Today may be the first time I ever practiced this technique. I paid close attention. The hallmark of what I learned was the initial movement for Tori. He has very little time to react and must also avoid being kicked or knocked over. As with the standing version of aihanmi shomenuchi shihonage, Tori intercepts Uke‘s strike arm with his front tegatana. At the same time Tori‘s rear tegatana comes over top of Uke‘s wrist to temporarily trap it, but in reality to help guide it soon. Still at the same time as this, Tori pivots on both knees approx. 90 degrees so he is more or less perpendicular the Uke‘s momentum vector. This needs practice! Tori guides, captures and extends Uke‘s arm toward Uke‘s shikaku, and at the same time pivots again to face Tori‘s original starting direction. Tori should have Uke‘s arm extended out so Uke is off-balance, and Tori is off the line of attack. Tori then takes a kneeling step with his inside leg. This is the omote extension to keep Uke off-balance. Tori then pivots back approx. 180 degrees on the outside to finish with cutting down at an angle.

The key points to take away are: initially, don’t slide off the attack line; pivot off it. Also, take a nice kneeling step to keep Uke off-balance before the kiri movement.

Advanced pointer: When guiding Uke‘s arm and extending it, try to grab the pulse-reading side of his wrist with your outside palm and keep it flush through the extension. This will extend Uke without twisting his wrist unduly. We are kind partners.