Who is Kensuke Gunji?
Kensuke Gunji is a two-time All-Japan qualifier and a member of Japan’s prestigious Asahi Kasei Judo Team, one of the most dominant corporate judo teams in the country. This elite squad has produced world champions and Olympic gold medalists like Shohei Ono, Takanori Nagase, and Ryunosuke Haga. Now, Gunji has brought his talents to New York City, training at Kokushi Budo and offering private lessons to share his expertise.
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Gunji’s Signature Technique: One-Step Uchimata
When asked about his favorite move, Gunji didn’t hesitate—Uchimata. But his version of the throw is different from the traditional approach.
"I like the one-step Uchimata," Gunji explains. "It’s much faster than the basic version, which makes it harder for my opponent to react." Instead of a multi-step setup, Gunji enters the throw in one fluid motion, catching his opponents off guard.
He also has a unique gripping strategy that maximizes his control before executing the throw.
"I extend my arm to create pressure, then collapse my elbow and release power immediately," he describes. "It’s less about physically pulling and more about creating the right tension before letting it go."
This combination of speed, precision, and gripping pressure is what makes Gunji’s Uchimata so effective. His gripping style is also notoriously heavy, making it incredibly difficult for opponents to resist his attacks.
Bringing World-Class Judo to New York
Gunji’s presence at Kokushi Budo Institute is a rare opportunity for judokas in the U.S. to learn directly from an elite Japanese competitor. Whether through private lessons or training sessions, his knowledge of high-level gripping, timing, and off-balancing is invaluable to anyone looking to refine their judo.
Want to Level Up Your Judo?
For a deep dive into the fundamentals and techniques used at KBI, check out the UchiMata Instructional Available now at HigashiBrand.com.
UCHI MATA is the bread-and-butter of Judo techniques. A difficult and beautiful throw to implement, and super effective on opponents across in the judo world and across many grappling disciplines. Competitors come from all corners of the marital arts world to learn this exact technique and now YOU can learn the proper application for YOURSELF form one of the greatest instructors out there. Not only that, this compact, easy and information dense instructional can be watched over and over to add nuances to the game that you wont find anywhere else.