Here is a quick-and-dirty experiment I am conducting. Photos are nice, and videos are fun, but I want to see what I can do with time lapse photos. These images are from Aikido3D where Donovan Waite is Tori, and were chosen because it is easier to edit out a background that is not moving (no camera jitter).

What is interesting is that the cut-down curves, and as you can see it curves about 90 degrees. The best part is that we can see how Uke falls and is led into a roll on his back. Had Tori cut straight down, Uke would just drop and not be able to get up gracefully. This cut down may even be safer for Uke if all students are knowledgeable on falling this way because Uke can brace on one side to distribute impact energy smoothly.

More importantly, because this is shihonage Tori has the ability to throw Uke in any direction (4 or 8). By practicing cutting down at an angle we give ourselves at least another direction of throwing practice beside straight back.