Looking at Yonkyo

Yonkyo is hard. In fact, it is harder than it should be. I can't believe that a technique only works on some people some of the time would still be included in the basic curriculum. Therefore, I think that I'm missing some crucial element.

I've been looking at its mechanics and applications. First of all, it seems make more sense if I take it from a failed sankyo. Meeting resistance in sankyo, I can reverse direction and take yonkyo. That seems to help. Also, on occasion, yonkyo just appears; I've got uke's arm and uke is unbalanced. Uke's arm (elbow, shoulder) are arranged so that yonkyo makes sense. I haven't forced yonkyo, only spotted a timely opportunity.

This week I have started to look at the second hand. The focus is always on the hand that seizes the pressure point. Often it is hard to follow that grip with a movement that controls uke's shoulder and unbalances him. So I'm looking at my other hand. In every other technique the hands are cutting in sword fashion so why not yonkyo? What if that second hand, the one gripping the back of uke's hand, were to cut towards uke's center? What if it cut almost horizontally across uke's do (floating rib)?

I have a strong intuitive feeling that there is something right in all of that. Yonkyo starts to feel more akin to nikyo, sankyo or kote-gaeshi, all of which become available options as uke puts up a fight.

I tried this today with Hoang, a college student who trains at the dojo. I felt like I was getting the strongest, cleanest yonkyo I've ever had. It was a fast, sharp application. I asked him about it. He seemed to think it was solid but language is always a problem. On the other hand, Hoang is generally susceptible to yonkyo and is a cooperative uke. I'll need to work with a variety of uke's particularly the more combative and non-compliant ones and also some folks with bigger wrists.