Combinations

In renraku-waza, the first attack draws a predictable defence that creates an opening for the second. Every technique named here links to its own page.

• Ashi-guruma into Tani-otoshiAshi-guruma turns your partner forward over an extended leg. Stepping around the block to escape it puts them behind their own feet, and Tani-otoshi drops them there.
• De-ashi-harai into Hiza-gurumaVideoA sweep that just misses makes your partner plant the foot and check their step; the checked, weighted leg is what Hiza-guruma wheels over.
• Harai-goshi into O-soto-gakeA defended Harai-goshi leaves your partner leaning back and heavy on their right leg. O-soto-gake attacks the outside of exactly that leg, in the direction they have already chosen to lean.
• Harai-goshi into O-soto-gariVideoThe classic renraku-waza pair, and the one the syllabuses name: Harai-goshi turns them forward, and the moment they lean away from it their weight is on the back heel that O-soto-gari reaps.
• Harai-goshi into Soto-makikomiVideoWhen the hip is in but the arm never comes over, winding into Soto-makikomi finishes the same entry. Your body becomes the lever instead of your hip, so the throw survives a partner who is heavier or better braced.
• Hiza-guruma into Ashi-gurumaBoth are wheels around a blocked leg; only the height of the block changes. If your partner lifts their foot over the block at the knee, the same turning action works with the block raised to the thigh.
• Hiza-guruma into De-ashi-haraiVideoEscaping the wheel means stepping around it, and a stepping foot is exactly what De-ashi-harai wants: sweep it as it travels.
• Hiza-guruma into Harai-goshiVideoThe blocked wheel makes your partner stiffen upright and press forward off the blocking foot; stepping through into Harai-goshi takes that forward pressure across your thigh.
• Hiza-guruma into O-soto-gariVideoFront then back. The knee wheel draws their balance forward; when they brace back against it, their weight settles over their heels and the major outer reap arrives on the same side with the balance-breaking already done.
• Ippon-seoi-nage into Kata-gurumaVideoWhen the shoulder throw is blocked by dropping the hips and hanging back, dropping lower still and taking the legs turns the same entry into Kata-guruma. The form described here is the classical one, where your hand passes between their legs. Current IJF rules give a shido for the hand reaching the leg, so this form belongs in the dojo: the version that takes them across the shoulders without touching the legs is the one thrown in shiai.
• Ippon-seoi-nage into Ko-uchi-gakeVideoThe shoulder throw threatens forward, so your partner sits back to defend. That leaves their near leg light and their weight behind it, which is all Ko-uchi-gake needs.
• Ippon-seoi-nage into Ko-uchi-gariVideoSame reaction, reaping instead of hooking: when your partner defends the shoulder throw by sitting back, their near foot can be swept out from the inside before their weight returns to it.
• Ippon-seoi-nage into Seoi-otoshiVideoThe stalled lift becomes a drop: keeping the same arm and the same turn, sinking to one or both knees pulls your partner over the top as Seoi-otoshi.
• Ippon-seoi-nage into Tani-otoshiVideoA defended shoulder throw invites your partner to press into your back; sliding a leg behind their heels and dropping to the side takes them backwards into the valley.
• Ippon-seoi-nage into Uchi-makikomiVideoWhen the shoulder throw stalls with their arm still trapped high, winding inwards turns the stall into the throw: you keep the arm, add your body weight and roll through instead of lifting.
• Ko-soto-gari into De-ashi-haraiVideoThe small outer reap chases your partner into a step, and the stepping foot is swept as it advances.
• Ko-soto-gari into Tani-otoshiLifting a foot clear of the minor outer reap moves your partner's weight backwards over a leg they cannot step back with. Tani-otoshi bars that leg and drops them over it.
• Ko-uchi-gari into Ippon-seoi-nageVideoStepping back from the inner reap brings your partner's weight forward onto their front foot. That is the moment the shoulder throw wants.
• Ko-uchi-gari into O-soto-gakeVideoThe inner reap sends them backwards on the same side you are about to attack from outside. O-soto-gake takes the leg they have just planted to stop themselves.
• Ko-uchi-gari into O-soto-gariVideoOne of the first combinations most syllabuses teach: the failed inner reap makes your partner load the very leg the major outer reap takes away.
• Ko-uchi-gari into Seoi-nageVideoThe small inner reap draws your partner's foot back and settles their weight forward and low, creating the opening for the shoulder throw.
• Ko-uchi-gari into Tai-otoshiVideoWhen the reap is answered by a backward step, the weight that returns forward can be sent over an extended leg instead. Tai-otoshi blocks rather than lifts, so it works even when they are heavy.
• Ko-uchi-gari into Yoko-tomoe-nageSome partners answer the inner reap by driving forward into you. Yoko-tomoe-nage uses that drive: you go down and sideways deliberately, and they travel over the top.
