# The Role of Unbalancing in Judo – Kuzushi

Quelle
: [Judo Info](https://judoinfo.com/ "Judo Info")

Original Author
: [Wilfried Visser](mailto:wvisser@xs4all.nl)

## Preface

During my years of Judo-activity, I became increasingly conscious of 
the important of unbalancing ("*Kuzushi*" in Japanese). After I managed 
to understand the original principles of Judo in relation to *Kuzushi*, 
many throwing techniques rapidly became a lot more successful in both 
randori and shiai. It enabled me to analyze many randori-situations and 
thus improve my throwing techniques. 

In more recent years, I have become active in teaching Judo and have 
discovered that often a strong emphasis on *Kuzushi* can help solve a 
student's problems with learning throwing techniques. Simultaneously, I 
developed a vision on this aspect and found methods that proved quite 
successful for learning or teaching certain throws. This vision is not 
at all new. It is merely a specific approach to the basic principles of 
Judo, forcing the student to concentrate on the essential aspects for 
learning a throw. I think many Judo instructors will recognize this 
vision. However, I thought it useful to explain this vision in the 
paper I had to write to conclude the Dutch "Judo instructor B" course 
in 1994. After many requests for an English version, I started to 
translate the paper in 1996, resulting in these pages. 

I assume the reader is familiar with customary Judo terminology and 
with teaching Judo. In the last section, some terms are explained in a 
glossary. Some explanations require some sense of spatial imagination 
regarding throwing techniques.

Note that although the Judoka in general is referred to as "he" or 
"him", both male and female Judoka's are addressed with these words. 


## Introduction

Judo is a sport that is performed all over the world. An important 
aspect with Judo is that executing a typical Judo technique is 
difficult to learn. Many years of practice are usually required before 
a Judoka is able to successfully apply a few different throws in 
competition. Since students enjoy practicing Judo more when discovering 
the ability to execute certain techniques successfully, speeding up the 
learning process as much as possible is important. 
 
Especially with throwing techniques, the aspect of *Kuzushi* is of 
major importance. Besides *Kuzushi*, also the elements timing, speed 
and direction are essential for a successful throw. Therefore, many 
students experience Tachi-waza as more difficult than Ne-waza. In 
Ne-waza, one can temporarily forget about timing and speed during 
practice, thereby facilitating the understanding of the principles of 
a technique.

About a century ago, the founder of Judo Jigoro Kano already pointed 
out the importance of *Kuzushi*. Without *Kuzushi*, many throwing 
techniques are impossible and with insufficient *Kuzushi*, performing 
a throw, if at all possible, will cost much unnecessary effort. 

In the Judo world, the importance of *Kuzushi* is certainly 
acknowledged. Teaching throwing techniques usually involves showing how 
to unbalance *Uke* before performing the throw. However, while being a 
student in different Judo classes and observing and teaching Judo 
classes at several clubs, I discovered that problems with throwing 
techniques very were often caused by neglect of the unbalancing of 
*Uke*.


## Problems with unbalancing

In the average Judo class, several students often struggle with a 
throwing technique because of insufficient unbalancing of *Uke*. Even 
Dan-grade holders sometimes exhibit the inability to perform certain 
throws without *Uke*'s "jumping" help. Still, these Judoka's must have 
been told for years (or at least once) about the importance of 
*Kuzushi*. 

From this observation, it can be concluded than many Judo students 
could be able to perform many throws much better if they could better 
understand and apply the principles of *Kuzushi*. 
 
Two questions emerge: 
 
1. Why is it that so many Judoka still neglect unbalancing so severely? 
(Causes) 
2. How can this problem be solved? (Solutions).

Of course, for solving problems first the causes need to be identified. 
In the following sections, an attempt is made to answer these two 
questions. 

Note that the problem typically lies with Judoka, neither being 
beginners nor Dan-grade holders. The usual profile of a Judoka with 
these problems is a 2nd or 3rd Kyu-grade holder. The problems occur 
with judoka of all ages. For children younger than about eight years 
however, to whom the *Kuzushi* principles can only be addressed to a 
limited extent, the problem is not relevant yet. 


