Satoshi Ishii: Uchimata against a Defensive Opponent
Ever frustrated by opponents who are stiff and/or have low posture? Find the solution here with 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Satoshi Ishii.
Here, Ishii shows Uchimata as being a good throw to use against those types of frustrating opponents.
Ishii points out that if the person’s torso is forward and they’re pushing into you, their weight must also be going forward.
This is why Uchimata is a good throw to do in this situation, since you can simply redirect their weight in a different direction (namely, to the side) where there is no resistance.
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Ishii doesn’t use the hip-throw style Uchimata that you can use with an upright opponent. Instead, he goes for the rotating Uchimata, which he can attack with starting at a larger distance from his opponent.
Ishii is a lefty, but he shows his front foot going just to the inside of his partner’s foot.
If you’re a righty, your front foot (right foot) would go just to the inside of your partner’s left foot. If you’re a lefty too, your left foot would go just to the inside of your partner’s right foot.
Ishii then takes his back foot and plants it somewhere along the line of his partner’s toes. This is just so he can turn and raise his first leg so the back of his thigh raises his partner’s leg.
From here, Ishii can keep lifting his partner’s leg and turning him, pulling with his sleeve hand and pushing with his lapel hand.
Ishii can use his planted leg to hop in the direction he’s pulling the sleeve as long as he needs to finish the throw.
If you’re doing standup in a BJJ context and have a strong Judo background, this technique is especially good to keep in mind. Since BJJ players almost always have lower stances, this particular Uchimata is a viable option.
This also neutralizes a lot of wrestling attacks that a BJJ player may be looking for. That’s because, if you have two hands on the person, you can feel when they’re going for a shot and prevent them from coming in for it with your hands.
You can keep controlling the position until you’re ready to go in for the Uchimata.
Additionally, you can look for this Uchimata in a Judo context. It’s always possible your opponent will get tired and lower their posture for a moment, or get stiff to try to prevent your from landing your attacks.
If either of those things happen, down they go with this Uchimata.
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