060

[Video of this waza fast and slow, from the side, and ideally, overhead]

Defense against a haymaker or knife slash

• 7-3 inside with a simultaneous (Kūsankū) outside shutō block and a tate-shutō the neck.
  • Do not stop; this is a transitional movement. The opponent’s forward momentum is needed to complete this waza.
• Before setting in a stance, grab the opponent’s wrist and neck; tenkan outside while pressing the opponent’s arm down for a takedown.
  • This is a kokyūhō (“breath technique”), because kokyūhō is a catch-all blanket term for takedowns caused by perfectly-timed non-takedown techniques (e.g., tenkan).

Notes

For best results, use a nerve depression to make the opponent turn their head, to force them into aiding their pwn takedown. When you place your striking hand on the back of their neck, immediately curl your middle finger to place pressure on the opponent’s C2 nerve. While this may cause pain in some individuals, the more valuable response is the opponent’s reflexive action to turn their head away in order to alleviate the pressure.

• Nerve techniques cannot be relied upon to stop opponents with pain-compliance, but they can be reliably used in this way to enhance mechanical-compliance.

Advanced students can perform this technique as a defense against a knife slash, provided that they retain control of the opponent’s hand with a grasping block.

---