01 / AT A GLANCE
A carry across the neck, not a back lift
Kata-guruma, the shoulder wheel, is a te-waza in the Kodokan list. The IJF definition gives three fixed elements: break uke’s balance to the front or right-front corner, lift uke onto your shoulders across the back of your neck, and throw uke down. Everything else in this guide (the grip, the step and the landing direction) is a teaching convention that you should check against your coach’s version.
Uke’s full weight briefly rests on you, which changes the training priorities. A seoi-nage that is slightly off-centre still rotates; a kata-guruma that is off-centre leaves you standing with a partner balanced badly on your neck. Most of this guide is therefore about the loading position and about recognising when not to lift.
Names you may encounter: kata guruma, kataguruma and “shoulder wheel”; wrestlers will see a resemblance to the fireman’s carry. Kneeling and no-leg variations exist; section 12 separates them from the standing form.
Who this guide is for: judoka who already receive throws with confident ukemi and train under a coach. Because one partner is lifted to shoulder height, this is not a technique to teach yourself from text. Competitors should read the rules note in section 12 first: the classic leg grip used in this guide is penalised under the current IJF refereeing rules.
02 / WATCH THE TECHNIQUE
Watch the level change before the lift
Open this video on YouTube if the player is unavailable.
Open this video on YouTube if the player is unavailable.
The Kodokan clip is the official reference demonstration and has no captions. Efficient Judo’s publisher description says the breakdown covers “how to perform the classic technique, as well as some IJF legal variations”. We verified both videos’ identity and description but did not transcribe them, so no cue on this page is attributed to either presenter.
Use three passes. First pass, the sleeve: follow tori’s left hand from the first contact to uke’s landing. Does it pull uke forward before tori’s level drops, and does it still hold the sleeve when uke reaches the mat? Second pass, the trunk: pause at the lowest point and look at tori’s back from the side. Is the head above the hips, or is the trunk folded forward like a deadlift with a rounded back? Third pass, uke’s centre: at the moment tori begins to stand, where is uke’s belt in relation to tori’s neck?
When comparing the two videos, note which features change between the classic form and the variations Efficient Judo presents: where tori’s right arm goes, whether a knee touches the mat, and which way uke falls. Write those differences down before trying a version; they decide the ukemi, landing space and rules status (section 12) of each form.
03 / WHEN TO USE IT
Openings that put uke’s weight over the front foot
The IJF definition starts from kuzushi to the front or right front. In the right-sided form, that means uke’s weight moving onto the right foot and the upper body coming over or past it. Kata-guruma needs a little more than other forward throws: you must also be able to get your head and shoulders under uke’s trunk, which is easiest when uke is already bending or reaching toward you.
Uke bends forward and holds you off
A defensive posture with the hips back and the head lowered blocks hip throws but leaves space beneath uke’s chest. If your sleeve can still draw uke further forward, that space is the doorway for the level change. Check one condition first: is uke’s weight on the balls of the feet (a pull moves them) or sitting back on the heels (a pull only straightens their arms)? Only the first is an opening.
Uke steps forward onto the right foot
When uke advances the right foot under a pull on the right sleeve, the right leg becomes the near target and the trunk follows it forward. Your right foot steps in between uke’s feet as theirs lands. Arriving too late means uke’s left foot has already come forward to rebalance; arriving too early means you level-change in front of a partner who has not yet committed weight.
Your right arm is free to drop
The classic form needs your right hand to leave the lapel and travel down between uke’s legs in the same moment as the level change. If uke is holding your right sleeve or pinning your right elbow to your side, that route is closed and the arm arrives late, after uke has straightened. Check this before committing: can you bend your right elbow and lower the hand without uke’s grip following it? If not, the first task is to free the right arm (or to wait for uke’s reaction to a foot attack, section 7), not to drop.
When the opening is not there
Do not level-change against a partner who stands tall with weight back, who holds your sleeve arm straight so your head cannot pass, or who is moving away. Dropping under an upright opponent puts your head at their belt with nothing to lift and invites them to sprawl onto your back. Against opposite-sided (kenka-yotsu) grips, record which arm blocks the route to the right side of uke’s body before deciding that the technique “does not work against left-handers”; often the problem is that you cannot secure the right sleeve, not the throw itself.
