How To Do A Seoi Nage Shoulder Throw

The Seoi Nage is one of the traditional 40 judo throws and directly translates into English as “shoulder throw”. There are several variations to the grips when performing a seoi nage, but almost everything involves controlling one arm and then throwing your opponent over your back to the floor.

The Seoi Nage is a popular throw within judo, although is difficult to pull off against skilled practitioners. It has maintained its popularity however, due to the fact that if the entry is successful and you are able to lift your opponent off the ground. It is almost always a guaranteed ippon since the weight of the opposition is already completely in your control. You would have to be an extremely athletic and skilled defensively to be able to defend ippon against a well-performed seoi nage.

One of the most renowned and technical masters of the seoi nage was Tohsihiko Koga. The throw helped him become an Olympic champion as well as a three-time world champion.

Entries To Seoi Nage

Since the double collar grip is now illegal in most judo competitions, this allows for a slightly easier entry into the seoi nage.

The most common entry is to have a single collar grip slightly below shoulder height. Your other grip must be quite deep to give full control over the elbow of the opponent.

The fundamental reasoning behind these grips is for the lapel grip to be able to push and pull your opponent’s weight. The idea behind most throws in judo is to redistribute your opponent’s weight, making them lighter and easier to throw for a brief moment. The sleeve grip allows you to pull the opponent upwards, although you won’t get too much movement (as it’s going to be difficult pulling weight against gravity with one arm). This should be enough to take the weight of the opponent forwards, which is exactly what you want.

Mechanics Of The Throw

Once you have your grips set up, now comes the difficult part.

The entry to the seoi nage is the most important part of the throw. Without a correct entry, you will get yourself into a lot of trouble, especially if you are fighting BJJ and not purely judo.

You must turn a full 180 degrees into your opponent’s body so you are both facing the same way. You should always remember to turn into your sleeve gripping arm. If you turn the wrong way the throw will not have any chance of working, although it should be more natural to turn the correct way in any case. As you are turning inwards, the lapel grip must be brought forwards and the sleeve grip brought upwards (ideally as high over your head as you can get).

Your own elbow of the lapel should now be inside the armpit of the opponent and your hips should ideally be parallel to theirs. It is also imperative that your hips are lower than the opponent’s hips. If your hips are not lower then you will not be able to pick them up anywhere near as easily. Finally, your feet must be inside the opponent’s feet. If you have a wide squat base, this is incorrect and you will have a much tougher time finishing the throw.

From here you are ready to throw your opponent. They should have very little in terms of escaping if you’ve got to this point.

Following Up From A Successful Seoi Nage On The Ground

In a typical Judo competition, the fight will be over after a successful seoi nage. With that being said, things don’t always go as planned. Perhaps you overrated and botched the throw a little bit and your opponent landed on their side.

Another situation could be that you decided to enter a BJJ competition to test your ground skills. If you already got an ippon from a seoi nage, this would be 2 points in a BJJ competition, the match is still far from over.

As you’re still controlling the sleeve grip, the most common submission from a seoi nage is an armbar. This is because it is practically set up for you already. Since the opponent is either on their back or side, whilst you have full control of one arm, it is very difficult for them to defend. This becomes even harder if the opponent has been slightly stunned or disoriented from the initial throw.

From this point, you should swing your leg over the opponent’s head and clamp down against their face. Your other leg should ideally go over the top of the opponent’s body, although this is not 100% necessary. It is also perfectly acceptable to just clamp your knees together with your foot underneath the opponent’s armpit, although this can lead to slightly less control.

Limitations & Mistakes With The Seoi Nage

Trying To Enter Whilst Off Balance

Anyone who has practiced judo for even a couple of lessons knows just how important balance is. The last thing you should ever do in judo is off balance yourself.

However, this is a common flaw when attempting a seoi nage. When the set up is too obvious, the opponent will back their hips away from you. What you don’t want to do from this position is to arch your back and try and lean into the position. This is very bad form and you will open yourself up to all sorts of counter throws and footsweeps whilst facing away from your opponent.

Not Unbalancing Your Opponent Enough

When entering the throw, you must make sure you have pulled your opponent forwards so that their weight has come forwards over their hips. If you don’t do this they will be able to back away. This is a different mistake from the first one explained above, however, the result will be the same. Many people will pull the sleeve, but not pull enough. It MUST unbalance the opponent.

If you don’t unbalance your opponent enough they will simply be able to easily counter your throw.

Don’t Throw Over Your Head

Whilst this should be obvious due to the translation of the move being “shoulder throw”. Some people still make the mistake of trying to throw the opponent over their head. If you are strong enough and are underneath the opponent’s hips, the majority of the time it’s likely you will still be able to pull this throw off.

With that being said, you should be looking for the perfect technique. It’s no use having a power seoi nage in the dojo on your 60kg training partners, lanching them over your head. Only to join an 85kg competition and find out this no longer works. Throwing over the shoulder is a much shorter distance to lift the opponent than over your own head.

Limitations in MMA & BJJ

This may not be applicable to all, since not everyone cross-trains. However, the seoi nage is not advised for BJJ or MMA unless you are 100% sure that you can pull off the throw.

If you miss a seoi nage in MMA or BJJ, the chances are the opponent will jump on your back and strangle you. It is much more unwise to show your opponent your back in MMA or BJJ regardless of your grips. In Judo this doesn’t matter quite as much as your opponent will not jump on your back. However, with easy rear naked choke entries and also strikes, the seoi nage is not a great option for either of these rulesets.