01 / AT A GLANCE
A supporting foot and a moving upper body
Sasae-tsurikomi-ashi is an ashi-waza commonly translated as supporting-foot lift-pull throw. In the reference form, a sole placed just above the ankle prevents a useful support from following while the opponent’s upper body is guided toward a front corner and around that point. It is not a kick to the shin, and it is not a sweep that sends the foot travelling along the mat.
Convention: you are tori and the receiving partner is uke. Your left hand holds uke’s right sleeve and your right hand holds uke’s left lapel. The baseline uses your left sole just above uke’s right ankle, with your right leg supporting your body. Uke is directed toward their right-front corner. Mirror all these relationships when studying the opposite side; do not change only the foot.
Sasae, sasae tsuri komi ashi and sasae-tsurikomi-ashi are common ways people search for the same technique. “Lapel-side sasae” and “sleeve-side sasae” describe practical orientation choices, but their meaning depends on the grip being discussed. Always identify the actual contact leg and controlling hands before following a verbal instruction from a different gripping situation.
The initial objective is a balanced, connected ankle block and a controlled fall under supervision. It is useful for learning how hands, movement and support interact. That does not make it automatically easy against resistance. A partner can remove the opening by changing posture, step length, grip or direction, and the article’s practice tasks deliberately include those choices.
02 / WATCH THE TECHNIQUE
Watch the lift and turn as one action
Open this video on YouTube if the player is unavailable.
Open this video on YouTube if the player is unavailable.
The Kodokan demonstration provides the official form reference. Efficient Judo’s second video is a demonstration, offering another look at the technique rather than a full spoken lesson. Watch the shoulder line first. Then locate the ankle contact and the standing foot. Finally compare how the upper-body movement continues while the contacted support cannot simply follow.
When looking at your own footage, identify whether the block arrives while the upper body is being moved or after you have stopped pulling. A late block can feel like an unrelated tap. Conversely, a foot placed early without a connected upper-body action can become a stationary obstacle that uke easily steps around. The timing of the relationship matters more than the presence of the contact alone.
Check whether your support foot moves you into a useful angle or leaves you standing directly in uke’s path. A video shot from the front can hide that distance. A second safe filming angle may reveal whether the pair is crowded or separated. Avoid making a technical conclusion from one dramatic freeze-frame without watching the approach.
Treat the viewing prompts as questions. This page does not claim to have analysed every frame of either video or to reproduce a particular instructor’s wording. Use the publisher links if an embedded player is unavailable, and bring one specific observation to your coach instead of trying to imitate every variation at once.
03 / WHEN TO USE IT
Use the support that the opponent cannot replace easily
An advancing, connected partner
A controlled forward step can provide a clear first practice situation. The ankle is reachable, but the important opening is that the torso can be guided beyond its comfortable support. If the partner advances with the shoulders disconnected from your grips, touching the ankle may achieve very little. Establish the upper-body relationship before treating foot placement as the main problem.
A circular step
Circling can change the relationship between shoulders and feet. Learn one direction first so both partners understand which support is being blocked. Turning rapidly without maintaining the sleeve connection can simply spin you away from uke. Start with a small arc and ask whether the partner is following the intended front corner.
Recovery from an inside attack
An o-uchi-gari threat may provoke a forward recovery. If your facing relationship remains organised, sasae can address that change. You must regain your standing support before asking a foot to block the ankle. A leg still tangled in the first attack is not a suitable starting point for the next one.
An unavailable ankle or shoulder line
A large retreat, a broken grip or a square braced stance can remove the entry. Do not lean farther and lift the foot higher to compensate for lost distance. Move with the partner, restore your grips or choose a different attack. The correct decision can be to wait for a new support relationship rather than force this technique now.
04 / HOW IT WORKS
Block low while the body travels around the corner
Build a usable connection
Your sleeve and lapel hands guide the torso together. The lifting component should help organise uke’s posture and front-corner balance; it is not a requirement to hoist the whole partner upward with your arms. In a slow entry, ask whether the shoulders follow your movement or whether only the judogi stretches while the body remains stationary.
