Kosoto Gari
Takedown · Judo Throws
A minor outer reap from the grip fight standing to side control. The moment is when he leans or steps back and his weight sits on the heel of his lead foot. Step to the outside of that foot, close enough to reach without a lunge, and cup the back of the heel with your sole, ankle turned inward so the heel is locked. Reap it in the direction his toes point while your hands push his upper body diagonally back over that heel, to where the foot was, where he has no foot to step back with. A floating, unweighted foot just lifts away, so wait for the loaded heel; it follows any forward attack, when he pulls back. If he lifts the foot over the reap, osoto gari; if he steps into you, tai otoshi.
How to do it
- With collar and sleeve, make them step back or sideways, so their weight goes back onto the heel of the lead foot.
- Step to the outside of their lead foot, your chest turned toward them, close enough that your foot reaches behind the heel without a lunge.
- Cup the back of that heel with the sole of your foot, set at an angle with the ankle turned inward so the heel is locked in your sole.
- Reap the heel toward their toes while you push the upper body back over it, diagonally, to where the reaped foot was.
- They fall back with no foot under them; follow them down to the side and land in side control.
Key details
- The push goes diagonally back over the reaped heel: there they have no foot to step back with.
- The heel must carry the weight: a floating foot cannot be reaped, it just lifts away. Kosoto gake hooks the heel and holds; kosoto gari sweeps it. Both work.
- It follows every forward attack: they pull back and put weight on the heel.
- Place the sole at an angle on the heel and reap in the direction their toes point: across that line the foot is braced and does not slide.
- Turn the ankle of your reaping foot inward to lock onto the heel.
- Crowd them first: pin the arm, hips close and your head against their chest, so they cannot turn and their foot has few places to go.
- If they lift the foot up and over your reap, keep your sole stuck to their heel and follow it, then take it down.
Common mistakes
- Reaping the calf instead of the heel. — They bend the knee and absorb the reap, and the foot stays on the mat. — Aim at the heel, low on the mat.
- Pushing straight back. — Straight back they step back with the free leg and stay up. — Push over the reaped heel, where they have no foot.
- Attacking from far away. — The foot does not reach the heel and you stand stretched on one leg with your balance broken. — Close the distance with the grips first.
How to drill it
Chain drill: seoi nage entry, they pull back, kosoto gari. 10 chains each side, then free uchikomi.
Safety
Hold the collar through the fall so the partner does not land on the back of the head.
What comes next
Where it comes from