Kani Basami
蟹挟
Literally: crab scissors
Kani basami is a judo throw in which the attacker jumps and wraps both legs around the opponent like a crab's claws; IJF rules ban it today.
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Kani basami (蟹挟), literally crab scissors, got its name because the attacker wraps his legs around the opponent like a crab's claws. He grips the opponent's rear collar or jacket back with the left hand, jumps off the opponent's right side, and wraps both legs around him, the left around the stomach and the right behind the knees. He props the right hand on the ground and throws the opponent backwards. A one-legged variant also exists, kata ashi kani basami, one-legged crab scissors. It is a traditional judo technique; Shiro Tashiro of Aichi Prefecture is mentioned as an acknowledged master of it. In more recent times it was used successfully by Jun Konno, among others at the 1991 Japan Judo Championships. The technique is associated with a high number of knee ligament injuries, which occur when the thrown opponent resists the twisting of the leg. The debate over banning it was started in 1980 by the injury of Yasuhiro Yamashita, who broke his fibula from it. In 1982 it was banned by the seven-university intercollegiate tournament, in 1985 Kodokan rules banned it for women and penalized it with a warning, in 1989 it remained allowed for senior men at the organizer's discretion. IJF rules penalized it with a warning in 1994, with disqualification (hansoku make) in 1998, and in 2018 explicitly placed it among the banned techniques.