Manipulations

This refers to what to do with limbs of the attacker to rob him of power, balance or control. Simple examples are turning the limb over or raising it. These are usually practiced in flow drills so that one gets a feeling for intercepting a limb and taking the power out of it. At each belt level there are specific manipulations that should be practiced. These actually all occur in the kata and should be individually practiced for immediacy and smoothness. Here is a rundown of what we mean for each manipulation. Some places to look for this in the kata are given in parentheses.

• Crossing the body - Moving a limb of the opponent across the center line of his body. (hiza gatame)
• Disconnecting - isolating a joint so that force cannot be transmitted from the body through it. A common usage is against the shoulder as a prelude to applying shodan osae dori.
• Displacement - moving a limb that is already in place. Reaps are a prominent example of this, where you place the attacker's weight squarely on a leg before removing it.
• Dropping/Lifting - lowering/raising an opponent's limb. This also is used to open up targets for striking. For the legs scoops and knee drops are in this category. (uchi komi dori)
• Filling This consists of maximizing surface area of contact so that less effort is required to control the attacker. You can also fill parts other than the hand, and filling the entire front of the body with your side or back is the start of most body throws. A famous example from the kata is yoko katate osae dori, where the first thing you do to the attacker's hand is fill, and failing to do so makes the technique very hard to get. (kubi shime dori)
• Hooking - specifically hooking your hand onto an opponent's arm or wrist to control it. Also hooking with the ankle. (yoko katate osae dori)
• Intercepting This means meeting an attacking limb and deflecting it. The key is that limb has a specific direction in which it is strong and you are moving it from this. This is not the same as simply blocking, which implies a full stop. Sweeping a leg falls into this category. (uchi komi dori)
• Jamming - Stopping an opponent from launching a technique early enough as to require little or no force. For the legs this is propping the stepping foot or knee. (uchi komi dori)
• Pinning - Sticking part of the opponent to your own body to rob him of movement. Arms are usually not used to pin legs or feet, so this means usually using body weight to stick them to the floor. A common usage of this manipulation is to bump the opponent's leg with your knee as a prelude to doing some other technique. (hiza gatame, all the shodan osae dori techniques)
• Rolling - rolling forward with the forearm on an opponent, often to neutralize a hooking or grabbing motion. For the legs these are ankle bites. (tachi + kao ate)
• Sawing - cutting forward into an opponent, most often with a forearm. One very common use of hakko zeme in practice. If done right, this can badly compromise an attacker's structure.
• Smothering - pinning an opponent's limbs to his own body. For example, useful against larger opponents when advancing. For legs, this often translates into pushing one knee into the other. (hakko dori)
• Turning over - rotating an opponent's limb about the axis along which force is being applied. Most advanced joint locks use this (such as te kagami). For the legs, a small turn inside or outside is all that can be reasonably expected due to the strength and lack of mobility.
• Wrapping - encircling a limb while maintaining contact. Some call this "grapevining" too. (nidan maki komi)