Tomoe-nage

Author: Katsuhiko Kashiwazaki
Pub: 1992 by Ippon Books
Pages: 96
Ranking:

This is one of the 'Judo Masterclass Techniques' series of books. If you don't already own these books, start saving up right now... Ippon Books charges a pretty penny for these, I got lucky on a Christmas sale and picked up all 14 of them for $225. They are all at least as good as anything you'll be able to find anywhere else, and mostly superior. They are all written by acknowledged experts of the techniques being discussed. You simply cannot go wrong on any of the "Masterclass Techniques" books. I have my favorites among the 14 listed books, but they simply reflect my tokuiwaza, and no other reason.

           Contents

Foreword ..................... 6
Tomoe-nage: A Personal View .. 7
A History of Tomoe-nage ...... 9
Tomoe-nage .................. 15
Yoko-tomoe-nage ............. 23
Combinations ................ 39
Counters .................... 49
Defences against Tomoe-nage . 53
Yoko-tomoe-nage into Newaza . 57
Training for Tomoe-nage ..... 69
Self-defence ................ 75
Competition Tomoe-nage ...... 81
Afterword ................... 95
Index ....................... 96

FORWARD

Although tomoe-nage is listed in the Gokyo, no mention is made there of its modern development: yoko-tomoe-nage. While in books written relatively recently the term yoko-tomoe-nage is still not used, pictures in a book such as Best Judo clearly illustrate a side sacrifice attack. In fact it is only in the last twenty years that yoko-tomoe-nage has I appeared in the competitive arena-Takao Kawaguchi, the 1972 Lightweight Olympic Champion, was its first international exponent. But in that time yoko-tomoe-nage has completely overtaken the traditional technique: it has been estimated that in top competition some eighty per cent of tomoe-nage attacks are now, strictly speaking, yoko-tomoe-nage. It is a clear example of the healthy regenerative state of judo in the twentieth century that such a major innovation can occur, even if it took a long time to be recognised as a technique in its own right.

No one has been more closely associated with tomoe-nage in general and yoko-tomoe-nage in particular than Katsuhiko Kashiwazaki, 1981 Featherweight World Champion, and five times All-Japan weight category champion. Not only did he use the technique throughout his extensive competitive career but he developed a unique variation, which he called with characteristic poetry furiko-tomoe-nage (pendulum tomoe-nage), and which he used successfully against Nicolae of Romania for the world title.

Now a respected teacher at the International Budo University, Katsuura, Japan-most of the photographs for this book were taken in the main dojo there, Kashiwazaki looks at his favourite technique in the most comprehensive manner possible, considering not only a wide variety of attacks, but also take-downs and defences. His experience of teaching in the West as well as Japan makes him uniquely suited for his task, and the result is likely to be a classic of judo literature.

It can also be noted that one of the great heroines in classical Japanese literature was Tomoe Gozen. In the 12th century tale Heike Monogatari, which was based on history, Tomoe was the mistress of Yoshinaka Minamoto but so powerful that, it was said, she could face ten men and win. Kashiwazaki has named his own daughter Tomoe.

Nicolas Soames
Masterclass Series Editor