Someone put this grainy VHS videotape on youtube, and what a gem it is. Matsuoka Yoshiyuki represented Japan at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and took home the gold in the -65kg category, thanks in part to his powerful morote-seoinage.

First he gives general instruction, including:

  • Proper grips – the lapel should be slightly loose so there is room for tori’s arm to go across, and sleeve grip should be close to the elbow.
  • Foot position – feet should be parallel and pointed forward, rather than turned out. Also of course stay on your ball of your foot, weight towards the front of the foot, rather than flat footed or on your heels.

Watch as Matsuoka Sensei walks us through several setups for his morote-seoinage (two-arm shoulder throw). As far as I can tell, it seems to be:

  • Strong push backwards, “pop” down quickly on uke’s arms to elicit a reaction upwards (thus creating space for tori to move underneath), and then move in with proper body positioning to complete the throw.
  • O-uchi-gari attempt –> Morote-seoinage
  • Sasae-tsuri-komi-ashi attempt –> Morote-seoinage
  • Ko-uchi-gari fake –> Morote-seoinage

In the instruction portion, Matsuoka stays on his feet as he dips down very low to complete the throw. In the shiai footage, he drops to both knees. From either finish, he follows up immediately by stepping over into a juji-gatame armbar.

Enjoy!