Irimi-nage (Entering Throw)
入身投げ
The defender does not evade but enters behind the attacker's shoulder and leads his head back in an arc. It is nicknamed the twenty-year throw.
Quick Facts
⚠️ Common Mistakes
Common mistakes: backing away instead of entering, pulling the head with the arm instead of leading with the whole body, and stopping mid-turn, after which the attacker regains his balance.
💡 Key Tip
Do not enter into the attack but beside it. The entry belongs to the instant the attack sets off — not sooner, and not once it is over you.
About
Irimi-nage, the entering throw, is together with shiho-nage the most characteristic throw of aikido. Its principle runs against ordinary instinct: rather than backing away from the attack, the defender steps forward and to the side, into the place beside the attacker's shoulder, where he is off the line of the attack and at the same time closest to its axis. With one hand he leads the attacker's head toward his own shoulder while the other controls the arm. The resulting position breaks the attacker's balance to the rear; the throw is then not a heave but a single turning step in which the defender returns to his axis and the attacker falls beneath him of his own weight. In the dojo irimi-nage is nicknamed the twenty-year throw, because every beginner learns its outward shape, but the right timing of the entry — exactly as the attack sets off, not sooner and not later — takes years. It is practised in both omote and ura.