Kani basami

OK so as best I can determine the kanji for this waza is 蟹挟.

A bit baffling when you break it down. We always learned this was the "scissors throw" but the first kanji gives crab (as in sea creature) and the second something like clip or clamp?

What is the actual etymology behind this name? Does it refers to the crab's pincers? A special pair of scissors used to cut up crab?

Some insight would be appreciated.

(Now I'm hungry for steamed crab in garlic butter... shouldn't do this when supper is overdue...)

I cannot comment on the kanji, but have always understood the waza to translate as "lobster claw".

http://www.rikai.com/perl/Home.pl

In an Italian judo book it is translated as: "lobster pinch".

OKAY, I'm pretty confident that it's crab and not lobster.
I do appreciate the input but dealing with non-Japanese speakers and machine translation is what's landed me in this muddle in the first place.

Is it referring to the crab's claw? Is it a pinching action the crab makes?
I'm still confused here.

’Kani basami' means 'crab pinch', pure and simple.

So is this a koryu technique?
Seems an odd choice for a name when something like "leg scissors" or "double leg reap" might have been more descriptive.

In almost every case where there is some sort of metaphor involved in judo waza names, it has led to some difficulty in coming up with an apt translation. (Requires cultural as well as literal translation.)

How common is crab as a dish in Japan? Are the pinching claws of live crab an everyday occurrence in Japanese kitchens?

Am I right then in assuming that the waza name refers to the way a crabs claw closing resembles the scissoring action of tori's legs?

Why am I having so much trouble describing one metaphor without turning to another?

Y-Chromosome wrote:....Why am I having so much trouble describing one metaphor without turning to another?

I expect one could blame whatever you're imbibing.

Hey, A low blow, Dirty pool, or is it not cricket, not kosher?

Lobsters are far more common in Japan ... skip to 0:33

And yes, Mr. Natural ... two pints of Stella at lunch to celebrate making weight for tomorrow's event ... celebratory champagne followed by a really nice Napa cabernet.

Kani is a crab. Basami can either mean scissors or a pinching/sandwiching motion, depending on the kanji involved (they are similar but not exact), this kanji describes the pinching/sandwiching motion. I've always heard it called flying scissors, which baffled me because crabs don't fly and none of the characters hint at that... but now I find out that the other character isn't for scissors! Hey, at least it's a homonym!

(NOTE: I wouldn't know either character if they came up and bit me, but my partner here is a native speaker)

davidn wrote:Kani is a crab.  Basami can either mean scissors or a pinching/sandwiching motion, depending on the kanji involved (they are similar but not exact), this kanji describes the pinching/sandwiching motion.  I've always heard it called flying scissors, which baffled me because crabs don't fly and none of the characters hint at that...  but now I find out that the other character isn't for scissors!  Hey, at least it's a homonym!
(NOTE: I wouldn't know either character if they came up and bit me, but my partner here is a native speaker)

Thanks, and thanks to your partner.
I am struggling to add to my miniscule amount of Japanese.  One thing I am finding out is that a lot of what Western Judoka think they know is not quite right.

Do try and avoid getting bitten by kanji.  I'm told it can be painful.  

Y-Chromosome wrote:

davidn wrote:Kani is a crab.  Basami can either mean scissors or a pinching/sandwiching motion, depending on the kanji involved (they are similar but not exact), this kanji describes the pinching/sandwiching motion.  I've always heard it called flying scissors, which baffled me because crabs don't fly and none of the characters hint at that...  but now I find out that the other character isn't for scissors!  Hey, at least it's a homonym!
(NOTE: I wouldn't know either character if they came up and bit me, but my partner here is a native speaker)

Thanks, and thanks to your partner.
I am struggling to add to my miniscule amount of Japanese.  One thing I am finding out is that a lot of what Western Judoka think they know is not quite right.

Do try and avoid getting bitten by kanji.  I'm told it can be painful.  

It's not only Western judoka, but also Japanese that get things wrong.

And a good portion of judo history has been swept under the rug. Including three kata that were disappeared.

What were those kata again?
'Crab sandwich' as in sandwiched... ah well.

Happy landings

Emanuele2 wrote:In an Italian judo book it is translated as: "lobster pinch".

Which evokes the first european Best-Seller of judo manuals, Kawaishi Mikinosuke's “Ma méthode de judo”, first printed in 1952.

Page 111, it is named : 9è sutemi / KAMI BASAMI (sic) / Les pinces de langouste