04 / HOW IT WORKS
Five connected jobs, from sleeve to landing
Kuzushi, tsukuri and kake overlap here, because the level change that loads uke is also the fitting-in. Each step names a limb’s job and a check you can see on video.
Left hand: draw the right sleeve forward and up
Your left hand grips uke’s right sleeve and pulls toward your left front at about uke’s shoulder height, bringing uke’s weight onto the right foot. The pull continues while you descend; it does not stop once you start stepping. Check: from the side, uke’s right heel lifts or their head travels forward before your hips drop. If uke’s posture does not change, the rest of the action has nothing to load.
Feet and knees: drop the level with an upright back
Step your right foot in between uke’s feet, close to uke’s right foot, and bend both knees so your hips sink while your trunk stays upright. Your left foot adjusts to give a base wide enough to stand up from; your coach will set the exact step pattern. Check: at the lowest point, your head is above your hips, not in front of your knees. A folded trunk means the legs cannot do the lift and the load will go into the lower back.
Right arm and neck: place the trunk across your shoulders
Release the lapel and pass your right arm between uke’s legs so the hand wraps behind uke’s right thigh. At the same time the back of your neck and your shoulders come under uke’s right side, with uke’s trunk lying across them. Your left hand keeps drawing the sleeve down across your chest, which helps settle uke over your neck. Check: uke’s belt sits close to the back of your neck, with uke’s upper body on your left side and legs on your right. If most of uke hangs to one side, the load is off-centre; reset rather than lift.
Legs: stand up before you tip
Lift by straightening your knees with the trunk still upright, bringing your feet under you. The lift does not need to be high; its job is to take uke’s feet off the mat with the load balanced. Check: your knees extend first and your back angle barely changes. If your hips rise while your shoulders stay low, you are lifting with the back.
Both hands: wheel uke down to your left front
Turn slightly to your left and draw the sleeve down while your right arm lets the leg rise over, so uke rolls off your shoulders and lands at your left front. Keep the sleeve until uke has landed, and stay on your feet (or, in a kneeling form, on the knee) with your head up. The IJF refereeing rules list kata-guruma among the techniques that must not be finished by diving head-first onto the mat, and forbid somersaulting forward while uke is on your shoulders. Check: uke falls across your left side with their right arm still connected to your left hand, and your own head never goes toward the mat ahead of uke.
How the parts depend on each other
The sleeve pull creates the space for the level change; the level change only works if the sleeve keeps uke coming forward while you descend. If your feet race in while the hand stops, uke straightens up just as your head arrives. If the hand pulls but your hips stay high, uke bends over you and you end up pushing into the stomach rather than getting under it.
What the evidence does and does not fix
The IJF text fixes the direction of kuzushi and the shoulder-and-neck load. It does not specify sleeve grip height, step depth, the hand position on the thigh or stance width; those are fitting questions for your coach. Partner size matters more here than in most throws, and the pairing is the supervisor’s decision.
05 / KEY POINTS
Four checks before you lift anyone
The mechanics checks in section 4 describe positions. These cues are about order and timing, the things that go wrong between those positions. Choose one per set.
- Pull and drop on one count. Test: have uke call out the moment they feel drawn forward and the moment your head arrives under them. If there are two separate calls with a pause between, uke has time to straighten; shorten the gap before going deeper.
- Arrive facing uke, not turned away. Unlike seoi-nage, you do not turn your back to uke. Test: at the lowest point, your chest faces uke’s right side and both shoulders are under uke’s trunk. A back turned toward uke puts uke over one shoulder instead of across the neck. How square your coach wants you is a fitting detail to confirm.
- The right hand leaves the lapel last. Test: on video, your head is already under uke’s right side when the right hand starts down between the legs. If the hand goes first, uke sees the reach and pulls the hips back.
- Rise on uke’s report, not on effort. Test: in the load-and-hold stage, you stand only after uke says “balanced”. Count how often you started to rise before the word; that number should fall to zero before lifts get higher.
A failed cue points to section 6: the first two to “my shoulder hits uke’s hip”, the third to sprawls, the fourth to “I cannot stand up”.
