Counters

Kaeshi-waza: every attack has an answer, and most answers are throws in their own right. Each entry pairs the attack with its classical counter.

• De-ashi-harai countered by Ko-uchi-gariVideoA sweep that misses leaves your partner standing on one leg with their sweeping foot in the air. Reaping the leg they are standing on answers it directly.
• De-ashi-harai countered by Tsubame-gaeshiVideoThe swallow counter, and the reason De-ashi-barai is taught with a warning. You withdraw the foot they are sweeping and sweep theirs on the same line while it is still travelling.
• Harai-goshi countered by Ushiro-goshiVideoThe classical answer to the sweeping hip throw: as the attack turns in, the defender sinks their hips below it, wraps the waist, and lifts the whole attack off the floor. Timing is everything; a beat late and the sweep has already bitten.
• Harai-goshi countered by Utsuri-goshiUtsuri-goshi answers a hip throw by accepting it and then taking it over. You absorb the entry, lift them off your own hip and transfer them to the other side.
• Hiza-guruma countered by Ko-uchi-gariVideoThe wheel needs your weight on the blocked leg; lifting it over the blocking foot leaves the attacker balanced on one heel, and the small inner reap takes it.
• Hiza-guruma countered by O-uchi-gariVideoA knee wheel needs your partner to be on one leg with the other extended as a block. Stepping past the block and reaping the inside of their supporting leg takes it away.
• Hiza-guruma countered by Okuri-ashi-haraiVideoSliding sideways off the wheel puts the attacker’s feet together in motion, which is precisely what the double sweep punishes.
• Kata-juji-jime countered by Hiza-gatameA strangle attempted from underneath has to extend an arm to reach the collar. Hiza-gatame takes that arm. Practise it slowly and only under supervision, and never apply it to the point of pain.
• Ko-soto-gake countered by Tai-otoshiVideoThe hooking leg commits the attacker close and square; turning in and dropping the blocking leg across their shin turns their hook into your body drop.
• Ko-soto-gari countered by Uchi-mataVideoTheir minor outer reap turns their hips towards you and leaves them briefly on one leg with the other lifted. Uchi-mata attacks that gap before the foot lands.
• Ko-uchi-gari countered by Harai-tsurikomi-ashiVideoWithdrawing the reaped foot and sweeping the ankle they are standing on answers the minor inner reap on the same beat, before their weight has finished transferring.
• Koshi-guruma countered by Ura-nageA hip wheel entered high and loose leaves your partner's waist available and their weight above yours. Ura-nage drops beneath it and throws them backwards over your own shoulder.
• O-goshi countered by Utsuri-goshiThe changing hip throw is the counter that turns a hip attack into your own: absorb the entry by dropping lower than the attacker, lift them clear, and switch your hips beneath them as they come down. One throw becomes another in mid-air.
• O-soto-gari countered by O-soto-gaeshiVideoThe direct answer to a major outer reap: the reaping leg is off the mat and carrying no weight, so reaping it in turn takes their only remaining support.
• O-soto-gari countered by Sumi-otoshiVideoThe reaping entry arrives on one leg; stepping the target leg clear and tipping to the rear corner with the hands alone drops the attacker into the space behind them.
• O-uchi-gari countered by Hiza-gurumaVideoThe inner reap is an entry on one supporting leg; blocking that knee and steering the shoulders wheels the attacker over their own attack.
• O-uchi-gari countered by Ko-soto-gariEscaping the inner reap loads your partner's outside foot. Reaping the outside of that foot answers on the opposite line, while they are still turned in from their own attack.
• O-uchi-gari countered by Seoi-nageVideoSlipping the reap leaves the attacker square-on and committed forward; turning in under the gripping arm converts their commitment into the shoulder throw.
• O-uchi-gari countered by Sode-tsurikomi-goshiVideoThe same slipped reap answered with the sleeve lift: the attacker’s reaching arm is carried high and their forward weight goes over the hip.
• O-uchi-gari countered by Tsurikomi-goshiVideoAbsorbing the inner reap leaves your partner standing on one leg and leaning forward into you. Tsuri-komi-goshi lifts and draws from exactly that position, and every syllabus in this reference names the pair.
• Seoi-nage countered by Ura-nageAgainst a shoulder throw that turns in a fraction slow, the defender clamps the attacker's trunk, drops their hips, and bridges backwards, throwing the attacker over their shoulder. A heavy fall to give and to take; drill it slowly and with crash mats before ever using it live.
• Tai-otoshi countered by Ko-soto-gakeVideoThe extended blocking leg of a Tai-otoshi carries no weight. Hooking behind it while your partner is committed to the turn drops them backwards over their own block.
• Tai-otoshi countered by Ko-soto-gariVideoThe same opening answered by reaping instead of hooking. Whether you hook or reap depends on how much room their supporting foot has, and the syllabuses list both.
• Uchi-mata countered by Ko-soto-gakeVideoAs the inner thigh swings up, everything rests on the attacker’s standing heel, and hooking it from outside takes the whole throw down backwards.
• Uchi-mata countered by Tai-otoshiWhen your partner commits to Uchi-mata their lifting leg is off the mat and everything rests on one foot. Blocking that foot and turning them is the standard answer.
• Uchi-mata countered by Uchi-mata-sukashiThe slip: instead of blocking the throw you remove yourself from it, and your partner's own committed turn puts them on the mat. Nothing is added but timing.