This kneeling morote-seoi-nage is Yusuke Kanamaru’s tokui-waza; his favourite and best technique. Such was his level of competency with this throw, he endeavoured to score and win with it in every contest.

With this seoi-nage forming the trunk, let’s take a look at how Kanamaru developed his Judo tree to deal with an ‘Aiyotsu’, or same sided situation. Being right-handed, this side of his tree was developed against opponents who also favoured a right-handed stance and grip. This technique was hugely effective, not only due to the speed of entry but also the depth of Kanamaru’s drop under his opponents. He also created an incredible amount of upward drive throughout the rotation of the technique in order to finish the throw.

To produce this upward force, instead of dropping onto both knees, Kanamaru aimed to flex his left ankle, curling his toes under so that he could immediately and powerfully drive upwards with his left leg. His left knee only briefly contacting the tatami, if at all.

One of the most common strategies opponents used to avoid being thrown, was to try and create more distance between the pair by adopting a bent-over, defensive posture. Lowering their hips and therefore their centre of gravity whilst backing away, made it very difficult to create the forward kuzushi needed to throw with seoi-nage. With his opponents’ weight and momentum already travelling backward, Kanamaru would feint a couple of seoi-nage efforts to strengthen that backward response and then quickly switch his own direction to attack with ko-uchi-gari.

Another frequent defence came with opponents who purposely adopted an extreme right-handed stance. Their intention was to create an angle where sufficient rotation for a successful seoi-nage was almost impossible. These players would also try to dictate the movement. Knowing the direction that Kanamaru wanted to throw them they would continually move in the opposite direction.

Kanamaru again used his opponents' efforts against them, dynamically pivoting on his lead foot and switching to attack left with a sode-tsuri-komi-goshi.

Adding a few strong pulls, as if to launch his trademark seoi-nage initiated a growing resistance from his opponents, which ultimately led to their downfall. These feints were key, the bigger the reaction the bigger the resultant throw.

Sometimes opponents closed the space to make a seoi-nage entry really awkward, forcing their front shoulder forwards, however, this often meant their lapel arm was left in a weak position. This made it easier for Kanamaru to snap off their grip while forcing their lapel hand up for the sode.

This attack required full commitment, but when perfectly timed, fully utilising the momentum created by the opponent, it was an extremely fast, fluid movement with devastating consequences.

The final branch on the aiyotsu side of Kanamaru’s tree came from opponents heavily focussing on controlling his lapel arm. Their tactic was to avoid his seoi-nage altogether by using their sleeve grip to pin Kanamaru’s elbow into his body, preventing him from turning in. As well as pinning the sleeve, when Kanamaru attempted to enter, the opponent would often step back with their lead leg, preparing to block with their left hip if needed.

When Kanamaru felt this defensive preparation, he would sacrifice his body weight to drop directly into the space created, for a yoko-tomoe-nage. This technique was more often than not instinctive, as the correct reaction would only occur if he’d fully committed to the initial seoi-nage attempt. Once underneath his opponent, the direction of this throw relied largely on Kanamaru whipping his sleeve grip under their body to create the rotation necessary to score.

So, we see a full-grown Judo tree, ready for any situation, all based around his favourite technique of morote-seoi-nage.