Shomenuchi uchikaiten sankyo

Watching the video for the first time you might not notice many problems with sankyo execution but if you watch it carfully again, some things can be observed relatively easily. The two still parts in the video are to help spotting some of the problems with the shown technique. I’m not going to analyse the attack and blending with the attacker although there are some mistakes there as well. This analysis is aimed at demonstrating mistakes people often make when doing sankyo.

There is one thing I want to clarify first. There are many ways to execute sankyo, I met several versions and explanations. This analysis will be based on what I find the most acceptable that I think really works. I hope the principles I am to describe will be clear for you as well.

There is one thing that seems to be valid no matter what sankyo variation we are talking about. The sankyo technique should include a cut to the head, into the irimi point. As the first still image in the video shows, the defender raises his hand up until his chest only and tries to cut from this position. This position is far from ideal if you are about to do a cut. If you think about what is the most important component of a cut you will easily realise that a cut should come from above the head, but at least from as high as your head. In case of the defender in the video, the cut could only be substituted with a sudden pulling movement which also shows that the target of the cut – the attacker’s head – is missed.

The first still image also shows that the attacker is able to bend his arm. In my opinion, if the attacker can do this then at the moment of bending his arm he can attack again, counter the technique and do a technique on the defender which is obviously not the aim of practice. The cause of the attacker’s bent arm is the defender himself. On one hand, the defender does not swist the arm (whole arm) of the attacker. On the other hand, it’s because he is not focusing on achieving the proper position. If rising the arm and twisting the attacker’s arm are appropriate the attacker won’t be able to bend his arm. This will result in proper distance between attacker and defender as with swisted arm the attacker can’t come close to the defender and the defender will be able to cut through the head into the attacker’s irimi point.

There is a third thing which needs to be mentioned when talking about the cut of the sankyo technique: timing of the cut. The shown video demonstrates that during the sankyo twist and partial arm raising the attacker gains back his stability which is shown as the height of his centre of gravity is increasing and then decreases. The cut needs to be done when the attacker’s centre of gravity is in its highest position, after gaining height but before starting to lose it. If this moment is missed you can only trust in the attacker’s good intentions :) because if he is aware enough you will easily swap roles and the cut will be on you.

If the cut comes at this right moment the attacker will have a very hard time keeping stable and he will meet the mat again belly down. This is only when the cut is at the right moment, though the head and into the irimi point.

I included the second still image to show analyse positions during the sankyo cut. As you can see the defender is bending forward considerably when cutting. This can yield a series of unwanted effects. Firstly, the defender can’t stay stable during cutting. Secondly, with losing stability and bending forward the cut won’t have enough energy. And thirdly, the improper posture and positions will cause that the cut is not into the point it is intended (i.e. irimi point). Bending while cutting is like chopping wood but standing one step too far from the trunk and trying to compensate this by bending forward (old blog post from Zolley about chopping wood). If you have chopped wood before you should understand the similarity but if you haven’t, try to chop 5-10 trunks and you will realise how much extra stress it is to bend forward. To use cutting with a sword as example, at the end of the cut you should be the same stable position as when starting the cut. If you don’t do this, the cut will be uneffective, unbalanced and straining. In order to be stable both at beginning and end of a cut, you should be in an appropriate position before the cut. If you don’t have this you might end up like those in the video and to take someone down you will need extra steps and off-balancing movements until you get to pin down the attacker.

But let’s say something positive about the video. The sankyou holddown was properly done, sitting down was OK as well as changing the grab in order to pin down uke.

In case you disagree, you have questions or want to add your view, please do so by posting a comment.