De-ashi-barai (advanced foot sweep) is the very first technique of the gokyo, the opening throw of group one. The idea fits in one sentence: you sweep uke's foot as it steps forward and is about to land, before any body weight arrives on it.
Easy to explain. Very hard to pull off. It is probably no accident that the gokyo starts here, because this throw teaches timing before strength.
A sweep, not a reap
De-ashi-barai belongs to ashi-waza, the leg techniques of nage-waza. The word "barai" (from harau, to sweep) matters. You do not reap a loaded leg the way you do in o-soto-gari. You chase away a foot that is still light and sliding across the mat.
If you feel resistance on contact, you are late.
How to do de-ashi-barai: it is all timing
Uke steps forward with the right foot. The heel has not taken the body weight yet. That moment, and only that moment.
Go too early and the foot is still in the air, so your sweep passes underneath it. Go too late and uke is planted. Your foot smacks an ankle and both of you get hurt. The right instant is when uke's sole brushes the mat, just before the body rolls onto it.
A static opponent never gives you de-ashi-barai. You have to make them walk. Step back half a pace so they follow you, or circle slightly so they have to reset their feet.
Kuzushi, tsukuri and kake in fast motion
The classic kuzushi-tsukuri-kake breakdown still applies here. The three phases simply blur into one movement.
- Kuzushi: as uke steps in, the left hand (hikite) pulls the sleeve down and toward you. The right hand (tsurite) pushes slightly toward uke's back. Uke ends up hanging over a foot that carries nothing.
- Tsukuri: your body stays upright at arm's length. No need to step in.
- Kake: the sole of your left foot, ankle locked, sweeps uke's right foot in the direction it was already traveling. The movement starts at the hip with the leg almost straight.
The hands finish the job. Without the turning action of the arms, uke stumbles and recovers. With it, uke rotates around the swept foot and lands on the back.
Mistakes you see in every dojo
Sweeping with the toes or the edge of the foot comes first. You end up kicking the ankle instead of carrying it away. The sole should wrap the back of uke's heel like a squeegee.
Leaning over to reach the foot is the other classic. Your upper body follows the leg and your hands drop. The off-balance vanishes. Stay tall and let the leg draw the arc.
A subtler one: many people sweep upward. The path is flat and low, parallel to the mat.
Right vs left stance
In a same-side matchup (right against right), you sweep uke's right foot with your left. In an opposite-stance matchup (kenka yotsu), both lead feet face each other. De-ashi-barai gets easier there, because uke's foot comes within reach as soon as they step in to take a grip. That moment of the grip fight, when the opponent thinks about hands and forgets about feet, is one of the best times to try it.
Combinations and counters
Against an experienced opponent, de-ashi-barai rarely scores alone. It sets up a lot, though. Uke who feels the foot go reacts in one of two ways.
- They pull the attacked foot back. Go for o-uchi-gari or ko-uchi-gari on the leg left in front.
- They stiffen and drive forward. Hiza-guruma or sasae-tsurikomi-ashi use the same rotation.
On the other side, uke can lift the foot and place it further away. They can also answer with tsubame-gaeshi: dodge the sweep and send a de-ashi-barai straight back onto the foot that just missed. It is a high-level counter and it punishes every badly judged sweep.
Drills to learn it
- Walking face to face: uke steps forward, tori steps back and sweeps without throwing, just to feel the foot landing. Ten passes per side.
- Uke walks along a line and tori may only sweep on the third step. It forces you to count the rhythm instead of guessing.
- Light randori where you allow yourself no other technique for two minutes.
Do not judge your de-ashi-barai by the number of falls. Count how often uke stumbles or scrambles to replace their feet. If that happens a lot, the technique is already working, and the fall will come on the next sweep.