Yoko Gake

Yoko-gake is a sacrifice throw in which tori hooks uke's advancing foot from the outside, rotates 90 degrees perpendicular to uke, and drops to the side — the combined action of the hook plus the lateral drop pulls uke down onto the mat. Unlike Yoko-otoshi (clean drop) or Yoko-guruma (rotational wheel), Yoko-gake's defining feature is the hooking leg action on uke's posted foot combined with the body drop.

It is classically considered one of the more dangerous throws in judo: uke does not have sufficient space to dissipate the impact of the fall adequately, and contributing to the risk is the necessity for uke to compensate in order to achieve proper rotation in executing the breakfall; if uke does not succeed in meeting these criteria, the force of the impact can be severe, even to the point of possible spinal injury. For these reasons, classical instruction reserves Yoko-gake for expert judoka, and competition use is infrequent.