Position the standing leg
Place your supporting right foot so your left sole can reach the target without folding your torso or crossing your own base awkwardly. The angle must also leave room for uke’s path. Have the coach compare a crowded entry with an overlong reach. Both may create a weak finish, but moving closer is helpful only for one of them.
Establish the ankle-level support
The reference contact is just above uke’s right ankle. Use the sole as a controlled block, keeping the action away from a striking motion against the shin. Do not wedge the foot against a twisting knee or try to trap the leg through force. If contact becomes uncomfortable or tangled, stop the repetition and rebuild the relationship.
Turn the connected upper body
Continue the lift-pull and turning action around the blocked support. Your torso and hands should cooperate so uke moves as a body, rather than one arm being dragged sideways. Avoid throwing your own head and shoulders backward before the partner is connected. A large lean is not evidence that kuzushi has occurred.
Guide the finish or recover the stance
When the throw develops, retain controlled sleeve contact and allow uke’s trained ukemi. When it does not, return the blocking foot and regain a balanced stance. The ability to recover matters because sasae often appears within an exchange, where a defended attempt leaves another movement to read rather than a finished demonstration.
05 / KEY POINTS
Four practical checks for a connected sasae
Keep the block low and deliberate
Observe the contact position in a slow repetition. If it wanders toward the knee, you may be changing the technique’s geometry without intending to. Reset and let the coach inspect your distance. A contact problem caused by reaching should be corrected through approach, not by forcing the sole lower while the body stays too far away.
Move the shoulders through the corner
Ask uke whether the upper-body direction makes a recovery step necessary. If they can remain comfortably upright, inspect the grip action before increasing foot pressure. A useful non-throwing drill is to establish the direction and then return to stance, allowing both people to feel whether the torso actually followed.
Preserve your own standing support
The right leg should remain a useful base while the left foot blocks. If you are hanging from uke’s jacket, the attempt may collapse when the partner changes direction. Practise touch-and-return at a manageable pace. Progress when you can recover without a hop or an emergency grip pull.
Finish the turn rather than freezing at contact
Some learners pause as soon as the sole reaches the ankle. The block then becomes a marker rather than part of a throw. Watch whether the hands and torso continue together after contact. Keep the movement small and controlled; continuity is the target, not an exaggerated final wrench of the sleeve.
06 / PROBLEMS & ADJUSTMENTS
Identify which part of the relationship is missing
Uke simply steps over your foot
The block may be early and disconnected, or uke may have space to turn the shoulders and replace the support. Compare the timing of the hand action with the contact. Try a smaller interval between them while preserving comfortable placement. If the opponent still escapes, acknowledge the response and practise a continuation from the resulting step.
You strike the shin instead of supporting the ankle
Possible causes include an upward leg swing, an overly long reach or an inaccurate sole position. Reduce the speed immediately. Place the foot cooperatively and have uke report the contact quality. Then add one small moving step. More force will not make an imprecise strike into a better supporting action.
The hands feel strong but the throw stalls
Your arms may be pulling independently while your standing position blocks the route around the corner. Alternatively, you may be loading the partner into a stable stance rather than taking them beyond it. Inspect the whole pair from the side. Change the angle of approach before assuming that stronger pulling is the missing ingredient.
You fall away from the partner
An excessive backward lean can separate the bodies and make the technique depend on sleeve tension alone. Check whether your support foot is too distant. Return to a balanced placement, then add the turn only while uke remains connected. A smaller successful movement is better evidence than a large collapse that a compliant partner follows.
One side works and the other is confusing
Your grip, lead leg and preferred turning direction may change together. Write down which sole blocks which ankle in each version. Practise the second side as a new coordination task with its own starting stance. Calling both simply “sasae” can hide a side mismatch that no amount of faster drilling will repair.
07 / SETUPS & COMBINATIONS
Use the next step rather than a memorised sequence
O-uchi-gari to sasae
Start from a connected inside-reap entry. If uke removes the target and recovers forward, put your attacking leg back into a stable base and guide the front corner into the ankle block. If uke stays vulnerable backward, continue o-uchi. If the legs are entangled or the distance opens, stop the sequence and regain the facing position.
