Your Favorite Throw?

So for those of us who train throwing arts, what is your favorite throw, and why?

In randori I find myself always relying on harai goshi when it’s time to put someone on the mat. If the other player is a lot bigger than me, my fallback is a sasae tsuri-komi ashi into tomoe nage.

I feel like the harai goshi always leaves me in a much better position for grappling, but the tomoe nage does leave the other person with a “what just happened??” moment.

Which throws do you guys find yourself falling back to?

For reference:

Harai goshi

Tomoe Nage

Favorite? O Goshi. If you pull it off, on the mat or anywhere else, the fight is probably over.

Most used? Osoto Gari. Gotta love the basics.

[quote]devildog_jim wrote:
Favorite? O Goshi. If you pull it off, on the mat or anywhere else, the fight is probably over.

Most used? Osoto Gari. Gotta love the basics.[/quote]

I have never actually hit O Goshi in randori, nor do I think I’ve ever been hit with it. If I ever get the hip turn with contact, I immediately start reaping out of habit. It’s easy to get the hand on the back, especially against an opposite stance player, but they usually see the the O Goshi coming from a mile away.

Against someone who doesn’t know, that O Goshi does hit quick though.

Yeah, that shit is going to be nice on a concrete parking lot >:D

Koshi Guruma. I typically go down with my opponent when I throw, and with a koshi guruma I always land in a dominant controlling position. I’ve got my opponents head controlled and all my weight comes down on their chest. I’ve knocked the wind out of more than one person hitting this one.

I also like to fake it once or twice to see what my opponent does. If they move to hip block it, I like to hit a chair throw or a hip bump. A good hip bump and a bit of elevation looks pretty sweet and can be pretty unexpected.

ippoms and otoso no gari.

Suplex.

Art in movement.

When I use to compete, my favourite ones were uchimata, ushiro goshi and morote gari.

I remember, at 15, obsessively practising ushiro goshi and morote gari for hours in randoris. My grappling and stand up were excellent but not as stellar as my ultimate nemesis’; a girl I always, and sadly, inevitably met in the semi final stage of tournaments.

I can count the number of fights and medals I won but not those I’ve lost to her since age 10… she was a big fan of Kushi guruma and o goshi. Extremely quick and tactical. Bitch.

I’m still traumatised :slight_smile:

wipes tears

[quote]kaisermetal wrote:
Suplex.

Art in movement.[/quote]

is there really suplexes in judo???

Ura Nage is close to a suplex, and notice the question was favorite throw, not necessarily favorite judo throw.

Depends on context. For judo, harai and uchi mata. I used to love osoto but, for me at least, it’s harder to hit against a good opponent than uchi mata. BJJ- Sasae (allows for easy guard pass and very low risk of having your back taken). Street (god forbid), something high impact such as osoto gari.

[quote]devildog_jim wrote:
Favorite? O Goshi. If you pull it off, on the mat or anywhere else, the fight is probably over.

Most used? Osoto Gari. Gotta love the basics.[/quote]

You picked the two throws I have the hardest time hitting in judo competition hah. Are you training mostly judo or bjj?

[quote]devildog_jim wrote:
Ura Nage is close to a suplex, and notice the question was favorite throw, not necessarily favorite judo throw.[/quote]

got confused there hahaha cause my judo coach never lets me use a suplex.

[quote]chitown34 wrote:

[quote]devildog_jim wrote:
Favorite? O Goshi. If you pull it off, on the mat or anywhere else, the fight is probably over.

Most used? Osoto Gari. Gotta love the basics.[/quote]

You picked the two throws I have the hardest time hitting in judo competition hah. Are you training mostly judo or bjj?[/quote]

Neither, but I had a judo coach training me for MMA to stay on my feet, throw the bastard, or control the takedown if that failed. Was a better strategy for me than trying my (poor) BJJ in the ring. I never hit O Goshi against an unwilling opponent either, but osoto gari was pretty easy against someone who thought you were going to clinch.

In BJJ tournaments, I tend to open up with a tomoe Nage attempt. If I miss it I have normally got the guy in my open or closed guard and work from there.

In ‘the street’ I obviously wouldn’t go for that. MMA or nogi stnadup I tend to work to trip or hipthrow from the clinch.

[quote]chitown34 wrote:
Depends on context. For judo, harai and uchi mata. I used to love osoto but, for me at least, it’s harder to hit against a good opponent than uchi mata. BJJ- Sasae (allows for easy guard pass and very low risk of having your back taken). Street (god forbid), something high impact such as osoto gari.[/quote]

Sasae and even hiza guruma are great against people that don’t know to float over it instead of resist the movement. I think that’s why it hits on so many BJJ guys.

I think the main problem with Osoto is that the counterthrow for Osoto is simply more Osoto. At the beginning levels you can get away with less technique, but once you start progressing, Osoto can be a one way ticket to getting your ass countered hard. Beginning players usually think Osoto is about the leg, but with good players the name of the game is winning the hands battle.

[quote]devildog_jim wrote:
Ura Nage is close to a suplex, and notice the question was favorite throw, not necessarily favorite judo throw.[/quote]

We had a guy in our judo class who was a phenomenal wrestler but was getting frustrated in class because he wanted to do “judo” and not fall back on his old standby. As soon as we told him that kata guruma was just the Japanese name for the fireman’s carry, he got a huge smile and his face and started kicking our asses non-stop :slight_smile:

[quote]Cockney Blue wrote:
In BJJ tournaments, I tend to open up with a tomoe Nage attempt. If I miss it I have normally got the guy in my open or closed guard and work from there.

In ‘the street’ I obviously wouldn’t go for that. MMA or nogi stnadup I tend to work to trip or hipthrow from the clinch.[/quote]

I love it when we cross train with the BJJ guys and they try Tomoe. There is nothing as priceless as the look on their face when you use their own chest to do a round off over their legs. :smiley: They usually pay me back with nasty armbars…

[quote]borrek wrote:

[quote]Cockney Blue wrote:
In BJJ tournaments, I tend to open up with a tomoe Nage attempt. If I miss it I have normally got the guy in my open or closed guard and work from there.

In ‘the street’ I obviously wouldn’t go for that. MMA or nogi stnadup I tend to work to trip or hipthrow from the clinch.[/quote]

I love it when we cross train with the BJJ guys and they try Tomoe. There is nothing as priceless as the look on their face when you use their own chest to do a round off over their legs. :smiley: They usually pay me back with nasty armbars…[/quote]

When I use the Tomoe Nage I complete it by following them over to end mounted so I am not sure quite what you are saying by doing a round off over the legs. Typically anyone who is good just uses posture against my tomoe which sets up my open guard nicely

great thread

I dont hink I have a favorite throw- I always stuck to what I could score with

Ushi Mata
and Soto Makikomi

Osoto Gari
O Goshi

Greco - I loved the reverse body lock- and yes suplex

but again I stuck to headlocks and any kind of overhook I could score from