Step by step
The whole movement in words, so no part of it depends on watching a video. Described in the standard right-handed form.
Left-handed: these steps are written right-handed, as the syllabuses write them. Read every left as a right and every right as a left, and the throw is yours.
- From the scarf hold position at their right side, work your right leg forward so your thigh slides beneath their head and neck: their head now rests on your leg as on a pillow.
- Keep their right arm trapped under your left armpit, pinned to your side.
- Wrap your right arm around their head or grip your own right thigh, closing the circle around their neck and your leg.
- Brace your left leg back behind you, sole planted, and settle your chest and side onto theirs.
- The pillow leg takes away the space their bridge needs; ride any turn with your hips and keep the weight down.
Receiving it
Your head is lifted onto their thigh and the familiar escape space behind your neck is gone; the hold feels closer and more smothering than the ordinary scarf. Stay calm, breathe low, and work for the trapped arm and the far-side turn; tap clearly if you need to stop.
VI judo notes
The pillow leg is the whole point: their head resting on your thigh closes the space a bridge needs, and you can feel that space opening or closing through the leg itself. Work the thigh in by sliding it under the neck rather than lifting their head onto it. Keep their arm pinned at your side and ride any turn with your hips.
About this technique
The scarf hold with uke's head resting on tori's thigh, like a pillow: tori sits deeper under the head and shoulders, which closes the space behind uke's neck that the ordinary scarf hold leaves.
Key points
- Slide your leg under their head; their neck rests on your thigh
- Their arm stays trapped under your armpit as in any scarf hold
- Sit tall and heavy; the pillow leg kills the bridge
hold-downs
In combinations, counters and transitions
None recorded yet. Nobody has written down a counter to Makura-kesa-gatame, or a combination it belongs to. You can suggest one.