Sunday, March 18, 2007
The Tanto Ura Waza
Within the last year or so, a new set of kata has been added to the Shodokan curriculum. It is called the Tanto Ura Waza and it is a set of 10 counter techniques (ura waza) that can be used during tanto randori.
As such, they must conform to the two basic rules regarding counter techniques during tournament matches:
1) The tanto (dagger wielding) player can only counter with the five atemi waza techniques.
2) The tanto player can only counter when the toshu (unarmed) player is grabbing one of tanto`s arms with both of his (toshu`s) own hands.
The 10 Tanto Ura Waza are described below. For each entry, I first give the name of the technique that toshu is attempting to execute against tanto. Then I give the name of the technique that tanto uses as a counter. In all cases, toshu grabs tanto`s knife holding arm with both of his own hands before being countered as described.
1) Oshi Taoshi countered by Ushiro Ate. Tanto uses his tanto holding arm to execute the throw. Tanto runs backwards circling around toshu. This is done one handed. Tanto uses his knive holding hand to make a one-armed ushiro ate, with the stabbing arm being draped over toshu's shoulder and down his chest. If tanto is stabbing right handed, then he ends up behind and to the left of toshu, with tanto's right armpit resting over toshu's left shoulder, and the rest of tanto's right arm running vertically down the left hand side of toshu's chest.
2) Hiki Taoshi countered by Shomen Ate. Tanto uses his tanto holding arm to execute the throw. It is shomen ate against the chest since you cannot legally shove the tanto towards toshu`s face in a match. Tanto first drops his weight and stiffens his stabbing arm to squelch the momentum of toshu's attempt at hiki taoshi. They get to a moment of a tug of war and then tanto shoots forward to execute the shomen ate. This is very much like the 8th kyu shomen ate done against an aigamae katate dori grab.
3) Waki Gatame countered by Gyakugamae Ate. Tanto stiffens up, drops his weight, and keeps his elbow in (waki o shimeru) to stop the waki gatame before hitting toshu with an off-hand gyakugamae ate. That is, if tanto stabs with the right hand and toshu grabs that arm and tries to do waki gatame against that arm, tanto does gyakugamae ate with his left arm.
4) Kote Gaeshi into Ushiro Ate. Here, just after toshu has broken tanto`s balance forward along tanto`s weak line and just as toshu is begining to bend tanto`s elbow back to execute the kote gaeshi, tanto swings his knife holding arm down vertically past his hip, pulling toshu past his center, and twisting him around into position to do ushiro ate. This is the same as a technique seen in one of the Oyo Waza (application techniques) done from an Aigamae Katate Dori Jodan no Kuzushi.
5) Kote Gaeshi into Gedan Ate. Here, just after toshu has broken tanto`s balance forward along tanto`s weak line and just as toshu is begining to bend tanto`s elbow back to execute the kote gaeshi, tanto drops down and does gedan ate with his free (opposite) arm. That is, if tanto is stabbing right handed, he ends up doing gedan ate with his left side forward, attacking toshu's right leg (toshu should be in a right foot forward posture at this moment after having broken tanto's balance forward onto tanto's weak line.)
6) Tenkai Kote Hineri into Ushiro Ate. Suppose that tanto stabs with his right hand. Toshu grabs that arm from the inside and tries to spin under that arm to execute the tenkai kote hineri technique. As toshu steps forward to move under tanto's armpit, tanto slides forward and traps toshu against his chest. They are now both facing the same direction, with tanto behind toshu,with tanto essentially hugging toshu from behind, with tanto's right (stabbing arm) over toshu's right shoulder and down that side of toshu's chest and the free (non-stabbing) arm over toshu's left shoulder, with the shote of the left hand around the upper pectoral muscle area, just below the collar bone (as per usual). It is crucial that the hug be snug as it prevents toshu from continuing to spin and thereby stops him or her from executing the tenkai kote hineri. Tanto then does ushiro ate to throw toshu onto his back.
