Modelling Koshi Nage

Modelling is the process of studying a piece of excellent behaviour so that you can do the same thing and teach it to others.

The goal of the behaviour modelling process is to identify the essential elements of thought and action required to reproduce the desired response or outcome.

The results of this analyses are then put into step by step strategies or programs that may be used to transfer the skill to other people.

This is what we experienced in the special Koshi class on Sunday. I have been doing Koshi for a long time and in that class I learnt what I consider to be the missing points that make the technique even more effective and easier to perform.

Most of us are familiar with the Koshi mantra: “knees bent, back straight and head up” and it certainly helps to think about those points and put them into action but there is more and that is what we got in that class.

What we are looking for in all modelling is: “The difference that makes the difference” and I think the points that were being made in that class are “the difference that makes the difference”

The points are:

  • The adjustment of the foot further around having spiralled the body downwards
  • Turning of the shoulders further than the hips
  • Re-turning the hips first followed by the shoulders to rotate the uke over your hips.

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