Koga's Cross-Grip Sode-Tsurikomi-Goshi

Koga is primarily known for his dynamic ippon-seoi-nage. However, throughout his career he use sode-tsurikomi-goshi extensively, both to the right and to the left.

Whenever he faced left-handed opponents, he would use his famous one-handed sode that he had debuted in the 1989 World Championships. This was a technique he would use throughout his career whenever he faced lefties.

Against right-handers, he would use a cross grip variation which Shintaro demonstrated in this post. Koga debuted this technique in the 1991 World Championships where he would throw three players with it, including his opponent in the final. It looked so much like a seoi-nage that many people assumed it was a variation of seoi-nage but a close inspection of that technique will show that it is in fact a variation of sode.

This technique never became widespread and was not adopted by many players although two notable exponents of this technique are Olympic Champion Makoto Takimoto of Japan and World Champion Elkhan Mammadov of Azerbaijan.

Check out Shintaro’s breakdown of this technique.