7) Tenkai Kote Gaeshi (Shiho Nage) into a Gyakugamae Ate done with the stabbing arm. Suppose that tanto stabs with his right hand. Toshu will move to the inside of that arm, grab it with both hands and try to swing it past tanto's center. As toshu tries to swing the right arm past tanto's center, tanto counters by doing gyakugamae ate with his stabbing arm. This should catch toshu in mid stride, as toshu must step forward with his left leg in order to prepare to turn around (the turning being necessary to complete the tenkai kote gaeshi that he is attempting.) When comparing this counter with the next, this one is executed a moment later than the next one, as this one assumes that uke has done more of the arm swing and has started to step forward with his left leg in preparation for turning around.
8) Tenkai Kote Gaeshi (Shiho Nage) into a Gyakugamae Ate done with the non-stabbing arm. Suppose that tanto stabs with his right hand. Toshu will move to the inside of that arm, grab it with both hands and try to swing it past tanto's center. As toshu does this, he moves into a right foot forward stance. As toshu tries to swing the right arm past tanto's center, tanto first prevents uke from being able to swing the right arm far enough by dropping his weight and pulling in his own stabbing arm elbow into his side (waki o shimete.) This should be done abruptly so as to bring everything to a (very short) momentary stillness. But since this stops toshu from completing the swing, toshu should still be in a right foot forward stance, so that the correct gyakugamate ate to do would be the one involving tanto's left arm.
9) Mae Otoshi into Gedan Ate. Suppose that tanto stabs with his right hand. Toshu will move to the inside of that arm, grab it with both hands and try to swing it past tanto's center. As toshu tries to swing the right arm past tanto's center, tanto counters by dropping down and doing gedan ate with his stabbing arm. This should catch toshu in mid stride as toshu must step forward with his left leg in order to prepare to execute mae otoshi. As tanto drops down to do the gedan ate, his stabbing forearm should spin so that his own thumb goes from facing away from him to facing towards his own belly button. Doing this sharply will tend to break toshu's grip.
10) Sumi Otoshi into Shomen Ate. Imagine that tanto stabs with his right arm. Toshu avoids to the outside (to the right from tanto's perspective) and beings to attempt sumi otoshi by grabbing the stabbing arm and begining to lunge forward while holding it. Tanto counters by turning 90 degrees to his own right so as to face toshu while simultaneously switching his stance so that while turning tanto goes from right foot forward (which is how tanto stabbed) to left foot forward. At the same time, tanto's free left hand comes up his center to uke's neck/chin so as to be in position for a left foot forward shomen ate.
As such, they must conform to the two basic rules regarding counter techniques during tournament matches:
1) The tanto (dagger wielding) player can only counter with the five atemi waza techniques.
2) The tanto player can only counter when the toshu (unarmed) player is grabbing one of tanto`s arms with both of his (toshu`s) own hands.
The 10 Tanto Ura Waza are described below. For each entry, I first give the name of the technique that toshu is attempting to execute against tanto. Then I give the name of the technique that tanto uses as a counter. In all cases, toshu grabs tanto`s knife holding arm with both of his own hands before being countered as described.
1) Oshi Taoshi countered by Ushiro Ate. Tanto uses his tanto holding arm to execute the throw. Tanto runs backwards circling around toshu. This is done one handed. Tanto uses his knive holding hand to make a one-armed ushiro ate, with the stabbing arm being draped over toshu's shoulder and down his chest. If tanto is stabbing right handed, then he ends up behind and to the left of toshu, with tanto's right armpit resting over toshu's left shoulder, and the rest of tanto's right arm running vertically down the left hand side of toshu's chest.
2) Hiki Taoshi countered by Shomen Ate. Tanto uses his tanto holding arm to execute the throw. It is shomen ate against the chest since you cannot legally shove the tanto towards toshu`s face in a match. Tanto first drops his weight and stiffens his stabbing arm to squelch the momentum of toshu's attempt at hiki taoshi. They get to a moment of a tug of war and then tanto shoots forward to execute the shomen ate. This is very much like the 8th kyu shomen ate done against an aigamae katate dori grab.
3) Waki Gatame countered by Gyakugamae Ate. Tanto stiffens up, drops his weight, and keeps his elbow in (waki o shimeru) to stop the waki gatame before hitting toshu with an off-hand gyakugamae ate. That is, if tanto stabs with the right hand and toshu grabs that arm and tries to do waki gatame against that arm, tanto does gyakugamae ate with his left arm.