• O-goshi into Uki-goshiVideoBoth are hip throws off the same entry, and the difference is how much lift you ask for. If your partner drops their weight and kills the full lift, the shallower floating hip turns them instead.
• O-soto-gake into O-soto-gariVideoHooking and reaping attack the same leg on the same line. If your partner hops free of the hook, the leg is momentarily unweighted and can be reaped as it lands.
• O-soto-gake into Seoi-otoshiPulling hard away from an outside hook brings your partner's weight forward. Seoi-otoshi meets it: you drop under the arm and let them fall over your extended leg.
• O-soto-gari into Harai-goshiVideoWhen the reap is pulled clear and your partner surges forward, turning in and sweeping the thigh accepts the gift.
• O-soto-gari into Nidan-ko-soto-gariVideoWhen the major outer reap is defended and your partner is retreating, the two-stage minor outer reap follows them: you chase the withdrawing foot rather than the planted one.
• O-soto-gari into Sasae-tsurikomi-ashiVideoDefending the outer reap, your partner drags the attacked leg back and drives forward; the propping foot catches that drive at the ankle and wheels them over it.
• O-soto-gari into Yoko-wakareVideoA partner who resists the major outer reap by leaning hard into you has committed their weight forward. Yoko-wakare takes the support away sideways and lets that commitment finish the throw.
• O-uchi-gari into Ippon-seoi-nageVideoAnswering the inner reap, your partner pulls the attacked leg back and their weight comes forward over their toes, which is the moment the shoulder throw wants.
• O-uchi-gari into Ko-soto-gakeThe inner reap moves your partner's weight backwards and outwards onto the far leg. Ko-soto-gake hooks exactly that leg from the outside while their weight is still travelling.
• O-uchi-gari into Ko-uchi-gariVideoTwo reaps on opposite legs, and the second is set up entirely by the first. Escaping the major inner reap puts weight onto the other foot, which the minor inner reap then takes.
• O-uchi-gari into O-soto-gariVideoSaving the leg from the inner reap loads the other one, and the loaded leg is reaped from the outside.
• O-uchi-gari into O-soto-gari into Ko-soto-gariVideoThree reaps in a row, each fed by the escape from the last: inside, then outside, then the small outside reap as the retreating heel finally runs out of mat.
• O-uchi-gari into Seoi-nageThe back-then-front pair every club drills. A partner who steps back from the major inner reap pushes forward to recover; turning in under the arms takes them over the shoulder with that push.
• O-uchi-gari into Tai-otoshiVideoThe classic back-then-front pair. The inner reap makes your partner post their weight backwards to survive; the instant that defence lands, their weight is perfectly placed for the body drop the other way.
• O-uchi-gari into Uchi-mataVideoThe freed leg swings back and your partner's weight tips forward between their feet, which is exactly where the inner-thigh throw lifts from.
• Sasae-tsurikomi-ashi into De-ashi-haraiBoth are ashi-waza on a moving partner. If they step over the prop, the same foot is advancing and unweighted, which is precisely what De-ashi-barai sweeps.
• Seoi-nage into Ko-uchi-makikomiVideoSame reaction as the reaping combination, finished by wrapping: when your partner defends the shoulder throw by sitting back, their near heel can be taken inward, and because their arm is still held from the first attack you drop through the reap rather than stand over it.
• Seoi-nage into Seoi-otoshiSame entry, different finish. When the lift will not come because their hips are low or they are heavier than you, dropping to the knee turns the throw into one that needs no lift at all.
• Sode-tsurikomi-goshi into Harai-goshiVideoThe high sleeve lift stays exactly where it is; only the legs change, from the blocked hip entry to the sweeping thigh.
• Tai-otoshi into Seoi-nagePosting against the body drop pulls your partner's chest down and forward over your shoulder line. That is the shoulder throw's opening, and the entry is only half a step away.
• Tai-otoshi into Uchi-mataVideoStepping over the blocking leg opens your partner's stance. Uchi-mata attacks the inside of exactly the gap they have just made.
• Tomoe-nage into O-soto-gariVideoA stalled circle throw stands both of you back up with your partner leaning away from it; regaining your feet and reaping the braced leg finishes what the sacrifice began.
• Tsurikomi-goshi into O-uchi-gariA partner who drops their hips to stop the lifting-pulling hip throw has their weight back on the rear leg. Reaping it from the inside sends them backwards.
• Uchi-mata into Ko-uchi-gariVideoThe usual answer to Uchi-mata is to widen the stance and settle the weight back. Both of those things make the near foot easy to reap from the inside.
• Uchi-mata into O-uchi-gariA partner who drops the hips and bends forward to stop the inner thigh throw has the rear leg planted beneath them. Bringing the sweeping leg down and reaping that leg from the inside takes them backwards.
• Uchi-mata into Tai-otoshiA partner who pulls off the sweeping leg by planting the other foot stays leaning forward. Dropping the sweeping leg across their shin turns the throw into the body drop.