06 / PROBLEMS & ADJUSTMENTS
Where kata-guruma breaks down
Look for the earliest visible failure; the same “no throw” can start in very different phases. Film from the side with both partners’ feet in shot.
“My shoulder hits uke’s hip and nothing happens.”
Possible causes: uke was still upright with weight on the heels; your entry step stopped short so your head arrived in front of uke’s body; or uke saw the level change and pushed the hips back. Tell them apart: watch uke’s right heel and head before your descent. No forward change points to kuzushi. Forward change, but your head arriving outside uke’s right hip, points to distance. A good start followed by uke’s hips moving away as you drop points to timing. Adjust: for the distance case, step the right foot a little deeper between uke’s feet on the same pull. Assess: with the same partner and the same forward step, count repetitions where your neck reaches the right side of uke’s trunk.
“Uke is on my shoulders but I cannot stand up.”
Possible causes: your trunk is folded so the load sits in front of your hips; uke’s centre is to one side of your neck; or the pairing is simply too heavy for this stage. Tell them apart: on the side view, check whether your head is in front of your knees. On the back view, check where uke’s belt lies. If both look right and you still cannot rise, the partner choice is the issue. Adjust: use the load-and-hold drill in section 10, settling uke across the neck while your feet stay planted, and stand only after uke reports being balanced. Assess: with the same partner, a growing share of “balanced” reports is progress even before full throws.
“Uke rolls off behind me or to the wrong side.”
Possible causes: the sleeve was released or went slack during the lift; too much of uke ended on the leg side of your shoulders; or you turned right instead of left. Tell them apart: look at your left hand during the lift and at which way your feet turned at the finish. Adjust: rehearse the finish from the loaded position with uke’s feet near the mat, keeping the sleeve drawn across your chest and turning to the left. Assess: uke should land at your left front on every repetition of a set before the lift height increases.
“Uke lands hard, flat or close to my feet.”
Possible causes: you dropped uke from the top of the lift instead of wheeling them down; the sleeve was released; or uke has not practised breakfalls from this height. Tell them apart: ask uke whether they felt guided or dropped, and check your left hand. If you guided and held but uke still lands badly, the ukemi needs separate preparation. Adjust: return to throws from a lower lift (knees still partly bent) onto a thicker mat, with the sleeve held throughout. Assess: uke rates each landing as controlled or not; progress height only after a full set is rated controlled.
“My neck or lower back hurts after a set.”
Stop lifting for the session and report it to your coach. Possible causes to check together: lifting with a folded trunk, an off-centre load pressing one side of the neck, a partner much heavier than you, or simply too many lifts in a set. Tell them apart: the side video separates back angle from load position; your training record shows volume and partner size. Adjust: only the single factor your coach identifies, often lower volume with a lighter partner. Assess: the next comparable set should end without the same complaint. Persistent pain belongs with a qualified professional.
“Uke sprawls and I end up underneath.”
Possible causes: your head dropped below your hips so uke could press down on your back, or uke read the setup because you always drop from the same grip without a preceding threat. (A drop from too far away is the distance case above.) Tell them apart: a low head under an upright uke indicates posture; uke sprawling before you even move indicates predictability. Adjust: for predictability, insert the real foot attack from section 7 before the drop. Assess: in a two-response drill, track how often uke has to guess rather than simply waiting for the level change.
07 / SETUPS & COMBINATIONS
Make uke lean forward, then load
Each sequence below names the grip, the first action, the response that permits the next step and the reset condition. They are conditional practice ideas to adapt with your coach, not descriptions of the linked videos. They use the classic leg grip; if your randori follows IJF rules, run the same entries with the no-leg form your coach teaches.
INTO KATA-GURUMA
Ko-uchi-gari → kata-guruma
Start: left hand on uke’s right sleeve, right hand on the left lapel, uke in right stance. First action: a genuine ko-uchi-gari with your right foot to uke’s right heel, reaping toward uke’s back. Response that permits the next step: uke lifts the right foot clear and re-plants it while leaning forward over your sleeve to recover. Next action: your right foot is already inside; keep pulling the sleeve, drop your level and load the trunk across your neck as uke’s weight lands on that foot. Reset: if uke instead steps back with the left foot and straightens, there is no load; finish the ko-uchi pressure or return to stance.