Sasae to de-ashi-harai
If uke steps around the block and presents a travelling foot, de-ashi-harai may catch that recovery. The block becomes a sweep only after the target and timing change. Do not keep the sole fixed in the original place while pretending to perform a different technique. Recover your own support and meet the new movement.
Sasae to okuri-ashi-harai
A circling response may develop into lateral movement with the feet drawing together. That can make okuri-ashi-harai a candidate. First follow the body and identify the closing supports. If uke widens the stance or changes direction, decline the two-foot sweep. This combination is a reading task, not permission to sweep any nearby ankle after sasae.
Sasae to a shoulder throw
A forward recovery with the sleeve still controlled may permit seoi-nage. Return the blocking foot, organise the entry distance and turn only while the partner remains connected. If the first action leaves you pulling on extended arms from far away, work on recovering distance instead. The shoulder throw has its own entry requirements.
Include a “no continuation” response in every combination exercise. Uke should sometimes settle, release the expected movement or change the angle. Tori then resets. That condition prevents an attractive two-name sequence from becoming a habit of attacking into an absent opening.
08 / DEFENCES & COUNTERS
Recover before the ankle block controls the route
Early defence can involve keeping the shoulder line organised, adjusting the step or changing the direction before the front corner is established. Moving the ankle alone while leaving the torso travelling may give the attacker a sweep or turning entry. Practise the body and foot recovery together under a coach’s supervision.
Avoid responding to an established block with a violent twist through the contacted leg. In a training repetition, stop if the foot becomes trapped or the knee alignment feels uncomfortable. The goal is to learn an early escape, not prove that you can resist a partly completed throw while the joint bears the disagreement.
A counter requires you to have neutralised the initial direction and regained a usable base. Do not confuse an accidental collision or mutual fall with a reliable counter technique. Have your coach choose an appropriate response and teach it from a cooperative starting position before allowing it during a moving exchange.
For tori, safe abandonment is returning the foot and restoring posture when the hands lose connection. For uke, once a controlled fall is committed, use ukemi rather than posting a locked arm. A partner who can receive the throw confidently gives you much better feedback than one who must constantly protect themselves from unpredictable contact.
09 / GROUND TRANSITIONS
The ankle block ends; the ground task begins
Uke lands beside your standing base
Keep the useful sleeve connection, lower with control and identify whether the legs are clear. A transition to yoko-shiho-gatame needs shoulder and hip control, not just proximity to the torso. If a knee remains between you, deal with that frame before assuming a hold-down is established.
Uke turns toward the knees
Follow the body into an appropriate coached turnover or stabilise the position. Do not pull the head backward to recreate the landing you wanted. Practise this arrival independently if it occurs often. A good standing attack can expose a ground problem that deserves its own training block.
You lose the sleeve during the fall
The immediate priority is a balanced approach to the new position, not diving to recover the old grip. Review whether the release came from reaching, an excessive lean or a late hand action. Fixing that cause may improve both the throw and the transition without adding a separate high-speed ground sequence.
Agree in advance whether a drill continues after landing. In some sets, stop and identify the position; in others, allow one controlled ground objective. This makes it possible to distinguish a throwing error from a failure to settle the shoulders or clear a recovering leg.
10 / PRACTICE PROGRESSION
Progress from a clear block to a real choice
Establish the position
Use a cooperative partner, baseline grips and a small front-corner direction. Place the sole above the ankle and return without throwing. Progress when the contact is consistent and comfortable, your support remains available and uke can feel the torso being guided. The coach, not a repetition total, decides when the finish should be added.
Connect the complete action
Add controlled projection and ukemi. Observe whether the hands pause at contact or continue through the turn. Work in short sets with one correction. If the partner has to jump over the foot, return to examining the upper-body direction instead of counting that repetition as a successful throw.
Add one moving approach
Choose either a forward step or a circular entry. Keep the other variables stable. Record crowding, reaching and useful distance separately. This helps you learn the approach for that movement rather than changing grips, direction and pace whenever a repetition fails.
