Morote Gari: Two Hand Reap

(photo credit to Judo Club Campoo at http://www.judoclubcampoo.com/judo/gokio/naguewaza/Morote-Gari3.jpg)

Morote-Gari is one of the Shinmeisho No Waza (newly accepted techniques) added to the standard syllabus of Kodokan Judo throwing techniques (40 throws arranged in 5 groupings, dating from 1895 at Eishoji Temple, Tokyo) circa 1982.
Essentially, this technique is a double-leg take-down executed in a dynamic fashion. Neither a wrestling shoot or driving tackle, Morote-Gari characterized (on Wiki, sorry!) as a

"smoothly delivered reap of the opponents legs from behind the knees augmented by a shoulder thrust above the centre of gravity near the solar plexus. Care should be taken to have the chin tucked in to prevent the guillotine choke and the legs to be swept slightly to one side to avoid landing in the opponents guard should one follow into groundwork."

Of interest is the recent emergence of seemingly anti-MMA sentiments in competitive Judo events, notably the ban on initiating techniques 'below-the-belt' from a standing position such as the Morote-Gari (very possibly due to a resemblance to take-down techniques used in MMA and wrestling). This recent change to refereeing was announced August 2009 and was tested out at the October 2009 World Junior Championships held in Paris, France. Here is a quote from the press conference announcing the ban:

“We don't want our sport to be mixed with other martial arts. Judo is judo, and all IJF wants is to come back to the true judo”, explains the Head of the Refereeing Commission, Mr. Juan Carlos Barcos. “We may lose a few techniques with this decision, but on the other hand we will be awaking some techniques who we don't see any more in the combats due to the sitting position the athletes take while they try to grab the opponents leg”, adds Mr. Barcos.

Following the event, the IJF posted a document to their website indicating the Executive Committee felt validated by the results of the Junior WC. More events will be used in the closing months of 2009 to further 'validate' the rule changes, with a conclusive decision being arrived at at the beginning of 2010.

Lori O'Connell Sensei of West Coast Jiu-Jitsu (B.C.) frames this phenomenon of substantial Judo bans as a matter of trying to "prevent cross-fertilization" and preserve 'purity' -- a move she characterizes as absurd in her post at Jiu-Jitsu Sensei (here ). In contrast, Judo and Aikido instructor Pat Parker maintains a neutral facade as he outlines the pro and con viewpoints of Morote-Gari in his post entitled, The great morotegari debate.

Techniques have been banned in Judo competition before, but the motivation had generally been competitor safety. What is so controversial in this case is the specific anti-Sambo and Anti-wrestling fixation in some Judo circles that desires to eradicate Judo practices that resemble the aforementioned offending disciplines. Ultimately, this construction undermines any valid notion of what constitutes 'true Judo ' (or potentially any martial art subjected to revisionism, rather than evolutionary growth).

Some illustrative and instructional video clips of the technique can be found below:
Morote Gari Set
Judo Instructional - Morote Gari (from grip)
Ugly Judo: The Effectiveness of Morote Gari
Ugly Judo 101: Morote Gari Inside Peak
Sukui-Nage Morote-Gari (at 3:45)
Morote Gari to Pass Guard