Happo no kuzushi

Thank you a lot.

Google gives me interesting document:
Nanatsunokata,
Endōnokata,
and Jōgenokata
―A pedagogical and
qualitative biomechanical evaluation of Hirano Tokio’s kuzushi
(unbalancing) concept as part of skill acquisition for throwing
techniques in Kōdōkan jūdō
http://revpubli.unileon.es/ojs/index.php/artesmarciales/article/download/1162/1057

I love the first half; the second is completely lost on me. Can't imagine who the imagined audience was.

One of the references is Hirano sensei's rare bio - the modestly subtitled 'The Man Who Defeated 4000 Giants' !

NBK wrote:I love the first half; the second is completely lost on me.  Can't imagine who the imagined audience was.  

The picture (Figure 5) on page 76 is really great. Interesting to see a younger Kano than usual. Great stance, and great calves, too !

Richard Riehle wrote:

tafftaz wrote:

Ryvai wrote:

NBK wrote:Maybe it's just me but I'd have thought a 9 dan would at least try to introduce the correct terms.  Tsurite, hikite, and happó no kuzushi.    Ooki or not.

Here's a verbal introduction:  
http://judoinfo.com/grips.htm

Balance lines?  In balance and out of balance don't work?  

NBK

Not to mention the classical uke vs. uki pronunciation

Did you think that it could be his accent?? Or just criticizing for the sake of it?
I use the terms but not all the time. Depends on who it is I am showing technique too.
As long as the main principles are shown and are put across in a legible manner then what is the problem?
Let me know when you guys get to 9th dan and achiever what Adams sensei has achieved then come back and critique him.

Kuzushi, when one studies it in-depth, seems to be far more complex than the simple demonstration of happo-no-kuzushi often presented in textbooks.   Moreover, many of the video examples show it at its most elementary form of pushing or pulling in one of eight directions.  

Those in this forum who have been involved in Judo for so many years realize that how one sets-up the kuzushi is as important as how the final kuzushi used to execute any technique.  By setting-up the kuzushi, I am referring to the combination of actions that begin with the debana (moment of opportunity), or even the more sophisticated "sen" concepts (sen no sen, etc), that many high-dan holders I have met in Japan seem to prefer to the simple idea of debana.  

However, neither sen nor debana by themselves is rarely sufficient in an actual contest;  appropriate use of the hands is also essential.  In this case, I am not referring to grip-fighting. Rather, I find that for me, a person of modest athletic skills, must be a bit more clever than someone endowed with muscle-power and alacrity of movement.   Even when someone creates a vulnerability for themselves, I am not always able to avail myself of that opportunity and set-up the instantaneous  kuzushi with sufficient speed to carry out a direct attack.  Rather, I must execute several off-balancing actions by taking advantage of the first opportunity.  

Let's say I see an opportunity for o-uchi-gari, one of my favorite techniques.  In all probability, my opponent is also aware of his/her own vulnerability at that same instant.   Instead of exaggerating the vulnerability and attacking directly, I am more likely to use that moment to off-balance my opponent, force him to adjust his balance, and then use that moment of adjustment (which I usually have predicted in my own mind) to force an additional adjustment, keeping him in the process of readjusting until I see a level of instability (an off-balance position) that allows me to magnify that instability (the final kuzushi before tsukuri) and complete some waza, not necessarily the original o-uchi-gari.   It is a series of reversal and counter-reversal actions that evolve from an original destabilizing action.

Perhaps if I were younger, stronger, and faster, I would still be able to simply perform the kuzushi and complete the throw.   But as I get older, I need to work a little differently.  Once my opponent is off-balance a little, I work on his balance to destabilize him to the point where I have full control.

This kind of destabilizing process requires a lot of practice.   It also requires a lot of different ways to use the hands for pushing and pulling.  For example, I may notice uke moves in a particular way to the left where his foot always follows the same pattern of placement.  In that case, I may pull my right hand sharply down and forward with my elbow toward my waist just as his foot is about to make contact with the tatami.  If I do this well, he will be temporarily off-balance, not is a position for my intended nage-waza, but enough for him to try to regain balance.  I will help him regain balance, but do so in a way that he is once again off-balance by helping a little too much.  Once I have forced two or three readjustments, I may be able to continue the action with the appropriate tsukuri and move my elderly body into position for the final throw.  