## Causes of insufficient unbalancing

Evidently, for poor *Kuzushi* many causes can be identified. However, 
in this paper, the major broad outlines are analyzed and a 
classification is made of various categories of causes. Causes may lie 
with the instructor, the instruction method, with *Uke* or with the 
Judo student himself. Also, the problem may be caused by years of 
erroneously rehearsing a throwing (and thus unbalancing) technique or 
the problem may arise during a particular lesson with learning to 
perform or improve a particular throw.


### Causes with *Tori* 
 
Naturally, this cause is the most frequent one. The problem lies with 
*Tori* trying to perform the throw. In spite of a correct instruction 
by the instructor and correct (re)action of *Uke*, *Tori* does not 
succeed in correctly throwing because of insufficient *Kuzushi*. In 
this case, solving the problem requires most effort. The Judoka may 
continue trying himself with now and then a hint from an instructor, 
but usually only dedicated individual instruction really helps. 

Often, the Judoka is not really aware of the problem himself. He does 
not understand the exact nature and cause of the problem and does not 
see the relation with *Kuzushi*. Therefore, much depends on the 
ability of the instructor to make the student aware of the critical 
importance of *Kuzushi*. With better understanding of the problem, the 
Judoka will be more able to improve it.


### Causes with *Uke*

The role of *Uke* is very important. An *Uke*, not willing to fall or 
not willing to move in the right direction can easily make a throw 
impossible. Solutions to this problem lie in more attention to *Uke*'s 
action necessary for the throw and specific instruction to *Uke*.


### Causes with the instructor

Naturally, an incompetent instructor leads to poor class results. In 
the long term, this may frustrate Judo students for they are generally 
not able yet to identify and correct the errors they make (i.e. 
erroneous or no *Kuzushi*). Many techniques will not succeed in spite 
of frequent practicing.


### Causes with the instruction method

The problem may also have its origin in the generally accepted Judo 
instruction methodology. For instance, it might be possible that this 
methodology lacks sufficient emphasis on unbalancing in the 
instructions for learning and improving throwing techniques.

## Solutions


### Fault analysis

It can be stated that when practicing a throwing technique, the direct 
cause of problems with performing the throw lies in faults of either 
*Tori* or *Uke* or both. In order to identify and solve the problem, 
the execution of the throw must be analyzed. The identification of 
particular faults requires *fault analysis*. In ref.1 (Part 1, 
section 2.1.2) fault analysis is discussed thoroughly. Fault analysis 
can best be applied with individual instruction. A Judo instructor, 
well skilled in fault analysis can easily improve the execution of many 
throwing techniques. Of course, the instructor then needs to be 
skillfully familiar with the technique. Often, the execution of the 
throw must be repeatedly observed and sometimes the instructor needs to 
act as *Uke* in order to literally "feel" what is going on. If *Uke* 
acts wrongly, the instructor can discover this by performing the throw 
with *Uke*.

Advanced students may learn (with some help from the instructor) to 
analyze faults themselves and thereby obtain the ability to rapidly 
develop there own technique.

Noting that also the identification of insufficient *Kuzushi* requires 
fault analysis is important. 


### Individual instruction

If the problem is clearly caused by the student himself, individual 
instruction is the way to go. This often leads to a surprisingly rapid 
improvement. After involving the student in an analysis of the faults, 
an example can be presented showing how to unbalance *Uke* correctly. 
At the same time, how and why *Kuzushi* must be applied can be 
explained. This also makes it easier for the Judoka not to forget to 
pay attention to *Kuzushi*.

Usually it is very beneficial to exaggerate *Kuzushi* during 
demonstration and to advise the students to maintain doing so during 
*Uchi-komi* practice of the throw. This creates an automatic powerful 
and effective *Kuzushi* for competition and *randori*.

### Instruction to *Uke*

When instructing a throwing technique to a whole class, a first step is 
to pay attention to the action of *Uke*. This may be done using a 
typical situation from competition as an example. From the presumed 
action of *Uke*, creating a condition favorable for the particular 
throw, a logical conclusion can be presented leading to the decision to 
use the throw. For many throws, *Uke*'s action or posture must meet 
several conditions, before the throw can be successful. For example, 
*Uke* can be instructed to move in a particular manner. When *Uke*'s 
action is neglected by the instructor, a lot of frustration can be 
experienced among the students since they often do not understand when 
failure of a throw is caused by *Uke* and when caused by themselves.

