Sankyo (Third Teaching)
三教
A spiralling lock that screws the wrist and forearm upward. It lifts the attacker onto his toes and from there leads him wherever needed.
Quick Facts
⚠️ Common Mistakes
Common mistakes: gripping too high or too low, twisting the wrist alone without the forearm, and pulling the arm toward oneself instead of upward, which leaves the attacker planted on his heels.
💡 Key Tip
The whole forearm must turn, not just the wrist. Once the screw is lost, the technique holds only by strength and fails on a stronger partner.
About
Sankyo, the third teaching, is also called kote hineri in Japanese, the twisting of the wrist. The defender takes the attacker's hand from above, turns it palm outward and screws the forearm upward along its axis as if tightening a bolt. The twisting pull carries from the wrist into the elbow and the shoulder, so the whole arm tightens and the attacker must rise onto his toes to ease the pain. Therein lies the practical value of the technique: sankyo does not drive the opponent down but lifts him, and so brings him into a position from which he can be led without resistance. A throw or a ground pin follows. In aikido sankyo belongs to the basic five controls, but it is trained later than ikkyo and nikyo because it demands an exact grip: let the defender take the hand a few centimetres higher or lower and the screw is lost.