Harai Goshi: Request for advice

**BKR** · Posted On: 7/25/2011 7:19pm

Originally Posted by oplus

Not J-shaped leg, J-shaped leg action. The same one that is advised for (I think) sasae.

LOL, you mean the "back step" with the supporting leg, I guess. I'd have never figured that one out from your original post!

Just watch the PTNippon video and read the commentary on JF that I posted (link). Hopefully someone at your dojo can show you the basic way of doing the throw.

Ben

**oplus** · Posted On: 7/25/2011 7:32pm

In retrospect, I may have described it wrong again. I'll go wash my face with a cheese grater or something.

One way it's been taught, the leg sweeps back and around in a J, similar to the way the supporting foot in sasae moves to prepare for the block.

**BKR** · Posted On: 7/25/2011 9:03pm

Originally Posted by oplus

In retrospect, I may have described it wrong again. I'll go wash my face with a cheese grater or something.

One way it's been taught, the leg sweeps back and around in a J, similar to the way the supporting foot in sasae moves to prepare for the block.

LOL, don't punish yourself, leave that to Judok_UK and I.

That's kind of strange, I just sweep mine straight back, although again the leg isn't doing the sweeping, the hip is.

Ben

**kikoolol** · Posted On: 7/26/2011 2:29am

Originally Posted by BKR

If you use your leg, it's not really Harai Goshi. There are important lessons to be learned by learning/doing Harai Goshi correctly, which is distinctly not using your leg to sweep. I see you revert back to the necessity of learning the "classical" form, which is good.

Also, it's a SWEEP (harai) not a REAP (kari), and the difference is critical to understand. There is no reaping in Harai Goshi. Unless you want to injure uke knee, that is.

Ben

I was using "reap" as a catch-all. Honestly I don't like to think too much about the terms, especially early in the morning.

Also a lot of people (a lot more skilled than I am) do harai-goshi with a strong sweeping action. I think of it as an extreme variation, or perhaps an evolution of the technique. I once read somewhere that o-uchi-gari used to be done with thigh on thigh contact, but that it progressively went down in the search of faster execution due to the demands of modern shiai. That kind of evolution.

**judoka_uk** · Posted On: 7/26/2011 3:39am

Originally Posted by oplus

One way it's been taught, the leg sweeps back and around in a J, similar to the way the supporting foot in sasae moves to prepare for the block.

You mean like this?

**oplus** · Posted On: 7/26/2011 4:29am

Originally Posted by judoka_uk

You mean like this?

Exactly.

**judoka_uk** · Posted On: 7/26/2011 4:33am

Originally Posted by oplus

Exactly.

So you're walking backwards you do the j-shaped step, like in the video, and then do Harai goshi?

**oplus** · Posted On: 7/26/2011 4:46am

Originally Posted by judoka_uk

So you're walking backwards you do the j-shaped step, like in the video, and then do Harai goshi?

*washes face with cheese grater*

No, what I mean to say is that the sweeping leg itself sweeps in a pattern similar to that step.

**judoka_uk** · Posted On: 7/26/2011 5:15am

This is what makes it so difficult to help people over the internet none can ever understand anyone else's verbal descriptions, lol.

Like the guy shows from 30-40 seconds of this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbK9COV-GpY#t=25s

**BKR** · Posted On: 7/27/2011 1:01pm

This is a good example of the "classic" form that shows the koshi waza action pretty well.

I understand there are different ways to do the throw, but I think it's critical to understand and learn the essence of the technique first, then move on to variations, hence my emphasis on the basics of the throw.