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Submitted by Khadaji
Kuzushi is integral to Judo,
and is taught right from the very beginning, but as I’ll discuss here, there are different forms of Kuzushi, and different ways to apply it.
...
1. A simple push or pull with the hands will force many Judoka to a momentary loss of balance. This is the very first method that is taught (or perhaps more accurately, the first method that is perceived by the student), and it would be difficult indeed to find a Judoka who doesn’t know this simple way to perform kuzushi on uke. The major problem with this method is that people have been learning since they first began to walk just how to regain lost balance. It’s difficult indeed to counter decades of balance conservation with a few months or few years of learning how to pull uke off-balance.
2. A slightly more advanced method is to have uke help you with off-balancing him. As Mifune puts it, “In most cases, the opponent will oppose your energy when you begin to attack him, in order to maintain his stability.” So the trick is to force uke to begin a movement that you will help him with. For example, you really want to throw uke with a left-side Osotogari, so you pull to uke’s right front corner, as if you intend to try Tai Otoshi - as uke will resist by pulling back, you then ‘help’ him with your strength. This method is more powerful than the first method, as you are now inviting uke to help you off-balance him.
3. Next, you arrive at the point in which your arms do nothing more than maintain the distance between you (while being quite relaxed), and you off-balance your opponent with your body movement. This is an advanced form of off balancing your opponent, and particularly, when combined with random changes of tempo, can be extremely effective.
4. Finally, the epitome of off balancing is when you blend with uke’s movement, and add your force to his to extend his movement beyond where he’d intended to go. Rather than initiating any movement - you take what uke gives you, and work with it. This is the rarest form of off balancing - and the most difficult. It simply takes a great deal of experience and randori to achieve.
...
http://www.bestjudo.com/blog/19258/khadaji/kuzushi-beginning-and-advanced-concepts
.
Kuzushi is integral to Judo,
and is taught right from the very beginning, but as I’ll discuss here, there are different forms of Kuzushi, and different ways to apply it.
...
1. A simple push or pull with the hands will force many Judoka to a momentary loss of balance. This is the very first method that is taught (or perhaps more accurately, the first method that is perceived by the student), and it would be difficult indeed to find a Judoka who doesn’t know this simple way to perform kuzushi on uke. The major problem with this method is that people have been learning since they first began to walk just how to regain lost balance. It’s difficult indeed to counter decades of balance conservation with a few months or few years of learning how to pull uke off-balance.
2. A slightly more advanced method is to have uke help you with off-balancing him. As Mifune puts it, “In most cases, the opponent will oppose your energy when you begin to attack him, in order to maintain his stability.” So the trick is to force uke to begin a movement that you will help him with. For example, you really want to throw uke with a left-side Osotogari, so you pull to uke’s right front corner, as if you intend to try Tai Otoshi - as uke will resist by pulling back, you then ‘help’ him with your strength. This method is more powerful than the first method, as you are now inviting uke to help you off-balance him.
3. Next, you arrive at the point in which your arms do nothing more than maintain the distance between you (while being quite relaxed), and you off-balance your opponent with your body movement. This is an advanced form of off balancing your opponent, and particularly, when combined with random changes of tempo, can be extremely effective.
4. Finally, the epitome of off balancing is when you blend with uke’s movement, and add your force to his to extend his movement beyond where he’d intended to go. Rather than initiating any movement - you take what uke gives you, and work with it. This is the rarest form of off balancing - and the most difficult. It simply takes a great deal of experience and randori to achieve.
...
http://www.bestjudo.com/blog/19258/khadaji/kuzushi-beginning-and-advanced-concepts
.