![*Uke*'s posture after forward unbalancing; right and wrong.][kuzushiUkePosture]

By frequently involving *Uke* in the explanation of a throwing 
technique, students will soon learn the importance of *Uke*'s action. 
They will learn to think about when a throw may be successful and when 
it will likely not be, both for the case where they throw and the case 
where they are threatened to be thrown. During practice of the throw, 
*Uke* must allow *Tori* to unbalance him without much effort. This 
"giving in" to unbalancing can easily be demonstrated by the 
instructor. It may also be useful to demonstrate how *Uke* should *not* 
react when *Tori* tries the throw. When *Tori*, during practice of 
Ippon-seoi-nage for example, tries to unbalance *Uke* forwards, *Uke* 
should not bend his knees and lower his body (crouch), but he should 
let himself be pulled forwards while maintaining an upright posture. 
This is depicted in figure 1.


### The instructor 

The instructor may in many different ways fail to teach throwing 
techniques effectively. This paper however only intends to help solve 
the above-mentioned problems. In case of fundamental shortcomings with 
the instructor, only the customary instructor courses, such as those 
organized by Judo Associations, can help. This aspect is therefore 
considered beyond the scope of this paper.


### Adaptions to the instruction methodology

Customary instruction methods as presented by the instructor courses of 
the Judo Associations like the Dutch Judo Association (JBN) cannot 
easily be changed. Only after proved benefits, wide acceptation and 
thorough scrutiny and (international) negotiation, new methods should 
be included in the instructors course programs.

The approach presented in this paper is not aimed at adaption of 
existing instruction methodology. Only a shift of focus with certain 
instructions is proposed. Judo instructors have a lot of freedom in 
deciding what methods to apply and for some, the ideas presented here 
may prove useful.

In the subsequent sections some general directives and examples of how 
to apply a strong focus on *Kuzushi* are presented using a number of 
specific throws.


## Instructing Kuzushi

In this section several aspects related to *Kuzushi* are addressed. For 
each aspect, an instruction approach emphasizing *Kuzushi* is 
explained. Ippon-seoi-nage, a throw that requires strong forward 
*Kuzushi* will serve as example. Of course, besides unbalancing the 
student will often have to be pointed to other aspects as well 
(bending knees/lowering body, lifting using legs, contact of upper 
bodies etc.). These aspects however, are beyond the scope of this 
report and it is assumed the student does not make errors except with 
*Kuzushi*.

![*Uke*'s posture after correct unbalancing with Ippon-seoi-nage][kuzushiUkeIponSeoiNage]


### Timing

One of the most frequent errors with *Kuzushi* is related to the moment 
when the student begins with it. The throw often seems to fail due to 
the lack of *Kuzushi*. After deeper scrutiny however, it often appears 
that the student very well knows that he must unbalance *Uke*, but he 
only starts with it after having entered for the throw. After *Tori* 
has entered for the throw, in many cases (Ippon-seoi-nage is a very 
good example) he cannot apply a powerful *Kuzushi* anymore, simply 
because he is in a very unfavorable position and posture for it. 
Therefore, he needs to start unbalancing *Uke* before entry towards the 
throwing position, resulting in a situation like in figure 2, where 
*Uke* more or less lies on *Tori*'s back. This means that the student 
learning to improve the throw should be instructed to start unbalancing 
before everything else (when still facing *Uke* in the neutral Judo 
posture). *Uke* should easily allow this (see the next section) and 
then *Tori* can continue to execute the throw. During practice this 
rule should be exaggerated for many throwing techniques to make sure 
that later during *Shiai* or *Randori* the Judoka does not try the 
throw without a reasonable chance of success (or with the chance of 
being counter-thrown). In practice, it often turns out that Judoka 
having this *Kuzushi* problem, after patient instruction experience 
this solution as a revelation, discovering that at last they have 
become able to execute a particular throw without an extreme lot of 
effort, even during *Randori* or *Shiai*.


