Throws get very mixed reviews. Some people absolutely love throwing, and really look forward to learning how to toss people about the mats. Other people get nervous and apprehensive when it comes to learning throws.

The very word throwing carries with it a lot of connotation. Throwing implies a requirement of strength, dexterity and energy, and is generally done in the movies by big tough guys with large muscles.

When people try to throw for the first time, you can almost see the big intake of breath before they try and pick someone up and throw them, regardless of how you’ve explained the technique.

Throwing is one of reasons that the assertion made by Jiu-jitsu instructors that it can be done anyone regardless of strength and size is often met with skepticism. The punching, the kicking, that’s ok, even perhaps the locks seem attainable. But tell someone that they’re going to learn to how throw people larger then themselves, well, that’s hard to believe.

The Wording Instructors Use

As instructors, we don’t help our cause by the wording we use to describe the action. We explain that with the correct technique and balance breaking someone smaller can “throw” someone larger and heavier. But then who can more easily pick up a heavy object and “throw” it on the back of a truck? Surely a stronger person has the advantage when “throwing.”

As trained martial artists, we’ve already learned the secret; we are not actually throwing people, we are tripping them. Yes, we can add our strength, weight and energy to a throw to make it harder, faster, and increase the likelihood of success, but at the end of the day, we’re breaking their balance in some way and tripping them.

Applying the Concept of “Tripping”

This concept can be applied to most, if not all throws. Hip throws work on off-balancing someone and tripping them over your hip. Leg sweeps, reaping throws, etc, are the more obvious example in that you’re usually tripping them using a leg. Shoulder throws involve drawing the uke out using the shoulder and tripping them over your body.

Even sacrifice throws, which could be considered a big exception because you’re often using your weight to simply pull them to the ground, are really just trips, because your using your own weight to off balance them in a specific direction, causing them to trip and fall.

If you can’t see how a throw is a trip, take your favourite throw, and slow it down. Ask your partner to remain rigid like a board, but light on their feet. Perform the throw as slowly as possible with as little energy as possible. For certain throws, you can even grip their gi with just your finger tips. What you’ll likely discover is that your movement and shifting of weight is drawing them off balance in some way that causes your partner to trip and fall.

The Simplicity of “Tripping”

I can remember going through the ranks when I first started training in Jiu-jitsu and having instructors tell me there’s a ying-yang effect in all throws. You cause the top part of uke’s body to go one way, while the lower part goes another, creating a pivot point which your partner rotates around and falls. In the abstract, the idea made sense, but I couldn’t apply that philosophy to all of my throws.

By visualizing throws as trips, a much simpler and less esoteric concept, I’ve discovered ways to make my throws easier by moving my own weight to break my opponents balance with less energy and causing them to trip. I’ve used this idea to help students get a better idea of how specific throws work.

Plus, it just sounds easier, removing the self-installed mental block people get when they’re told they’re going to learn to “throw” someone. Take away that association with the word “throw”, and its requirement of strength, and students stop trying to pick people up, and focus more on drawing their training partners off balance.

It’s a very simple idea, and while I’ve heard instructors say, “in this throw, they trip over your leg,” or something similar, the concept that all throws are essentially trips seems to be a less pervasive idea.

As with anything, I’m sure there’s some big exceptions to this idea, but I’m curious to hear what people think. What concepts or ways of thinking have helped your throws? Has an instructor ever explained throws in a way that really spoke to you? Please leave your comments below.