AFTER KATA-GURUMA IS AVOIDED
Kata-guruma threat → o-uchi-gari
Start: same grip. First action: a sleeve pull and the beginning of a level change. Response that permits the next step: uke straightens up and leans back to avoid being loaded, with the left foot close to your right foot. Next action: rise back to your height, keep the sleeve and lapel connected and attack uke’s left leg with o-uchi-gari, driving toward uke’s back. Reset: if uke has sprawled with hips back rather than leaning back, the rear attack is gone; recover posture first and take your head out of the low position.
AGAINST A BENT-OVER DEFENCE
Sleeve pull → second pull → kata-guruma
Start: uke is bent forward with stiff arms. First action: a short, sharp pull on the right sleeve. Response: uke resists by pulling back, then relaxes the arm. Next action: on the relaxation, pull again so the right foot steps forward, and level-change into the load. Reset: if uke keeps the arm locked straight and your head cannot pass the elbow, change grips or attack a different side instead of ducking under a rigid frame.
Choose the next action from what remains
After any first attack, check three things: is the sleeve still yours, is uke’s weight forward, and is your head above your hips? All three: load. Sleeve but no forward weight: stay tall and use a rear attack. Lost posture with uke above you: abandon the throw and protect your position. Use the waza-map worksheet to record which response led where.
08 / DEFENCES & COUNTERS
Deny the space under your chest
A prevention stops the entry before loading; an escape gets you off once partly loaded; a counter uses tori’s exposed position to score or take control. Keep them separate in drills, because they need different intensity rules.
Prevention: keep the sleeve arm and the posture
As uke, the opening is your weight drifting forward over a pulled right sleeve. Holding your own sleeve arm bent and close, and keeping your hips under your shoulders rather than far back with the head down, removes both the pull and the space beneath you.
Escape: lower your hips as tori drops
If tori’s head arrives under you, sinking your hips and moving your legs back can take your centre away from their neck before your feet leave the mat. Do this only before the lift. Once you are off the mat, do not grab tori’s head or neck or kick to escape: hold on to the sleeve connection and take the breakfall you have been taught.
Counter exposure for tori
A stuffed kata-guruma leaves tori low with the head near uke’s hips and the back exposed, so uke may spin behind or turn tori over on the ground (tori’s recovery is in section 9). Counter techniques from this position are their own coached lessons, not something to improvise against a partner whose head is trapped low.
Prevention drill for uke: tori makes only the sleeve pull, at varied moments, with no level change. Uke’s task is to keep the right elbow bent and the hips under the shoulders so the pull moves the arm but not the right foot. The observer watches uke’s right heel: if it lifts, the opening tori needs was there. Escape practice is kept to entries without lifts, so nobody’s neck is in the middle of a strength contest.
09 / GROUND TRANSITIONS
Three endings after kata-guruma
Decide before the repetition whether it continues on the ground; the finish decides where you start.
Uke lands at your left front and you still hold the sleeve
Uke’s right arm is already connected to your left hand, and uke usually lands close to your left side. Bring your hips down beside uke’s right side, trap the right arm under your left arm and settle your trunk across uke’s chest for kesa-gatame. If uke turns toward you and their arm comes free, kuzure-kesa-gatame or yoko-shiho-gatame may fit better. Name the hold that the landing gives you, rather than forcing the one you planned.
Uke lands on the side and rolls to the front
A partly controlled wheel can leave uke turning onto the knees. Keep chest pressure on their back and avoid reaching around the neck. Use a turnover your coach has taught from that exact position, or return to standing if the exercise is throwing-only.
Uke sprawls on your back
This is now a defensive position for you. Bring your elbows in, keep your head up and come to a stable base on hands and knees or recover guard as taught. Do not keep holding the leg in the hope of finishing the throw from your knees: that is a different action with a different landing, and it keeps your head trapped under uke.
Transition drill: start from the landing at your left front with the sleeve held. Tori has a short period to settle a hold; uke gives one agreed escape. Then start from the sprawl and practise the recovery before joining either ending to a full throw. The ne-waza drills guide covers how to structure positional rounds.
