Obi Otoshi & Sukui Nage: Judo Throw For The Non Competition Minded

Obi Otoshi and Sukui Nage: For Demonstration Purposes Only

Who wants to do only competition throws. I guess if that's your only passion and all you live for then you do but for the rest of us, there is a whole world of Judo to explore, even if it can only ever be a demonstration throw. Obi Otoshi and Sukui Nage is one such throw.

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Sukui Nage and Obi Otoshi are effectively the same throws except that Obi Otoshi uses the belt to unbalance (Kuzushi) Uke. Thus they are defined as different throw because the method of initial Kuzshi is different.

I can't conceive that anyone would want to try Obi Otoshi in a competition. It was already a high-risk move because you are grabbing the belt (hence the Obi) and for as long as I can remember you were only ever allowed to do that for a very short period of time. Five seconds officially; though that depends entirely on how fast the referee can count. 

But you are not allowed to grab your opponents legs now either; at least not to initiate the throw and even after that it can depend a little on the interpretation of the rules that your particular competition organizers have. So as far as using this throw in the competition (Shiai) you'd be nuts to try it.

For that matter, it's difficult to see how this could be useful as a self-defence throw either. Most modern belts don't have the kind of give that Judo belts have and would be difficult to grab in a useful way. Still, it is not impossible so therefore it is not inconceivable that it may be of use on the street one day.

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Sukui Nage is Diffeerent

I think that for the above reasons Obi Otoshi will largely always be a demonstration type throw. But Sukui Nage on the other hand used to be a very useful throw on the mat. Some player struggled with it because of the failure to understand the one can and for the most part, should use your leg as a fulcrum. More than that it still is a very useful self-defence throw.

I will confess, however, that as a throw it's still a bit awkward but that only adds to the fun of practising it.

I have included 3 videos below. The top and the bottom one are there because the video is crisp and clear and therefore it is easy to see just how things should be done. The middle Mercury video is there because it gives a clear description of the Obi Otoshi if not so sharp a picture.

Enjoy
Sensai
Richard