Tai Otoshi
Takedown · Judo Throws
A hand throw over a blocking leg, from the grip fight standing to side control. It works when he follows your pull and steps forward, his weight moving onto the front foot. Turn in on his step, your back half to him and a gap between your hips and his, and stretch your outside leg low across the front of his shin while the bent supporting knee carries your weight. Pull the sleeve around your body to your hip with the elbow high, as if checking a watch, and lift the collar the same way so his heels come up: the shin is stopped, the upper body goes forward around you and he trips. The hands throw, the leg only blocks; hip contact gives him something to block with. If he steps over the leg, seoi nage; if he pulls back on the sleeve, kouchi gari.
How to do it
- From collar and sleeve, step back and to the side so they follow your pull and step forward; their weight moves onto the front foot.
- Turn in on the step: your back half to them, feet in front of theirs. Keep a gap between your hips and theirs; nothing but your leg will touch them.
- Stretch your outside leg almost straight across the front of their shin, low; your supporting knee is bent and carries your weight. The leg only stands there as a block.
- Pull the sleeve around your body toward your hip, elbow high, and push the collar the same way, lifting so their heels come off the mat.
- Their upper body goes forward around you while the shin is stopped, so they trip over the leg; turn with them, keep the sleeve and land in side control.
Key details
- The throw is made by the hands; the leg is only a block. It stops the shin so the upper body, pulled around you, has nowhere to step.
- Pull the sleeve like looking at your watch: elbow high, hand to your hip. The high elbow draws their shoulder forward and up onto the toes.
- Keep your hips out of theirs: tai otoshi has no hip contact. Your back and hips do not touch them: if they touch, they can block with the hips.
- Point the toes of the blocking leg towards your supporting leg to protect your knee.
- Lift with the lapel hand, wrist strong and the elbow tucked in under their armpit, so their heels leave the mat: a person on the toes cannot step over the leg.
- Calf on shin: set your calf against their shin with your toes level with theirs, and as you pull, drive the calf back into the shin.
Common mistakes
- Loading them on the hip. — It becomes a weak hip throw without the lift, and they sit down behind you. — Keep a gap between hips; only the leg blocks the shin.
- Blocking too high, at the knee. — Pressure on the knee joint is dangerous, and a high leg is easy for them to step over. — Block the shin just under the knee, leg almost straight and low.
- Pulling down instead of around. — Their weight comes straight onto you: they fall onto you and you land underneath. — Pull in a circle around your body, toward your back pocket, elbow high.
- Turning in from straight in front of them. — There is no room to turn and their weight is not over the blocking leg yet; if they drop a knee onto your leg, your knee and ankle are at risk. — Move out to the side first (a kosoto or a side step helps) and bring their weight forward over the line of the leg before you shoot it across.
How to drill it
Static uchikomi: 3 sets of 10 turn-ins without throwing. Then moving: partner walks forward, you throw on every third step onto a crash mat.
Safety
Do not block at the knee: a straight blocked knee can hyperextend. Hold the sleeve so the partner lands on the side, not the shoulder.
What comes next
Where it comes from