Nodo Osae – Gichin Funakoshi Ryūkyū Kenpō Tōde Variation (1922)
⛩️ Source
This image is reproduced from Ryūkyū Kenpō Tōde, page 60, figure 8, published in Japan in 1922. The book was authored by Gichin Funakoshi, one of the key figures responsible for introducing Okinawan karate to mainland Japan. The title Ryūkyū Kenpō Tōde (唐手・琉球拳法) may be translated approximately as “Okinawan Boxing Method: Chinese Hand,” using the older Okinawan-era term Tōde (“Chinese Hand”), the precursor to the modern term Karate (“Empty Hand”).
The work is among the earliest published Japanese karate manuals and preserves a number of prewar Okinawan martial traditions, including self-defense methods, throws, joint manipulations, and kata applications. The technique shown here, identified as Nodo Osae (“Throat Press” or “Throat Restraint”), is one of the eight throwing techniques documented in the book.
🔖 Technique Notes
The literal translation of the technical description accompanying the image reads: “When the opponent thrusts in with his right hand, receive it in reverse with your own right hand. Immediately switch with the left hand, control that arm, [and] seize the neck.” The caption beside the illustration further specifies that this depicts “the moment of attempting to throw the opponent down.”
The image therefore appears to represent the instant at which Tori has already shifted Uke’s weight backward through the neck control and pushing action, causing Uke to become structurally unbalanced onto the rear leg. From this compromised position, the throw can be completed with relative ease. Unlike the later variation presented in Rentan Goshin Tōde Jutsu (1925), there is no indication here of an ankle pick being applied as part of the takedown.
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