Waki Gatame

As in all of Aikido there are many ways to do the Elbow Down Movement. The desire here is to make Aiki very simple and do everything the same way. Using Waki Gatame to do the Elbow Down Movement means that Nage's arm and ideally shoulder are placed over Uke's arm. The physics of this is shown in the first figures below.

Fig. 1 Start Nage's Arm Over Uke's Arm		Fig. 2 Nage's Arm Over Uke's Arm 2

1. In Fig. 1 Uke's arm is horizontal. Nage's shoulder is over Uke's shoulder and Nage's body is pressed against Uke's body and Uke's arm.

2. Because Nage's arm is on the inside of Uke's arm Nage's hand is closer to Nage's center line than Nage's shoulder. As Nage's body twist counter clockwise and Nage's shoulder is relaxed, a force along Uke's arm will be created and a force toward Nage's center line will be created. If Uke just stands there Uke will be wrapped around Nage with no shoulder strength from Nage.

3. Fig. 2 shows the forces after Nage has twisted 30 or 40 degrees. Now the force towards Nage's center line that is wrapping Uke around Nage is much stronger.

   Fig. 3 Start Nage's Arm Beside Uke's Arm		Fig. 4 Nage's Arm Beside Uke's Arm 2

4. Fig. 3 shows the start with Nage's arm and shoulder outside of Uke's horizontal arm. In this case Nage's hand is further away from Nage's center line than Nage's shoulder. If Nage twist counter clockwise with a relaxed shoulder this time a force will be created away from Nage's center line and toward Uke's center line.

5. In Fig. 4 Nage has turned 30 or 40 degrees. At this point the force away from Nage and to Uke is very strong and Nage will lose control.

6. The point of this is that if Nage's shoulder is over Uke's arm the natural forces of the arrangement will make Nage's job easier. If Nage's arm is outside Uke's arm the natural forces of the configuration will make Nage's job more difficult.

7. An experienced Uke will move with Nage and try to take control. When Nage's arm is on the outside of Uke's arm the forces pushing Uke away will make it impossible for Nage to get as close to Uke as required. This becomes very obvious if Uke is holding Nage's collar.

Example 1 Tenkan

Movie of Example 1.

Fig. 5 Start of Waki Gatame Tenkan		Fig. 6 End of Entry Strike		Fig. 7 End of Tenkan Step

1. Fig. 5 shows the starting position. As much as possible all techniques are the same to simplify learning. Nage and Uke are at a distance where their extended hands will not touch.

2. In Fig. 6 Uke's left hand strikes at Nage's body. Nage's right hand executes the Entry Strike while Nage's left hand catches Uke's left wrist. Here Uke's face is protected. Even if Nage does not want to strike Uke the strike movement is important to get Nage to move quickly in the correct manner to the correct place.

3. Fig. 7 is the point of this Example. When Nage's arm is pulling back from the Kuta strike it comes over Uke's arm and Nage's right hand grasps Uke's left wrist. Now Nage is holding Uke's wrist with both hands.

4. In Fig. 7 notice that Nage's shoulder is over Uke's arm and Nage is close to Uke as in Fig. 1. Nage's body pushes through Nage's right hand as Nage spins counterclockwise. Nage's left hand does not pull. That would be very hard work.

5. In Fig. 7 while the arm pulled back Nage extended the back foot pivot of the Kuta strike to make the tornado motion and take the tenkan step.

   Fig. 8 End of Tenkan Twist		Fig. 9 Twist Back to Floor

6. In Fig. 8 Nage has completed the Tenkan movement by wrapping Uke around Nage. The position of the arms has not changed and Nage's arm pit is applying pressure to Uke's arm.

7. Fig. 9 shows the typical Aiki finish of this move. Nage's twist is reversed to a clockwise movement applying very compelling pressure to Uke's arm. This persuades Uke to move back and flatten out. Uke's arm fell out of Nage's arm pit after the reverse twist. Nage must be careful not to injure Uke!

Example 2. Waki Gatame Irimi

Movie of Example 2.

Fig. 10 Start of Waki Gatame Irimi		Fig. 11 End of Entry Strike		Fig. 12 First step of Irimi

1. Fig. 10 shows the start of the movement. The partners are far enough apart that their extended hands will not touch. Uke's left hand is about to strike to the front of Nage's body. This is not an Aiki strike. It is too easy to counter but it is not easy to counter if one never practices the counter.

2. In Fig. 11 Nage's lead hand has completed the Entry Strike. Notice that Nage's right hand is parrying Uke's strike as Nage strikes.

3. In Fig. 12 Nage's right hand and body twist have started turning Uke by bringing Uke's hand across the line of attack to the opposite side.

   Fig. 13 2nd Step of Irimi		Fig. 14 Completion of Wrap		Fig. 15 End of Reverse Twist

4. In Fig 13 Nage has taken the 2nd step of the Irimi. Notice that Nage's shoulder is over Uke's arm for optimal leverage as Nage's right hand pushes Uke's left hand as Nage's body twists.

5. In Fig. 14 Nage has finished the tornado twist wrapping Uke and protecting Uke by catching Uke's arm on Nage's thigh.

6. In Fig. 15 Nage has reversed the twist to apply compelling pressure on Uke's arm to get Uke to flatten out. Nage must be careful to not injure Uke's arm.

Fig. 16 Knee Down Finish		Fig. 17 Sit Out Finish

Fig. 15 above shows a typical Aiki finish for Waki Gatame. In the Judo Kime no Kata the applied finish is with Nage standing something like Fig. 14 above but their backs are more vertical. Fig. 16 and Fig. 17 show sport finishes for Waki Gatame. This information is based on Kodokan Judo.