Throughout the last week of April and most of May, we have covered three variations of tomoe nage. Tomoe nage, meaning circle throw, is one of the most classic throws of judo. Regardless of the variation, the steering wheel motion is crucial to its execution.
1. Tomoe nage to juji gatame (armbar)
Two of my favorite judoka to study for tomoe nage and juji gatame together are Charline Van Snick and Matthias Casse, both from Belgium.
Here is a video of Casse going directly into juji gatame from the tomoe nage:
2. Traditional or "straight back" tomoe nage. Below we see two excellent examples of this tomoe nage, both into a juji gatame.
In this video, the tomoe nage is completed with a score, directly into the armbar transition.
In this video, the tomoe nage is defended enough so that there is no score but Van Snick continues to control the exchange to invert through for the armbar.
3. Yoko tomoe nage. There are many judoka, spanning decades, to have specialized in this technique at the highest level.
Here is an example with a beautiful spin from a right vs. left position by USA judoka Nick Delpopolo.
One of the few times Hifume Abe has lost has been to his teammate, Maruyama. Paired with uchi mata, he uses yoko tomoe nage with a lot of success.
Speaking of uchi mata, the rest of May and all of June we will be doing a deep-dive into the throw, its set-ups, and applications to different positions.
Uchi mama 🫡