KUZUSHI
Judo is kuzushi. Kuzushi is judo.
No kuzushi, no judo.
This puts me in mind of the stories we’ve heard about the computer repair person getting called out to a home because the buyer of a new computer can’t get it to work. The repair person sees the problem immediately, plugs it in and it works.
In 1962, at the first National Collegiate Championships, now legend Kazuo Shinohara faced off against the top three medalists in each of the six weight categories for a demonstration. I was among that fortunate group.
My go-to, money throw was a seoi otoshi of the morote top/tai bottom variety that I entered into with a left foot step across, then reversed to a guruma-like corkscrewing right leg into the lower body tai classic position. Dynamo that it was, its inner secret was the pre-kuzushi step that set it up. After several steps, I gave it a try against Shinohara. I knew my speed was good, my movement certain, and my final position was going to be perfect. As I came twisting in, I wordlessly thought, “I’ve got it! I’m going to throw the great Shinohara!”
If you take a baseball bat and hit a telephone pole as hard as you can, the result will be a punishing vibration back to you that will sting your hands, charge up your arm and rock your brain. That is what it felt like when I made slammed into Shinohara. Here’s the good part; as I jolted off him, he said, “Nice try”. It wasn’t sarcastic, and I’ve treasured that ever since.
Moments later, he foot swept me so fast I didn’t have time to slap for ukemi! He went through the remaining players just as easily, frequently using his famous tsurikomi goshi. He vanquished eighteen national level players in about as many minutes.
Why didn’t my throw work? Shinohara sensed the set-up for the kuzushi, destroying it even before I started in. Otherwise… Ah, but that’s just in my judo fantasies.
Here is what I now think kuzushi is, and what you might be able to do to improve yours.
The initiation of kuzushi lasts less than a second.
That millisecond action is downward. (Unless uke has provided the kuzushi by taking a sliding step, a step that is accelerated beyond its normal placement, or other directional opportunities, by and large, this is the case.)
Kuzushi must blend with tsukuri (think Shinohara).
The direction of the primary and split second kuzushi must be downward to an angle corresponding to the correct direction of the throw.
All the major impetus of the throw must go into that “kuzushi zone”.
Even good kuzushi often fails because tori lets or sometimes knocks uke back to the original position, destroying it.
It is really important to know to which direction the throw is supposed to go.
Below are front and side kuzushi. It’s hard to see, but my left hand, ball of the thumb, is pressing downward and in the desired direction. In the third picture, my left hand seems to be doing kuzushi, but its kuzushi work is now blended into the tsukuri. The millisecond of primary off-balancing happened way back in time.
It is important to give kuzushi its own major moment. It isn’t a jerking of uke into a direction. It is a small beginning movement that puts uke in a position where uke almost has to take a step in the applied direction, or fall like a tree.
Imagine you are walking a dog, on a leash, even a fairly small one, and the dog suddenly wants to run off path and sniff a tree. Your walking, your balance, will be upset in that direction. It isn’t because the dog is strong, not because the dog was quick, nor because you were daydreaming. It is because of the angle of the leash.
You won’t need a doggy to test this. Stand up and grab your own shirt mid-sternum and gently pull straight forward. Nothing will happen. Now, pull downward to a spot about three to four feet in front of yourself. You will feel yourself begin to tip forward. As you do, give gentle, continued pull upward. You will have to either take a giant step forward or stop pulling.
Here is the almost mystical Kyuzo Mifune’s idea of the blend of kuzushi to tsukuri doing ashi guruma. Does it look exaggerated? It isn’t. This is actual application. Notice that his left hand is not pulling extremely upward.
What you must care about is that you give kuzushi its due importance. No kuzushi, no judo. I don’t care if you can perform fifty different throws. If you don’t apply distinct and functional kuzushi to them in practice and performance; although you can perform them, they aren’t really judo throws.
If you can slide a dollar bill under the part of uke’s foot or feet, where the kuzushi has liberated it from the tatami, you have kuzushi, and the start of a true judo throw.
The main message is that perhaps too many throws are tried, some successfully, without kuzushi. They most often work if done against beginners, or by somebody who is physically strong relative to weights involved.
Think, first and foremost, about out how you apply kuzushi to every throw you do.
Be very mindful of it in uchikomi.
Use randori to learn pre-kuzushi set-ups. (This is sometimes just about a “feeling” you will pick up on.)
The better the kuzushi, the less force needed in the path through tsukuri and kake. That’s maximum efficiency via optimum use of your energy.
The next trick is to figure out when to apply the kuzushi and how to set that up. That is for another blog. Meanwhile, enjoy applying these applications to your kuzushi and making your judo work.
---- These throws are from my book, Judo Basics.