is one of the traditional forty throws

Throw (grappling)

A throw is a martial arts term for a grappling technique that involves off-balancing or lifting an opponent, and tossing them to the ground in Japanese martial arts referred to as nage-waza, 投げ技, "throwing technique"...

 of Judo

Judo

is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...

 as developed by Kano Jigoro

Kano Jigoro

was the founder of judo. Judo was the first Japanese martial art to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport. Pedagogical innovations attributed to Kanō include the use of black and white belts, and the introduction of dan ranking to show the...

, is detailed in Kano's writings as borrowed from a book on western wrestling. Kata guruma belongs to the third group of the traditional throwing list in the Gokyo no waza of the Kodokan

Kodokan

, or the Kodokan Institute, is the headquarters of the worldwide judo community. Literally, kō means "to lecture" or "to spread information," dō means "the way," and kan is "a public building or hall," together translating roughly as "a place for the study or promotion of the way." The Kodokan was...

 Judo. It is also part of the current 67 Throws of Kodokan Judo. Because the technique is not a sweep nor a trip and requires tori

Tori (martial arts)

is a term used in Japanese martial arts to refer to the executor of a technique in partnered practice. The term "tori" comes from the verb , meaning "to take", "to pick up", or "to choose"....

 to pull uke into a carry, it is categorized as a hand throwing technique

Judo technique

This page is a list of judo techniques. There are a variety of techniques recognized by Kodokan judo and other budō . Below is a partial list, organized by technique type and alphabetically within type....

 (tewaza).

Description

In The Essence of Judo, Kyuzo Mifune

Kyuzo Mifune

has been categorized as one of the greatest exponents of the art of judo after the founder, Kanō Jigorō. He is considered by many to be the greatest judo technician ever, after Kanō.-Early life:...

 demonstrates three variations of kata guruma. In the second variation, Mifune steps behind uke, and in the third he steps behind uke and grabs ukes left leg instead. In all three variations, uke is lifted up to tori's shoulder behind tori's head, and then dropped forward (as in the above clip).

The drop kata guruma is a variant of kata guruma.

External links

• Information on the Techniques of Judo
• Collection of Kata Guruma Videos
• Alabama Judo Federation video channel: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZWkqmG4QY4Q
• Demonstrated from http://www.suginoharyu.com/html/index.html
• Randori from http://www.suginoharyu.com/html/video/sambo.htm
• http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3748489073060595313, Kyuzo Mifune
  Kyuzo Mifune
  has been categorized as one of the greatest exponents of the art of judo after the founder, Kanō Jigorō. He is considered by many to be the greatest judo technician ever, after Kanō.-Early life:...
  
  performed one version of kata guruma that is much higher, almost standing, and only bows down at the actual throw at the 9:56 mark.