Friday, April 22, 2011

Judo and the Scarf and Shoulder Hold


Scarf hold
The kesa was a traditional garment the Japanese used to wear which went across the chest diagonally - practitioners of kyudo (Japanese archery) still wear them - and this garment gave this technique its name. The hold can be practiced from throws like harai-goshi or tai-otoshi or from a variety of turnovers that can be employed in groundwork. From a right-handed throw tori's left hand pulls uke's right arm around his body and traps the wrist under his left armpit. Tori must tuck the left elbow in tight so that uke cannot free his hand. The right arm goes around uke's head and neck, gripping the loose cloth of the judogi at the back or side of uke's right shoulder. The body position is normally with tori's left side against uke's right. Sometimes, if tori is physically very strong and wishes to squeeze a submission out of uke she will sit up and twist her side into uke's ribs, compressing the diaphragm and making it difficult to breath. However, where physical differences are less obvious or indeed if uke is the stronger player it is a good idea for tori to keep her head down on uke's shoulder. The legs are kept spread and work as outriggers for tori to maintain her balance and block any surges of power that uke may produce in trying to escape.
If uke tries to escape by hooking tori's left leg, tori should bend it up under her left buttock and virtually sit on her heel to prevent this. The left leg is also used to push uke back down if he tries to sit up. If uke is very strong and able to lift tori over his chest and begin to turn out to his left, tori should release her right hand grip on the collar and stop the turn by thrusting out her right hand. The hold then becomes kuzure-kesa-gatame (broken scarf hold) which while not as tight or uncomfortable for uke, can be more difficult to escape from and is seen more often at higher levels of competition than kesa-gatame.

Shoulder Hold
Kata-gatame is an extremely powerful hold and, if selecting one technique to pin a very strong opponent would be the first choice of many judoka. The difficulty is that it is a split second slower to apply than some of the other holds, as tori generally has to push uke's arm to one side and settle into position before applying the hold with power. This may only be a split second but that may be all a fit, alert opponent of similar ability needs to escape before the hold can be applied effectively. However, once this hold is on, it is really difficult to escape and will often cause uke to submit because of the pressure on the neck, although it is not strictly speaking a strangle or a choke, but a method of immobilizing the shoulder and head.
Kata-gatame is often taught as a combination from kesa-gatame, simply pushing the right arm across uke's face, placing the back of the head against uke's elbow and clasping the hands. It can also be practiced from a kneeling position, which allows tori to focus her weight on to the locked-up area of shoulder and neck. By extending the left leg for balance tori further consolidates the effectiveness of the hold.
Kata-gatame can be combined with other holds, to help immobilize uke's head. The same head and shoulder control can be very effective, for instance, if tori applies tate-shiho-gatame, the astride four quarters hold-down. She sits astride uke's body and uses her feet to control uke's legs, but instead of the basic grip over his shoulder and down on the belt with uke's right arm on the left side of tori's face, tori pushes the arm into the kata-gatame position.
If uke has a very strong bridging action it is possible for him to escape and roll tori on to her back. A useful trick is for tori to release the left-hand grip and to grip her own right lapel with her right hand, freeing the left hand for balance and allowing herto put her weight to the side of uke, rather than on top of him, making it much harder for him to escape even in a loose judo gi.

About the Author

Troy Macraft is the Head of Online Content Manager for The MMA Zone. Troy is a guru in the martial arts along with physical fitness fields. The MMA Zone is the top martial arts supplies online.

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