Expert: Keith Patton - 5/6/2008

Question
Thank you for your time, Hi Im 19 and I practice Wado Ryu Karate and Jun Fan. My question is whats the secrete to fliping people? It seems so hard for me at 160bls to take a 255bl man who wants to blast you and grab him and flip him. Could i ever do this? People have said Aikido people flip to keep from getting there risk broke and they know how to fall. Im interested in it though. What you think?

Answer
Josh:

Throwing an opponent is all about timing and balance breaking.  If you try to grab someone and throw them, you won't succeed especially if they are larger than you.  It idea is to take advantage of the natural state of off balance that we bi-peds are always in while moving.  Walking is just controlled falling we raise one foot and are very unstable.  We fall forward and then lift the trailing foot etc.  Notice that in order to move the trailing foot forward, we raise up on the toe of the lead foot.  Since both legs are the same length, this is necessary in order that the trailing foot doesn't hit the ground as it moves forward. Very very unstable.  Now if you catch the opponent while he is up on that one lead foot with the trailing foot in motion, all you have to do is extend his center of balance, his mid chest area forward over his lead foot about 3 or four inches and he falls.

If he knows how to fall he does a nice air fall and lands safely if not he piles up on his head.  All throws are about upsetting balance and extending center forward or backward to make the opponent fall.

The wrist thing you are referring to is the mark of lousy technique.  If you are using force or pain, or the threat of a broken wrist to throw an opponent, you don't know what you are doing.

In order to do that, you have to stop, plant you feet, and exert strength (for example try doing heavy curls while walking, it can't be done unless you stop since the act of lifting exerts downward pressure on your feet equal to the weight you are lifting, one of Newton's laws of physics for each action there is an equal and opposite reaction).

Using pain only makes an opponent fight harder against you.  

Judo uses the same principles.  They move their opponent and break his balance (kuzushi) then throw him without much effort.  The crap on Utube that passes for competitive judo is european strength based judo which if you look closely, is pure crap, it looks like uncontrolled wrestling.  Absolutely now finess or skill, pure strength based grappling.

Don'e put too much stock in the utube Aikido vids either as they are very choreographed demos.

Keith