### Instructions for *Uke*

When practicing a new throwing technique, the student will often want 
to execute the throw in slow motion. He will want to slowly unbalance 
*Uke* and keep *Uke* in his unbalanced posture. Due to the slow motion, 
*Uke* will have to put effort in trying not to fall or change posture. 
*Uke* should as much as possible maintain the posture that would have 
been resulted from a quickly executed throw (like in figure 2). Only 
then *Tori* can take his time to practice the throw with the 
appropriate *Kuzushi*. However, this is not an easy task for *Uke*. It 
is therefore also the duty of the instructor to teach the students how 
to optimally act as *Uke*. In any case, he can show how *Uke* should 
allow being unbalanced and keep pointing at the importance of being a 
good "*Uke for practice*". A problem may well emerge here though if 
*Uke* has a fear of falling.

Taking Ippon-Seoi-Nage as an example again, *Uke* must yield when being 
pulled forwards and keep an upright posture (not crouch or turn away). 
The latter is a natural defensive reaction that *Uke* must suppress 
during practice.

A much used indication with this throw is that *Uke* should be pulled 
forwards to the point where he comes to stand on his toes. This aspect 
will be addressed again in section 6 with the examples.


### Maintaining *Kuzushi*

Another problem that occurs with slow motion execution of a throw is 
maintaining *Uke*'s unbalanced posture. After first having unbalanced 
*Uke*, *Tori* will start entering for the throw. With many throws he 
must step and pivot or turn towards *Uke*. During these actions it is 
difficult to maintain the force necessary for the *Kuzushi* of *Uke*, 
especially when the student is still in the process of learning the 
throwing technique. When learning a technique, *Tori* must pay 
attention to many different things (like how to step when entering) 
anyhow and also the slow motion execution may well make things 
difficult. The result from this all is often that *Tori,* during 
entering for the throw, loosens his unbalancing grip on *Uke*, thereby 
undoing the effect of all the previous *Kuzushi*. Naturally, the 
problem may disappear with a more rapid execution of the throw, right 
after or nearly simultaneously with the *Kuzushi*. Persistently 
identifying (fault analysis) and pointing at the importance of this 
problem is very important. The instructor can easily demonstrate the 
capital difference between maintaining and not maintaining *Kuzushi*.


### Using *Tori's* momentum and gravity

Unbalancing *Uke* requires a force being applied on him. *Uke's* body 
is moved in a direction until his posture is unbalanced enough to 
enable easy execution of a particular throw. *Tori* may both push off 
with his legs and use his arms to generate the force. However, this way 
a lot of effort is required.

*Tori* can also generate force using the momentum of his own body. He 
then first needs to bring his body in motion in the direction of the 
desired *Kuzushi*. This builds up a momentum equal to the *moving mass 
times the velocity* of his body. Due to the inertia of *Tori*'s body, 
the momentum will only change when a force is applied on it. At the 
instance when the motion is hindered, for instance because of collision 
with *Uke* or because of *Tori*'s limited arm length, part of *Tori*'s 
momentum is transferred to *Uke*'s body, resulting in its motion and 
*Kuzushi*. This sudden transfer of momentum requires a large force 
during a short period. In the science of dynamics this is called an 
*impulse*. When unbalancing using this principle, little effort is 
needed. It is therefore very suitable for a light weight *Tori* against 
a heavy *Uke*. For example, it may well be applied with *Kuzushi* in a 
forward direction with ippon-seoi-nage.

The force of gravity, acting on the human body can also vary well be 
used in favor of *Tori*. With tomoe-nage for example, gravity helps 
*Tori* to unbalance *Uke* in a forward-downward direction.

In ref.2 and ref.3 the principles of mechanics and dynamics as applied 
on Judo are thoroughly explained. Depending on the type of students, it 
is very well possible to include these principles in the instruction of 
*Kuzushi* during a judo class. Without referring to complex theories of 
(bio-)mechanics and dynamics, the mechanical principles behind 
effective *Kuzushi* can be explained. This may very well help to 
improve Judo skills and understanding of many students.


### Using *Uke*'s imbalance and motion

Due to the very dynamic nature of Judo "in action", *Uke*'s body is 
often already in motion or in an unbalanced posture. It is evident that 
from the basic Judo principle of "*Ju*" (giving way) as one of the 
means to make maximum efficient use of one's physical energy 
("*Seiryoku zenyo*"), this opportunity must be used, whenever possible. 
*Tori* only needs to apply little force or impulse in the direction of 
*Uke*'s motion or imbalance. During entering for the throw, the motion 
of *Uke*'s body must at least be maintained as much as possible. 
*Tori* gets help here from the law of inertia again (see section 5.4).

