When doing ikkyo ura (or many other ura waza) we take Uke‘s arm to the side and extend him first. There is wide variation in how it can be done. I have been exploring one way which is easy and Uke doesn’t even feel like he is being moved. Inspiration for this came from Tissier when he does one-handed tenchinage, and how many shihans do katatedori sumi-otoshi to the side. Actually, Ueshiba Wakasensei was the inspiration for a modification to my tenchinage. When I think about the lessons learned from these techniques and from some shihans, it feels natural to apply these principles to any katatedori ura waza, but I will just explore ikkyo ura first.

When I first searched for a clip of this gyaku hanmi katatedori ikkyo ura lately, I noticed a nice quirk that Donovan Waite Sensei does in addition to the principle of not pulling on Uke – the idea I wanted to write about. Well, I will present three alternatives to moving out to the side with Uke‘s arm grabbing still.

1. Move straight back to extend Uke and cut down on his elbow at the same time (and pray he doesn’t tackle you).
2. Move out 45 degrees and cut down on Uke‘s elbow while exchanging legs and keeping good hanmi.
3. Move exactly to Uke‘s side and cut down on Uke‘s elbow (or not)

The third option is the one I am most interested in now. Uke has very little strength to stop you from moving to his side (especially if you move from your hara), and you can even do so without even extending Uke. That is, Uke doesn’t need to be extended as long as you can get beside him while his is holding on to your wrist. I find that if I cut down on Uke‘s elbow at this point it is overkill as he will drop like a stone and the waza may end. The main idea is to get beside him and then start continue the ura waza.

Donovan Waite Sensei starts gyaku hanmi katatedori ikkyo ura by first sending Uke‘s arm inward. This causes Uke to twist away from Tori which adds extra protection against a strike from Uke‘s other hand. Donovan Wait then goes to Uke‘s side and continues the waza similarly to how I tried to describe above.

Actually, the gentleman in the clip below moves similarly to Donovan Waite from the above clip.