Over time, I have learned that, for many people, when they are off-balance momentarily in one position, they will typically try to regain stability in a predictable way.   As we study this topic -- how someone tries to regain stability after being unstable -- we see patterns of behavior emerge.   Not everyone follows the same patterns, but enough do.

One thing I have learned is that we cannot understand those patterns simply by engaging in randori with nage-komi.   Therefore, I like a kind of randori I call kuzushi-randori.   No one throws anyone else.  The idea is to learn how to get someone off-balance and continually keep him off-balance.   In this process, we begin to notice the patterns.   It is also a really good kind of randori for people in their eighth decade -- people like me who are precariously close to their 80th birthday.  We can still do randori, but without the risk of snapping a piece of plaque loose within an artery due to a bad fall.  One tiny bit of loose plaque in the bloodstream can ruin one's day.

Perhaps if I were still a young man, I could still do the simple things:  break someone's balance with my muscle power, leap into position for good tsukuri, and execute the perfect harai-goshi -- all in the blink of an eye.   I seem to be able to recall being able to do that when I was much younger.  Now, now, and now, I must be a little more clever with how I manage my opponent's/partner's vulnerabilities and use a pattern of kuzushi actions to prepare him/her for the final kill.   It takes a little longer, but it often works.

Randori or shiai with a more-or-less equally skilled and athletic opponent requires what you describe as well.

I enjoyed reading your post very much, thanks for taking the time to describe the process.

Jihef wrote:

NBK wrote:I love the first half; the second is completely lost on me.  Can't imagine who the imagined audience was.  

The picture (Figure 5) on page 76 is really great. Interesting to see a younger Kano than usual. Great stance, and great calves, too !

Kano Shihan was very proud of those legs. He showed them off all the time. Would pull up his hakama and point out their muscularity.

if you look at a number of photos it's striking to me that often he sits (often slouches or leans, really) with legs akimbo. Not once or twice but over decades, consistently. At first his legs seem stout but he had serious problems later in life. Told one of his students his doctor told him he should be dead years before.

noboru wrote:Thank you a lot.

Google gives me interesting document:
Nanatsunokata,
Endōnokata,
and Jōgenokata
―A pedagogical and
qualitative biomechanical evaluation of Hirano Tokio’s kuzushi
(unbalancing) concept as part of skill acquisition for throwing
techniques in Kōdōkan jūdō
http://revpubli.unileon.es/ojs/index.php/artesmarciales/article/download/1162/1057

Nice work on the paper...

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, "noburo".

Kuzushi and Taisabaki (from 004-06.htm - 004-09.htm is explanation of Happo no kuzushi with pictures)
http://lern-english-japanese.6te.net/SelfDefense/Judo/Judo_by_JMEXT/001/HTML/004-05.htm
http://lern-english-japanese.6te.net/SelfDefense/Judo/Judo_by_JMEXT/001/HTML/004-06.htm
http://lern-english-japanese.6te.net/SelfDefense/Judo/Judo_by_JMEXT/001/HTML/004-07.htm
http://lern-english-japanese.6te.net/SelfDefense/Judo/Judo_by_JMEXT/001/HTML/004-08.htm
http://lern-english-japanese.6te.net/SelfDefense/Judo/Judo_by_JMEXT/001/HTML/004-09.htm

This is from a basic judo training curriculum provided by the Japanese Ministry of Education.
Thanks for posting.

Nice video from Tadahiro Nomura (3 time olympic champion - 1996,2000, 2004)
Notes from FCB  Embassy Judo Club 大使館柔道道場

Some things to note:
• tori pulls uke down, then up and forward as uke resists = hannô
kuzushi ('reaction kuzushi' = using uke's response to being moved to manipulate him)
• tori's heels never get too close to uke's toes, not to far, an appropriate ma'ai (interval)
• both hands work together in the same direction to induce kuzushi

https://www.facebook.com/christophe.serra.142/videos/10156872713326873/