4) Kote Gaeshi into Ushiro Ate. Here, just after toshu has broken tanto`s balance forward along tanto`s weak line and just as toshu is begining to bend tanto`s elbow back to execute the kote gaeshi, tanto swings his knife holding arm down vertically past his hip, pulling toshu past his center, and twisting him around into position to do ushiro ate. This is the same as a technique seen in one of the Oyo Waza (application techniques) done from an Aigamae Katate Dori Jodan no Kuzushi.
5) Kote Gaeshi into Gedan Ate. Here, just after toshu has broken tanto`s balance forward along tanto`s weak line and just as toshu is begining to bend tanto`s elbow back to execute the kote gaeshi, tanto drops down and does gedan ate with his free (opposite) arm. That is, if tanto is stabbing right handed, he ends up doing gedan ate with his left side forward, attacking toshu's right leg (toshu should be in a right foot forward posture at this moment after having broken tanto's balance forward onto tanto's weak line.)
6) Tenkai Kote Hineri into Ushiro Ate. Suppose that tanto stabs with his right hand. Toshu grabs that arm from the inside and tries to spin under that arm to execute the tenkai kote hineri technique. As toshu steps forward to move under tanto's armpit, tanto slides forward and traps toshu against his chest. They are now both facing the same direction, with tanto behind toshu,with tanto essentially hugging toshu from behind, with tanto's right (stabbing arm) over toshu's right shoulder and down that side of toshu's chest and the free (non-stabbing) arm over toshu's left shoulder, with the shote of the left hand around the upper pectoral muscle area, just below the collar bone (as per usual). It is crucial that the hug be snug as it prevents toshu from continuing to spin and thereby stops him or her from executing the tenkai kote hineri. Tanto then does ushiro ate to throw toshu onto his back.
7) Tenkai Kote Gaeshi (Shiho Nage) into a Gyakugamae Ate done with the stabbing arm. Suppose that tanto stabs with his right hand. Toshu will move to the inside of that arm, grab it with both hands and try to swing it past tanto's center. As toshu tries to swing the right arm past tanto's center, tanto counters by doing gyakugamae ate with his stabbing arm. This should catch toshu in mid stride, as toshu must step forward with his left leg in order to prepare to turn around (the turning being necessary to complete the tenkai kote gaeshi that he is attempting.) When comparing this counter with the next, this one is executed a moment later than the next one, as this one assumes that uke has done more of the arm swing and has started to step forward with his left leg in preparation for turning around.
8) Tenkai Kote Gaeshi (Shiho Nage) into a Gyakugamae Ate done with the non-stabbing arm. Suppose that tanto stabs with his right hand. Toshu will move to the inside of that arm, grab it with both hands and try to swing it past tanto's center. As toshu does this, he moves into a right foot forward stance. As toshu tries to swing the right arm past tanto's center, tanto first prevents uke from being able to swing the right arm far enough by dropping his weight and pulling in his own stabbing arm elbow into his side (waki o shimete.) This should be done abruptly so as to bring everything to a (very short) momentary stillness. But since this stops toshu from completing the swing, toshu should still be in a right foot forward stance, so that the correct gyakugamate ate to do would be the one involving tanto's left arm.
9) Mae Otoshi into Gedan Ate. Suppose that tanto stabs with his right hand. Toshu will move to the inside of that arm, grab it with both hands and try to swing it past tanto's center. As toshu tries to swing the right arm past tanto's center, tanto counters by dropping down and doing gedan ate with his stabbing arm. This should catch toshu in mid stride as toshu must step forward with his left leg in order to prepare to execute mae otoshi. As tanto drops down to do the gedan ate, his stabbing forearm should spin so that his own thumb goes from facing away from him to facing towards his own belly button. Doing this sharply will tend to break toshu's grip.
10) Sumi Otoshi into Shomen Ate. Imagine that tanto stabs with his right arm. Toshu avoids to the outside (to the right from tanto's perspective) and beings to attempt sumi otoshi by grabbing the stabbing arm and begining to lunge forward while holding it. Tanto counters by turning 90 degrees to his own right so as to face toshu while simultaneously switching his stance so that while turning tanto goes from right foot forward (which is how tanto stabbed) to left foot forward. At the same time, tanto's free left hand comes up his center to uke's neck/chin so as to be in position for a left foot forward shomen ate.
