weight, and onto the ball of the foot. In general, modern shoes have made this harder and harder to do with all sorts of high-tech wizardry.

Research is showing that padding under the heal and all encompassing arch support is weakening our feet to the point that our feet alone can no longer can reliably support us. Injury rates for runners have skyrocketed in the last 30-40 years, and are proportional to the price you pay for the shoe. Translation: more and more engineered shoes are actually hurting, not helping people.

On the mat this means lots of things for our feet. Your feet may hurt. You may not be able to stay balanced while moving, or may not be able to freely move in any particular direction at a given moment. Towards the goal of understanding these problems, and how to address them I'm going to study in and out of class these 4 pieces of my personal puzzle.

1. foot placement
2. running technique
3. mat/running surface
4. balance

FOOT PLACEMENT:

On the ball...on the ball...on the ball...

RUNNING TECHNIQUE:

"The shorter your stride the better" is one good running form motto.

SURFACE:

The firmer I feel the surface the better.

This translates into wanting a harder mat surface...sorry Sensei.

BALANCE:

I'd like some more of it please...