Te-guruma
手車 · hand wheel · said TEH goo-ROO-mah
Demonstrations
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Where this technique is not allowed
Penalised in competition: the lifting hand grips the inner thigh, and current IJF rules give a shido for touching the leg below the top of the inner thigh. Grips on the jacket and under the belt down to that line are allowed. The technique appears by name in the BJA Mon syllabus this reference transcribes.
Under contest rules
Shido. The lifting hand at the inner thigh draws a shido. The rule allows grips on the jacket and under the belt down to the top of the inner thigh, and penalises the leg below that line.
Sport and Organisation Rules of the International Judo Federation: refereeing rules, 2026 edition, Article 18.1.2.
Still taught, demonstrated and examined, so it is written up in full here. The restriction above is a contest rule, not a reason to skip it. See the prohibited techniques list.
About this technique
The hand wheel: tori drops the hips below uke's, one hand gripping the inner thigh and the other holding the belt or back, lifts uke bodily across the chest and wheels them over to land on their back. Before the leg-grab rules it was best known as a spectacular counter to hip and inner-thigh attacks. The Kodokan does not list it among its hundred and records actions of this shape as sukui-nage; this book keeps the te-guruma name because syllabuses, commentators and clubs use it.
Key points
- Drop your hips below uke's before you lift; the legs do the lifting, never the back
- One palm under the inner thigh, the other controlling the belt or back
- Wheel uke over your chest line and control them all the way to the mat
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Te-waza (hand techniques)
At a glance
, classification, Gokyo set, Kodokan number, contest rules, grades that require it
- What it is
- Nage-waza (throwing techniques), Te-waza (hand techniques).
- Contest rules
- Shido. The lifting hand at the inner thigh draws a shido. The rule allows grips on the jacket and under the belt down to the top of the inner thigh, and penalises the leg below that line.
- Required for
- 18th Mon (British Judo Association)
Step by step
These steps describe the standard right-handed form without relying on the video.
Left-handed: these steps use the standard right-handed form. Swap every left and right.
- Step in close to your partner's right side, bending your knees until your hips are below theirs.
- Slide your right hand, palm up, between their thighs to catch the inside of their left thigh; your left hand takes the back of their belt or the far hip.
- Draw them tight to your chest and stand up through your legs, lifting them across your chest; keep your back straight and let the legs do all of it.
- At the top, steer with both hands so their legs rise and their shoulders tip towards the mat in front of you.
- Lower them over your chest line onto their back, controlling the descent with both hands all the way down: like sukui-nage, this is a lift and a placement, never a drop.
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Receiving it
One hand arrives under your thigh, the other at your belt, and the floor leaves you: you are carried across your partner's chest with your feet higher than your head for a moment. Stay compact, keep your chin tucked and do not reach for the mat. A good partner lowers you onto your back; as it arrives, slap with your free arm and let your legs come down after.
VI judo notes
Barred in contest because the lifting hand takes the leg, but drilled and examined all the same. Everything happens at full body contact, so nothing in it depends on sight: find the thigh by sliding your hand down from the hip rather than reaching for it, and feel your partner's weight settle onto your chest before you lift. Agree the landing spot first, and lower them the whole way down.
In competition
, how often it scores at IJF level, and two contests where it worked
No score recorded in senior IJF competition between 2020 and 2026, across 73,099 contests. That is a fact about modern contest judo rather than a gap in the data: the technique is taught, examined and classified, and it does not score at this level.
In combinations, counters and transitions
, 1 recorded, 2 awaiting review
2 more pairs involving it are recorded and awaiting review before they get a page. A video that shows one of them is what gets it reviewed: suggest one.
Know another? Suggest a combination or counter.
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