10 / PRACTICE PROGRESSION
From a level change to a choice in randori
Move on only when both partners and the coach agree. Keep lifting volume modest at every stage.
Pull and drop without loading
Uke stands; tori pulls the sleeve and steps in with the level change, then stands back up without touching the leg. Move on when side video shows an upright back at the lowest point and uke reports being drawn forward on each repetition.
Load and hold
Add the right arm and settle uke across your neck while uke’s toes stay near the mat. Hold briefly, then unload. Move on when uke consistently reports a balanced load and you can describe where their belt lies.
Low lift and wheel onto a thick mat
Stand only partway and wheel uke to your left front, sleeve held. Move on when every landing in a set is rated controlled by uke and the coach approves increasing height.
Two-response choice
Uke either leans forward over the pull (load) or straightens and steps back (o-uchi-gari or reset, from section 7). Begin with entries only. Move on when wrong choices are rare and you are not dropping under an upright partner.
Constrained randori
Allow kata-guruma and one setup only, with agreed resistance and rules for the version you use. Record entries attempted, loads accepted, loads rejected and sprawls suffered.
A concrete task: load or reject
In stage 2, uke secretly decides before each repetition whether to stay balanced across you or to shift slightly to one side. Tori’s job is to report “balanced” or “off” before uke says anything, and only rise on “balanced”. This trains the most safety-relevant decision in the technique and gives a simple score: correct reports out of total. See uchikomi drills and randori tips for wider structure.
11 / COMPETITION EXAMPLES
Two IJF replay leads, with their limits
Two of the contests listed in the IJF technique library under kata-guruma are used here. The checked facts are narrow and kept apart from the viewing questions.
Lead 1 — Buchard vs Nugaeva, European Championships 2026
Amandine Buchard’s IJF athlete page with kata-guruma selected lists the contest Amandine BUCHARD (FRA, white) vs Liliia NUGAEVA (RUS, blue) at the European Senior Championships 2026 Individuals (checked October 10, 2026).
Verified: the contest appears in that athlete’s kata-guruma-tagged list, and the page heading credits the tagged action to Amandine Buchard. Not verified: score, timing and setup; the replay was not watched.
Lead 2 — Lombardo vs Bae, World Championships 2025
The IJF page headed “Kata-Guruma by LOMBARDO Manuel” lists Manuel LOMBARDO (ITA, white) vs Donghyun BAE (KOR, blue) at the OTP Bank World Senior Championships 2025 Hungary Individuals (checked October 10, 2026).
Verified: the listing and the page heading. Not verified: the score, timestamp, grips or whether the action matches the standing classic form in this guide.
Viewing questions
- Before the drop: which grips are held, and does the thrower’s hand go to the leg at all? Note this before anything else, because it determines which variation, and so which rules status, you are watching.
- At the lowest point: is the thrower standing, on one knee or on both knees?
- During loading: does the partner’s trunk lie across the neck, or is the action closer to a shoulder-and-arm wheel?
- After the landing: who controls the ground position, and is the sleeve still held?
- At the finish: does the thrower stay on the feet or a knee with the head up, or does the head go toward the mat (the diving action the IJF rules prohibit)?
Because the leg grip is penalised in IJF tachi-waza, the first question is the useful one: classify each clip as no-leg, leg-grip or kneeling before drawing any lesson from it, and only carry a no-leg detail into competition-oriented drills. Your age group or national event may apply different rules from these senior IJF events.
12 / VARIATIONS & COMPARISONS
Classic, kneeling and no-leg variations
The Kodokan list places kata-guruma in te-waza alongside other hand techniques, including morote-gari and kuchiki-taoshi. Similar silhouettes do not make them the same technique.