During practice, *Uke* may be instructed to move in a certain direction 
or assume an imbalanced posture. The instructor can explain this 
presumption to the students and propose further specific actions by 
*Uke*.

No need to say that with these exercises throws are "executed in 
motion".


### Method of entry

The footwork when entering for a throw often affects the degree of 
*Kuzushi*. During the last decade, I noticed that besides the (for 
right-hand forward throws) customary "stepping towards *Uke*" (pivoting 
around the left foot, stepping right-left, figure 3), also the method 
of stepping away from *Uke* (figure 4) is being addressed again. This 
was especially observed with throws like Ippon-Seoi-Nage and 
Tsuri-Komi-Goshi.

![Stepping towards *Uke* ("right-left")][kuzushiTowardUke]

![Stepping away from *Uke* ("left-right")][kuzushiAwayFromUke]

During an international Judo summer school in Lindow/Mark, Germany 1994 
(ref.4), the Japanese instructor Nakanishi demonstrated how he applied 
his favorite and very successful throw Ippon-Seoi-Nage in competition. 
He always stepped away from *Uke* when entering, with large steps, 
pulling *Uke* with him in a forward direction. He often even stepped 
towards *Uke* first in order to be able to unbalance *Uke* by stepping 
away from him again. Noteworthy here is that Nakanishi's lessons for 
the major part consisted of instructions for *Kuzushi*.

Of course, stepping away from *Uke* in order to unbalance is nothing 
new, since it is clearly demonstrated in the *Nage-No-Kata* with 
*Tsuri-Komi-Goshi* and *Harai-Goshi*. However, it appears that many 
students, when applying this method of entry right from the beginning 
when learning a throw, better manage to unbalance *Uke* (in common 
practice however, most students learn to step towards *Uke* when 
entering for throws like seoi-nage). In a way, it is no surprise that 
it is easier to step away from *Uke* when unbalancing him, since *Tori* 
then already moves in the throwing direction during entry, 
automatically pulling *Uke* towards the right direction and thereby 
effectively unbalancing him.

It is by no means wrong to learn a throw stepping towards *Uke*. Both 
ways can be very effective. However, it was interesting to notice that 
many students, once having learned a throw like seoi-nage the former 
way (stepping towards *Uke*), have many problems learning to unbalance 
*Uke* while stepping away from him. They have to restrain the habit of 
stepping "right-left" and change it into "left foot first and then 
right".


### Uchi-komi

*Uchi-komi* is an important training method rehearsing the actions 
necessary for a throwing technique. Unfortunately, *Kuzushi* is often 
neglected during uchi-komi. This is due to the tendency of *Uchi-komi* 
to degrade to merely an exercise with the objective to enter as many 
times as possible in a certain period. This may be an effective 
training method to improve physical condition but if the technique of 
the throw is neglected, wrong actions are rehearsed which at a later 
stage are very difficult to unlearn again. The instructor should 
definitely prevent this. During *Uchi-komi*, *Kuzushi* must remain a 
full part of the total complex of actions that are repeatedly executed. 
If this element is ignored, the Judoka is actually exercising the habit 
to try throwing techniques during *Shiai* or *Randori* without 
*Kuzushi*.


## Examples

In this section, the approach presented in the previous sections is 
demonstrated with a number of examples. The ideas that I bring up here, 
have emerged during classes in the beginning of my time as instructor, 
when I discovered that many students experienced significant problems 
when trying to learn certain throws. First I tried to solve the problem 
using individual instruction and emphasizing *Kuzushi*. This worked, 
but only per individual student. Later, I derived training methods, 
emphasizing the importance of *Kuzushi* at an early stage, in order to 
be able to apply the approach to the entire class.

A number of throws have been selected to which the approach is 
applicable. These may form the basis for application to other (both 
forwards and backward) throws. Although interesting for further study, 
these other throws are not discussed here.


