How to do the De Ashi Barai Judo foot sweep

As you may have noticed by the title, the de ashi barai is a foot sweep that is commonly used in Judo. It was part of one of the original 40 Judo throws used by Kano and is still popular to this day. Like many of the Judo foot sweeps it relies on tripping the opponent’s foot whilst keeping them off-balance. Because of this, a large part of this throw depends on keeping the uke moving to constantly displace their base. If they are not moving, then the de ashi barai is made significantly harder.

Unlike some of the O goshi hip throws, the beauty of the de ashi barai is that it relies mostly on leverage and timing. Whilst some of the more extravagant throws take up energy and effort, the de ashi barai is relatively less exhaustive in comparison. Because of this, it is ideal for Judoka’s with less athleticism or strength when compared to others. This means the de ashi barai could be considered a highly technical throw. Similarly, the de ashi barai is also a good choice for taller Judo practitioners. This is because you can use the length of your legs to scoop under the feet of the opponent off the ground.

Setting up the de ashi barai

As ever, the de ashi barai relies on setting up the starting Judo grips which means an elbow and collar grip with a leading leg. Unlike certain other Judo moves, these grips remain in place from the beginning of the move until the finish. This means you don’t have to switch or re-grip at any point. Of course, you will need to use your hands at points to move the opponent and manipulate their upper body. However, it is nice to know that once your grips are set, they are good to go.

After doing this, you want to move the opponent about and this is very important with this throw. Basically, you want to be able to keep them moving at all times. Back and forth and side to side, it doesn’t matter as long as they are constantly moving. Most Judoka’s will chain this together with other moves as feints to get the opponent moving. For instance, you could pretend to attack a Kouchi Gari to create a reaction. This will keep them on their toes and make them vulnerable to get swept.

It should also be noted that a good way to learn off-balancing and the feeling for foot sweeps is by drilling. For this, you can get an uke and walk sideways with them with your grips in place. At the end of every fourth step or so, you can try attacking the de ashi barai. This will teach your body about timing and weight distribution. This is akin to drilling dance moves with a partner and if you have the time, it will get results.

Finishing the de ashi barai

By this point, you should constantly be moving the opponent and looking for entries. Ideally, when committing to the sweep, you would have their foot off the ground. This takes a lot of timing, practice, and natural feel for the position, but it’s certainly possible. If their foot that you sweep is off the ground even by a couple of centimeters, it becomes much easier to move. This is because there is no base on the foot, compared to if it was planted heavily on the ground.

When going to finish the throw, you want to use your grips like a steering wheel. This means punching your collar grip towards to foot that you sweep. Simultaneously, you want to pull the elbow grip at the same time. If you are experienced in Judo, you will have recognized these grips by now. It is very common throughout Judo to use the collar grip as a punch and to pull the elbow in the opposite direction. Not only will this move the body, it also twists at the shoulders to weaken the structure of the opponent.

As ever, the elbow grip is secured to stop the opponent from posting on to the floor to defend. It’s important to finish with this grip to stop any form of defense, however in some cases, you may not have time to grab the elbow if the opponent gets rid of your grip. If this happens, then you can still finish without the elbow grip, so long as your timing is on point.

Lastly, you want to finish with the foot sweep. To do this, you should ideally have the opponent move to the side that you are sweeping into. In other words, you want to move them in the same direction that you are moving your foot into. Put another way, let’s say you sweep with your left foot. Naturally, you will sweep towards the left as if swinging a golf club. You should time this to get the opponent moving to the left as well.

Basically, if their foot is moving in the opposite direction, the sweep won’t work. You need to use momentum and timing to finish the sweep and make the opponent move in the same direction as your foot. Combined with your upper body grips – this should put the opponent to the floor. You can sweep the one leg, but if you manage to hit it into the other leg then that is just a bonus as at this point both legs will leave the ground.

Why it’s important not to kick the foot

Newer Judoka’s and ignorant BJJ practitioners will often mistake the sweeping motion for a kick. Put simply, this is wrong and isn’t the optimal technique. As a result, you will often see people kicking hopelessly without the correct result. In some cases, people will even kick higher up the leg around the shin which is certainly not what the de ashi barai was designed for, or any foot sweep for that matter.

The point of the de ashi barai is to scoop up the foot with more grace than aggression. This means using the inside of your sole to lift up the outside of the uke’s sole. For example, the scooping motion should go slightly under the foot and then lift up. This simply can’t be done with a kick which lacks the finesse. There are some other variations of the scooping mechanism which includes putting it around the ball of the ankle. Regardless of the variation, you shouldn’t kick as it is far less effective and isn’t effective. Having said this, you still want to scoop with enough power and force to make it effective. This means there should be an element of speed to the sweep, but you should also always rely on technique over aggression.

Closing thoughts

The de ashi barai is similar to many of the main Judo foot sweeps. Because of this, if you can learn one then you can learn many. Similarly, if you learn the art of moving the upper body with your grips, you will also find the de ashi barai easier to hit in randori. Perhaps one of the biggest issues with the de ashi barai however is that it also takes time to learn.

Like many of the foot sweeps, timing and creating off-balance is massive. Because of this, it’s not just something you can train for a few weeks and understand. Similar to this, the de ashi barai relies on your body being able to read and pick up on the weight distribution of the opponent. This is something that is more of a ‘feel’ than a ‘thought’ and can’t really be taught, in that sense it is quite an instinctive move. Nonetheless, the de ashi barai is a move worth pursuing as it will make throwing people look effortless and is also a low-risk move in the process.