Koga’s Leg-Insertion Seoi-Nage

If you were to say, “uchimata specialist”, a lot of names would come to mind: Shohei Ono, Joshiro Maruyama, Kosei Inoue, Hidehiko Yoshida and Yasuhiro Yamashita are just a few great ones that come to mind. But if you were to say, “ippon-seoi-nage specialist”, only one name stands out: Toshihiko Koga.

Koga’s seoi-nage was different in many ways. While an overwhelming majority of ippon-seoi-nages done in competition are done as a drop, Koga always did his seoi-nage as a standing technique.

He also had an unusual grip and stance. While many seoi-nage players like to grip the lapel, Koga preferred to take an armpit grip with his left hand. And although he was a right-handed player, he would stand in a slightly left kenka-yotsu stance against a right-handed opponent. All this flies in the face of convention.

But perhaps what stood out most about his unique way of doing ippon-seoi-nage was his leg positioning. Instead of placing both feet together and bending his knees (as is normally taught in the classical way of doing seoi-nage), he would insert his lead (right) leg deep in between uke’s leg. His was a leg-insertion seoi-nage.

This was not a common way to do ippon-seoi-nage but he wasn’t the first to do it. The 1981 World Champion at -86kg Bernard Tchoullouyan of France (see photo above, by David Finch) also inserted his lead leg deep in between uke’s legs when he did his ippon-seoi-nage. The main difference with Koga is that Tchoullouyan threw to the left while Koga threw to the right. So, in Tchoullouyan’s case, it was the left leg that was inserted. In Koga’s case, it’s the right leg.

It’s not clear how and why Koga developed that unorthodox way of doing ippon-seoi-nage. In interviews, Koga has said he learned his judo from his older brother, who in turn had learned judo from the legendary Olympic Champion Isao Okano. But Okano, while a seoi-nage specialist himself, did not do his ippon-seoi-nage with the lead leg inserted.

It’s highly unlikely that Koga drew inspiration from Tchoullouyan. So, perhaps we’ll never know how and why he developed that approach. But it’s a very effective way of doing seoi-nage and many seoi specialists have copied his style.

Three-time World Champion Masashi Ebinuma is a disciple of the leg-insertion seoi-nage, which he does to the left. His left leg would go deep in between uke’s legs, just like how Koga and Tchoullouyan used to do it.

Watch two examples of Koga doing his leg-insertion ippon-seoi.Watch two examples of Tchoullouyan doing his leg-insertion ippon-seoi.Watch two examples of Ebinuma doing his leg-insertion ippon-seoi.

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