Kata guruma

Kata guruma (肩車?) is one of the traditional forty throws of Judo as developed by Kano Jigoro, is detailed in Kano's writings as borrowed from a book on western wrestling.[1] Kata guruma belongs to the third group of the traditional throwing list in the Gokyo no waza of the Kodokan Judo.[2] It is also part of the current 67 Throws of Kodokan Judo.[3] Because the technique is not a sweep nor a trip and requires tori to pull uke into a carry, it is categorized as a hand throwing technique (tewaza).[4]

[edit]Description

In The Essence of Judo, Kyuzo Mifune demonstrates three variations of kata guruma. In the second variation, Mifune steps behind uke, and in the third he steps behind uke and grabs uke's left leg instead. In all three variations, uke is lifted up to tori's shoulder behind tori's head, and then dropped forward (as in the above clip).

The drop kata guruma is a variant of kata guruma.[5]

Kataguruma is accomplished by making Uke off balance by pulling in a straight forward motion or right front forward (or left front forward) motion. Tori picks up Uke's body onto Tori's right shoulder (or left shoulder), back of the head, then, left shoulder (or right shoulder); then Uke is thrown down to complete the wheel motion. Techniques similar to this are also called Kataguruma.

[edit](Type 1) Pull Uke forward to execute Kataguruma

Tori & Uke hold each other in a right handed natural posture. To break Uke's balance, Tori pulls Uke's body straight toward him as he steps back. Tori, then, takes a big step back with his left foot forcing Uke to put his right foot forward. Tori twists his body to the left as he pulls his hand upward and pushes his right hand upward. This causes Uke to put his weight on his right toe; there by, breaking his balance.

Tori steps his right foot in between Uke's legs and bends both knees, drops his hip to become right defensive posture. Pull Uke's off balanced body forward and put his right shoulder to Uke's right front hip. Tori puts the back of his head to Uke's right side of hip (center of Uke's body or around his belt). Tori puts his right hand between Uke's legs and holds Uke's lower body. Tori pulls his left hand down toward his left hip, brings his left foot close to his right foot, and straightened his head, neck and chest simultaneously and picks up Uke's body from right shoulder to left shoulder. At this time, Uke resist this movement and stretches his body backward. Tori, without stopping his move, pulls his left hand down and pushes Uke up with his right hand and uses his neck as a shaft to throw from his left shoulder to left forward direction (direction of pointed left toe). Uke falls in a circular motion to Tori's left forward. This technique is the same concept as Nagenokata. In Nagenokata Tori changes his left grip from the outside to the inside of Uke's right sleeve in the second step. Then, he picks up Uke's body in the third step and throws as explained previously.

[edit]Techniques of practical applications

Generally, the direction of throwing is toTori's left (or right) forward but sometimes there are exceptions such as the following.

(1) Tori twists his body to the left and throws Uke straight forward.

As Tori picks up Uke, he pulls his left foot back to change his body direction to the left. Tori's right hand grips Uke's right sleeve and moves both hands closer together and pulls straight down to throw forward. The completed throw resembles the Ipponseoinage.

(2) Tori bends his body forward and throws.

Tori picks up Uke and bends his body forward and throws down straight forward. Because of the efficiency of this technique, it was very popular during the Meiji Era.

(3) Bend Tori's body backward to throw.

While Tori picks up Uke, sometimes, Uke tries to defense against Tori's throw by grabbing Tori's upper body. Tori bends his body backward to change to a sacrifice throw by throwing himself and Uke together backward. These Kataguruma techniques are efficient throws in competition.

[edit](Type 2) Tori drops one knee onto mat, picks up Uke to throw (Kataguruma)

(1) Tori drops his right knee onto mat, then, stands up to throw down (Kataguruma).

Tori grips Uke's right sleeve with his left hand. Uke grips Tori's left collar with his right hand. When Uke tries to grab Tori's right sleeve with his left hand, Tori holds down that hand to keep some distance. As he steps back with his left foot and pulls Uke's body to right front forward into a floating position with his left hand, Tori drops his hip and slides in his right foot between Uke's legs and kneel his right knee (stands his left knee). At the same time, Tori places his head outside of Uke's right hip and pulls his left hand toward Uke's right front forward. Tori picks up Uke's body on his both shoulders and places right hand between Uke's legs and holds Uke's right leg. Tori pulls his right hand toward himself and lifts Uke's body, as he stands up and throws down to left forward. Sometimes, Tori uses opposite foot (kneel the left knee, stands the right knee).

(2) Tori kneels his left knee and picks up and throws down (Kataguruma) (change from Uchimata).

Tori & Uke hold each other in right handed position. Tori executes right Uchimata by swinging up his right foot outward against Uke's left foot to float Uke's body. Tori pulls back his sweeping leg, places it behind left foot and twists his body to the right. Then, pulls his right hand to unbalance Uke. Tori places his left knee on the mat between Uke's legs, stands his right knee, puts his head under Uke's left hip and places his left hand between Uke's legs and hold the left knee. Tori lifts Uke's body onto both shoulders. Tori pulls his left hand down toward his body and using his back of the head as a shaft, throws Uke down in the direction of his right foot. At this time, Tori keeps his left knee on the mat without standing. This technique is a feint motion from Uchimata to Kataguruma. To use this technique, Tori needs good timing and quick body movement. If this technique is executed with perfect timing, Uke will fall in a big circular motion with Tori slightly touching both shoulder to Uke's body.

[edit](Type 3) Bend Tori's body backward to throw (Kataguruma)

Same as Type 1, Tori steps in his right foot between Uke's legs while lowering his body. Tori puts his right shoulder against Uke's right front hip to pick him up. Then, Tori brings his left foot close to Uke's right foot, shifting his weight backward (facing each other), Tori pulls both hands close to his body and bends his body backward to throw Uke over in close body contact. At this time, Tori does not release Uke's body in the throw. Kataguruma (Type 1) (3) throws the opponent in standing position but this technique pulls the opponent close to both shoulders and bends the body backward for a throw without standing.

[edit](Type 4) Pick up Uke's body straight up unto Tori's right shoulder and bend backward to throw (Kataguruma)

Tori & Uke face each other in defensive posture. Tori grabs Uke's both wrist to push up. Uke tries to break the hold by pushing back. At this moment, Tori releases the grip and pushes Uke's hand upward. Uke will lose his balance at this time and go into a floating position. Tori drops his body and rushes the center of Uke's body and steps in with his right foot between Uke's leg to take a defensive posture. Tori puts his head under Uke's right armpit with right shoulder under Uke's stomach, then, holds Uke's legs from the outside. Tori lifts Uke up and carries him on his right shoulder and bends backward and throws. Uke makes a big circular motion in the air and falls. Other technique: When Tori executes Morotegari, Uke tries to defense by bending his body forward or Uke tries to hold Tori's upper body to change to Tawaragaeshi to throw straight backward. At these times, it is a great opportunity to execute Kataguruma. When Tori executes these techniques, Tori should advance a few steps in lowered position to lift on his right shoulder. In doing this, Tori should experience less resistance from Uke. Since these techniques are recognized in regular competition as ippon and are similar to old Jujitsu techniques, Kodokan Waza Study Group Department segregated and named them as Kataguruma. This technique is very similar to Uranage. When Tori pick up Uke's body to throw backward in sacrifice position, we consider it as Masutemi waza's Uranage.

This article is excerpted from the book "Kodokan Nage Waza" written by Daigo Toshiro 10dan. (Picture, Tori: Sengoku Tsuneo 7dan, Uke: Sato Tadashi 8dan)