### O-goshi

This throw is often one of the first forward throws a beginning Judoka 
will learn. The focus then is usually on bending the knees and lifting 
*Uke* using the legs. Although very important, the *Kuzushi* aspect is 
less critical here since *Tori*'s hand on *Uke*'s back already 
automatically pulls *Uke* forwards in most cases. Nevertheless, 
*Kuzushi* should get attention right from the beginning anyway, because 
of its importance for many other throws. *O-goshi* offers a good 
opportunity to demonstrate how *Uke* should be pulled forwards before 
entry, in order to execute the throw with minimal effort. In general, 
the best way to enter for this throw is to step towards *Uke* 
(right-left) making it easy to put *Tori*'s hand on *Uke*'s back.


### Ippon-Seoi-Nage

The example throw from section 5, ippon-seoi-nage, is perfect for a 
demonstration of forward *Kuzushi*, both to beginners and advanced 
Judoka. The same holds for morote-seoi-nage (figure 5), a similar 
shoulder throw. Also, the effect of stepping away from *Uke* can be 
demonstrated perfectly with these throws.

![Seoi-Nage after powerful *Kuzushi*][kuzushiSeoiNage]

Important for a powerful *Kuzushi* is using ones right hand to pull 
*Uke* forwards, before it is thrust underneath *Uke*'s armpit (assuming 
a right-hand throw). This arm often remains unused for *Kuzushi* but 
the habit to use it could very well be trained with Uchi-Komi.

When entering with stepping towards *Uke* (right-left), *Tori* must 
avoid getting too close to *Uke*. *Tori* must always feel an 
inclination forwards rather than backwards, otherwise he can too easily 
be pulled backwards or counter-thrown by *Uke*. A student must remember 
always to pull *Uke* towards himself instead of pulling himself towards 
*Uke*.


### Tsuri-komi-goshi 
 
This throw requires about the same *Kuzushi* as ippon-seoi-nage. 
However, the entering will be more difficult for beginners since *Tori* 
has to bend his knees and lower his body severely without releasing the 
*Kuzushi*. As for entering, both stepping towards *Uke* and away from 
*Uke* (like in nage-no-kata) is possible.


### Tai-otoshi

Usually this throw is taught only to at least a little advanced 
students. More than with other throws, a number of conditions with 
respect to *Kuzushi*, position, posture and motion of *Uke*, have to be 
met. For a right-hand *Tai-otoshi*, *Uke* should be forced entirely to 
stand on his right leg in order to prevent his escape by simply 
stepping over *Tori*'s blocking leg (with his right leg, standing on 
his left). Without a thorough *Kuzushi* the execution of the throw is 
nearly impossible. After having entered for the throw, *Tori* is hardly 
able to pull *Uke* forwards anymore. Therefore, the *Kuzushi* must have 
been completed at a very early stage (i.e. before entering). When 
learning *Tai-otoshi*, it may be recommended to first pull *Uke* 
forwards and to his right in order to have him stand on his right leg. 
This form of *Kuzushi* can easily be demonstrated slowly. Subsequently, 
*Tori* must maintain this *Kuzushi* during entry for the throw. If this 
works, *Tori* can execute the throw without much effort by pushing with 
his right arm and still pulling with his left. Once the student feels 
how effortless *Tai-otoshi* can be executed this way, he has 
comprehended much of the essence of the throw.

Of course, during practice *Uke* must allow being pulled onto his right 
leg. This is easiest if *Uke* stands with his right leg forward.


### O-soto-gari

The subject addressed in this paper is mainly related to forward 
throwing techniques. However, a number of principles are also 
applicable to other types of throws. A good example is *O-soto-gari*, a 
technique to throw *Uke* backward. With this throw also, *Tori* must 
unbalance *Uke* at an early stage, otherwise he will get into a 
backward posture himself and be prone to counter-throws. The difference 
is that the *Kuzushi* with *O-soto-gari* happens *during* entry. *Tori* 
steps (with one big step) with his left foot outside *Uke's* right foot 
and while doing this he pushes *Uke* backwards-sidewards onto his right 
leg.

For the rest, the same principles as for forward throws can be applied: 
also with *O-soto-gari* an already backwards unbalanced posture or 
motion of *Uke* can very efficiently be exploited. Furthermore, also 
here *Kuzushi* needs to be maintained during entry and *Tori*'s 
momentum can very well be used.