| Technique or variation | What to compare |
|---|---|
| Kata-guruma, standing classic form | Forward kuzushi through the sleeve, uke loaded across the back of the neck, lift with the legs, wheel down. The form used in this guide. |
| Kneeling (drop) forms | Tori goes to one or both knees and wheels uke over without a full stand. Lower lift, different ukemi and a different exposure if it fails. Learn as a separate branch. |
| Forms without a leg grip | Variations in which the right arm does not take the leg. Efficient Judo’s video description refers to “IJF legal variations”; we have not verified which forms those are. |
| Ura-nage | Another full-weight lift, but a sacrifice: tori lifts from uke’s side and falls back. In kata-guruma tori stays up and uke is carried across the neck, so the failure position is under uke rather than on the back. |
| Seoi-otoshi | A dropping shoulder throw: uke goes over the shoulder from a turned-in position, not across the back of the neck. Compare with seoi-otoshi. |
| Morote-gari / kuchiki-taoshi | Separate te-waza in the Kodokan list; neither is a loading-and-lifting action across the neck. |
What the IJF rules say about leg grips and diving
The IJF Refereeing Rules (Sport and Organisation Rules, the document IJF lists as version 21.01.2026) penalise with shido “hooking the legs with the hand or arm, leg grabbing, gripping the trousers and touching the leg from the top of the inner thigh down” in tachi-waza; gripping the leg is possible only once both athletes are clearly in ne-waza. The classic form in this guide, with the right arm wrapped behind uke’s thigh, falls within that wording, so in IJF-rules competition it is a kata and dojo study form, and only no-leg variations are candidates for shiai. The same document names kata-guruma among techniques that must not be performed with a head-first “dive” and forbids somersaulting forward while uke is on tori’s shoulders or back. National, junior and veteran events can apply their own rules; confirm the version that governs your event with your coach or a referee, and label which form you are drilling in your notes.
Choose a variation for a reason
A kneeling form may suit a pairing where standing up under the load is not appropriate; a no-leg form is the one to study if you compete under IJF rules. Each changes the landing, the failure position and the ne-waza that follows, so change one variable at a time. If your attempts slide toward a shoulder throw, compare with seoi-nage and ippon-seoi-nage, where uke goes over a turned back. The official technique reference lists all hundred names.
13 / YOUR NEXT PRACTICE
Practise the load decision
Pick the earliest failure from section 6. If it is the loaded position, use this record:
- Situation
- Right-handed classic form, cooperative partner of similar size, stage 2 load-and-hold.
- My focus
- The load-or-reject task from section 10, scored as correct calls out of total.
- What I noticed
- On each “off” load: did it start at my step (head outside uke’s hip), my sleeve (uke not drawn over) or my right arm (too much of uke on the leg side)?
- Coach question
- “When the load is off-centre, does it start with my step, my sleeve or my right arm?”
- Next decision
- Keep stage 2, move to the low lift, or return to pull-and-drop.
Illustrative example, not measured data: “Eight load-and-holds with a partner of similar weight. I reported correctly six times; both misses were when uke shifted toward the leg side and I felt it late. The side clip showed my head dropping on those two. Next session: same drill, focus on head height, then ask whether to try the low lift.”
The note separates what happened, a possible reason to check and the next step. Keep it in the practice log template or in Judo AI, and bring one clip of a balanced load and one of an off-centre load to your coach.
14 / SOURCES & REVIEW
Sources and editorial review
- Kodokan: Names of Judo Techniques (name and te-waza classification)
- IJF: Kata-guruma definition and technique video library
- Videos: KODOKAN, “肩車 / Kata-guruma”; Efficient Judo, “Kata-guruma - Technical Breakdown”
- Competition leads: IJF athlete technique pages linked in section 11
- IJF Referee Commission documents: IJF SOR Refereeing Rules (leg-grabbing and head-diving provisions)
Source check: October 10, 2026. English editorial preview; practical coaching review remains open.
Evidence scope: the IJF definition supports the kuzushi direction and the neck-and-shoulder load. Grip, step and landing are the classic teaching form chosen for this guide. Video identities and publisher descriptions were verified; the videos were not transcribed. Competition entries are listings, not analysed contests.
Rules status: the leg-grabbing and head-diving provisions quoted in section 12 were read in the IJF Refereeing Rules PDF linked from the IJF Referee Commission documents page (checked October 10, 2026). Rule article numbering, age-group and national rules were not reviewed.
Review status: by Judo AI. Editorial coverage, sources and links have been checked. No named coach has reviewed this page, and no teaching qualification is claimed.
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