No matter if he was facing same or opposite stance opponents, Kanamaru’s goal remained the same - to throw and score with his kneeling morote-seoi-nage. As his favourite and best technique, it formed the trunk of his judo tree, from which the rest of his judo developed.

But adjustments were needed for Kanamaru to overcome the challenges posed by a left-handed opponent, someone in an opposite stance. These included, ensuring his lapel grip was underneath his opponents and winning the battle to control the sleeve hand so he could make an effective entry. Against a left hander the entry angle differs slightly, as does the throwing trajectory – he has to move further in front of his opponent and rotate them more.

As opponents with an opposite stance tried to defend against his tokui-waza, Kanamaru developed a number of branches on the kenka-yotsu side of his judo tree. One attempted defence involves taking a circular step back with the trailing leg as Kanamaru steps in. This opens the angle between the two fighters, making it extremely difficult for Kanamaru to complete his seoi-nage attack. But the position of the opponent’s front leg leaves them vulnerable. Kanamaru switches direction, whipping his head and shoulders back to launch a wide arcing o-uchi gari, trapping the opponent’s front leg and driving them down to the tatami.

Kanamaru also has an answer when opponents mirror his first step, matching his position, they intend to cancel out any attempt of rotation, by blocking his hip with their own. Once aware this is how they react, Kanamaru tricks his opponent with a strong feint, and on the second hit, throws with de-ashi-barai. He delays his second effort slightly, aiming to capitalise on the opponent's momentum and as they initiate their blocking step, he follows and collects their foot. There’s the dummy, and the sweep.

Timing is everything for this technique to work, however the threat of the seoi-nage has to be real, as the bigger the reaction from uke the more successful the sweep is. Some left-handed opponents seek a high lapel or over the back grip in order to suppress the threat posed by Kanamaru’s seoi-nage. They try to pull Kanamaru in and crush his lapel arm, closing down the space between them and aiming to control his lead shoulder. In this situation, Kanamaru uses an innovative version of seoi-nage that he expertly developed himself. Pressuring the opponent’s armpit and neck until he has freed his shoulder, Kanamaru steps through for a hybrid between morote-seoi-nage and tsuri-komi-goshi.

Regardless of initially being dominated, Kanamaru still finds a way to throw. Keeping his original lapel grip, he manages to contort his elbow, driving it all the way through to lead the movement. Despite looking incredibly awkward, this unorthodox but spectacular technique felt very natural to Kanamaru and proved just as impactful as his other throws.

The last branch on the kenka-yotsu side of Kanamaru’s judo tree is a response to the defence against the elbow-through seoi-nage. As Kanamaru lifts his elbow and steps in through the gap, his opponent pulls down on their grip to break his balance to the rear, impacting the hips, attempting to rotate Kanamaru, and take him back for a score. Threatened by this reaction, Kanamaru instinctively goes with the movement and aims to throw with kneeling reverse seoi-nage. This requires him to switch both grips onto the same lapel and continue turning, over-rotating his original attack, all whilst dropping his weight to the safety of his knees and hurling his surprised opponent onto their back.

This reverse Seoi nage required rapid reactions and full commitment and although not a direct attack, it still offered Kanamaru a chance to score whilst most importantly getting him out of a compromising position that could have led to him being countered. Although this technique is now banned in IJF competition, it is still worth looking at because it perfectly demonstrates the principles of the Judo tree, working in competitive action, growing different branches, making it possible to attack from all positions and all situations.