## Conclusions

After observation of the learning processes of throwing techniques 
during Judo classes I attended myself, giving personal instructions and 
teaching various classes I came to the conclusion that the emphasis on 
*Kuzushi* is very important. It recurrently appears that students 
neglect *Kuzushi* if it is not addressed frequently during classes. I 
still see this happen regularly in some classes and I noticed it 
frustrates a significant number of students.

It is therefore essential that the instructor emphasizes *Kuzushi* 
during presentation of a throwing technique.

I believe that with ***personal instruction,*** an instructor quickly 
and efficiently can explain the principle of *Kuzushi* to a student. 
This will rapidly develop a student's skills with specific throws. A 
major factor in this is that personal instruction enables a thorough 
***fault analysis***.

Emphasizing the importance of starting ***Kuzushi before entry for the 
throw*** is very effective when teaching most throwing techniques, 
especially with beginning students. An additional advantage of this 
approach is that the student will acknowledge the importance of 
*Kuzushi* right from the start.

***Uke's role*** is very important. In order to allow *Tori* to 
practice *Kuzushi*, he may not resist it. *Uke* must avoid pushing or 
pulling in opposite directions, crouching or turning away. Therefore, 
the instructor must also give instructions to *Uke*.

***Maintaining Kuzushi***, using the ***momentum*** of one's ***own 
body weight*** and the ***unbalance and motion of Uke***, are aspects 
to which students must be pointed in order to learn to use *Kuzushi* 
effectively.

*Kuzushi* is affected by the ***method of entry*** for a throw. 
***Stepping towards or away from Uke*** makes a lot of difference for a 
number of forward throws. It is recommended to point out the importance 
of this. When learning a throw, the easiest way should be applied.

***During Uchi-komi, Kuzushi must remain a full part of the total 
action*** being rehearsed. If this is neglected, the Judoka trains the 
habit to try to execute throws without *Kuzushi* during *Randori* and 
*Shiai*.

In general, it can be concluded than the aspect of ***Kuzushi is 
essential in the process of learning judo***. A clear explanation of 
*Kuzushi* as a crucial requirement for the success of a throw leads to 
quick results with judo students. A continuing emphasis on *Kuzushi*, 
both with instruction and with correction (fault analysis) enhances the 
ability of students to improve their skills and consequently enhances 
self-confidence and satisfaction with learning Judo. As a result, many 
Judoka's will, at a much earlier stage, be able to contemplate on 
*Kuzushi* themselves and correct and improve themselves.

In a more extensive study, it would be of interest to analyze *all* 
basic throwing techniques in detail according to the approach presented 
here.


## References


1. Cursusmap Opleiding Judoleraar A, cursusjaar 1992-1993, Judo Bond 
Nederland, Nieuwegein (in dutch) 
2. "Judo in Beweging", Douwe Boersma, 1993, Elmar B.V., Rijswijk; 
ISBN 90 389 01240/CIP (in dutch) 
3. "The Secrets of Judo", Jiichi Watanabe and Lindy Avakian, 1960, 
Tuttle Company, Tokyo; ISBN 0-8048-0516-4 
4. Video tape of the instructions given at the "Internationale 
Judo-Sommerschule 1994" of the German Judo Association in Lindow/Mark, 
July 31-August 6, 1994 


## Glossary

jap.|meaning
---:|------:
*Ju*|Giving way
*Kuzush*i|The unbalancing of the opponent
*Randori*|Free practice
*Shiai*|Contest
*Seiryoku zenyo*|The maximum efficient use of physical and mental energy
*Tori*|The player who performs the throw
*Uchi-komi*|Repetitive exercise of entering for a throw
*Uke*|The player who gets thrown



[kuzushiUkePosture]:      ./images/Kuzushi1.png "*Uke*'s posture after forward unbalancing; right and wrong."
[kuzushiUkeIponSeoiNage]: ./images/Kuzushi2.png "*Uke*'s posture after correct unbalancing with Ippon-seoi-nage"
[kuzushiTowardUke]:       ./images/Kuzushi3.png "Stepping towards *Uke* (right-left)"
[kuzushiAwayFromUke]:     ./images/Kuzushi4.png "Stepping away from *Uke* (left-right)"
[kuzushiSeoiNage]:        ./images/Kuzushi5.jpg "Seoi-Nage after powerful *Kuzushi*"