Non-throwing iriminage variations: [0:37] [0:50] [0:58] [1:20] [1:25] [1:39] [1:43] [2:29] [2:35] (9 of them! Wow)

I feel it is really hard to throw some people safely and beautifully who are afraid to fall (or fly), so I draw a lot of inspiration for iriminage from Osawa Sensei when I shouldn’t throw my partner the way I really want to practice. Sometimes Uke is unresponsive or is like a deer in the headlights and a kind iriminage like the 9 Osawa Sensei showed us will suffice.

Osawa Sensei makes alternate iriminage throws beautiful and poetic. It was from him I learned that not every throw or technique has to be ‘by the book’. To anyone who claims otherwise I would kindly ask of him to throw his partner(s) exactly the same way 9 times in a row with identical footwork each time.