PLATE I
Plate rendered by AI in the manner of the old engravers, drawn from reference. We are refining every figure toward anatomical exactness; some plates are near perfect and a few still carry small errors. 01
Kneel inside the closed guard with the hips low and the spine stacked tall, crown of the head toward the ceiling.
02
Pin one grip on both lapels at the sternum; the elbow of that arm rests inside the opponent's hip line.
03 Precision point
Keep the elbows inside the knees. The moment an elbow drifts outside the knee line, the arm belongs to the guard player.
04
Answer every pull by re-stacking the spine before you answer it with the hands.
Lineage “The trunk held upright is a fortress; bent forward, it is a drawbridge already lowered.” After the early Kodokan teaching notes, Meiji era
The oldest lesson in the book. The early Kodokan syllabus began students on their knees inside the guard for months before teaching a single submission, on the theory that a broken posture loses every later exchange.