Give uke two responses
Uke either follows the available line or settles into a position that removes it. Tori chooses sasae or a reset. Add one continuation only after the first decision is clear. A correct decline demonstrates perception; it should not be punished by a drill rule requiring an attack on every repetition.
Carry one observation into randori
During a short round, notice whether your sasae attempts begin from a connected shoulder line. Do not judge the whole experiment only by scores against a stronger partner. Afterward, compare one useful attempt and one disconnected attempt. If obtaining the grip is the earlier obstacle, work with the grip-fighting practice guide before increasing foot-block repetitions.
11 / COMPETITION EXAMPLE
Boltaboev’s sasae at Tashkent 2023
The IJF day-two analysis of Tashkent 2023 reports Sharofiddin Boltaboev scoring with sasae-tsurikomi-ashi against Tizie Gnamien in round two and Abylaikhan Zhubanazar in the repechage. It notes close upper-body control and sleeve involvement. These are source-reported examples, not a claim that both exchanges reproduce the baseline grip above.
A useful viewing question is how close connection changes the need to reach for the ankle. Identify the torso relationship before examining the foot. Then compare the two opponents’ responses. Avoid concluding that a tight grip alone explains success; the timing, support and direction still have to cooperate.
Use the examples to choose a local test: does reducing the gap improve your upper-body control without crowding the throw? Keep the test supervised and small. A contest report can motivate that question, but it cannot determine the correct distance for your body and partner without observation.
12 / VARIATIONS & COMPARISONS
An ankle block is different from a knee wheel or sweep
Hiza-guruma uses a knee-level contact and a wheel around that relationship. Sasae’s ankle-level support and lifting-pulling action require their own entry. Comparing the two helps you understand why a foot that lands too high is not merely a minor cosmetic error in the same technique.
De-ashi-harai sweeps a moving foot away. Sasae blocks a support while the upper body travels around it. In practice they may follow each other because the first action creates a recovery step, but the second action must respond to that actual movement. Do not use the names interchangeably whenever a foot touches the lower leg.
Different grip-side versions may change which hand supplies the most obvious connection and which ankle is available. Explain the specific hand and foot relationships when reviewing them. The formal classification belongs in the 100-technique reference; this page’s variations are practical study choices, not additions to that official list.
13 / YOUR NEXT PRACTICE
Test whether contact and turn happen together
Choose one movement and ask: “Does the upper-body turn continue as my sole reaches the ankle?” Record continuous entries, paused entries, distant reaches and correct resets. Ask uke whether they felt a connected direction or an isolated foot tap. That feedback helps distinguish timing from contact accuracy.
Illustrative record: “Nine trials: four continuous, three paused at contact, two resets. The pause appeared when I watched my own foot. Next block: keep the same small approach, look at the chest and review the contact on video afterward.” These figures demonstrate a recording method, not a benchmark that every judoka should achieve.
Take the note to your coach and ask which change is most likely to explain the difference. If the turn becomes continuous, test the same entry with a partner who sometimes steps around it. Store the observation in the practice log or Judo AI, then choose a follow-up only when that new recovery is visible.
14 / SOURCES & REVIEW
Sources, authorship and review
Kodokan official technique names establish the name and category. The IJF Sasae-tsurikomi-ashi definition and video library and linked Kodokan demonstration are the primary technical references. The second video above is credited separately. The competition report linked in section 11 supports the named example, not every coaching suggestion on this page.
By Judo AI · Editorial review: October 9, 2026. Definitions, source identity, article consistency and links have been checked. Practice tasks and diagnostic questions are editorial proposals to discuss with your coach, not a validated training protocol. Named technical-coach approval is still pending. Video identities were verified; complete playback and every contest detail have not been independently analysed.
Rules and scope: this is a supervised judo study guide, not a current refereeing manual. Historical scores describe the cited event. Ask your coach to check the applicable age group and event rules before using grip variations or submissions in shiai; this draft does not certify their legality. Stop a practice action when your partner taps, asks to stop or reports pain.