Known in Judo as kata guruma and in Sambo as mel'nitsa the firemen's carry is one of the most versatile throws in grappling. It might be more accurate to say family of throws as there are so many variations. This class looked at two variations, the legless firemen's and the crossbody firemen's.

The legless firemen's carry is my personal favorite throw. It is legal in almost all forms of grappling, including modern Judo, because it doesn't touch the legs. I have hit this numerous times in competition. Although it it slightly easier to force in the jacket, it also works very well without it. To set up this throw we need to have a slight variation of the two on one grip. Instead of a palm up grip we want to win a palm down fingers and thumb grip around the wrist. Our other hand in set as high up on the arm as possible, essentially in the armpit. In the jacket I prefer to grab a chunk of the fabric just behind the shoulder.



To get to the position we began with Uki taking a collar tie and Tori stripping it. If the grip is on the right side of our head, our left reaches across and our right shoulder comes through hard. Always remember to keep your eyes up when stripping the grip if you look down you get snapped down. Once in the two on one, we turn our wrist grip over to palm down and set our head in the pocket. Driving forward with our head, we encourage Uki to push back into us. Feeling this, we take a step or two backwards to get them moving in the direction of the throw. Just them pushing is enough but them actually walking is better. Pressure is good, but momentum is better. There are many versions of the finish, but the one I prefer is the James Brown. Once we are ready, or head slips under the arm loading their weight across our shoulders like a squat rack. If we are turning right, our right leg stays straight and slides along the mat. Our goal is to get our right shoulder to the mat as fast as possible in one quick motion so we do not need to bare Uki's weight.

