Tsubame Gaeshi (燕返し) is a Judothrow that falls within the seventeen techniques of the Shimmeisho no waza, officially recognised by the Kodokan in 1982.[1] Literally translated as "Swallow Counter", Tsubame gaeshi is the countering of an ashi waza with Deashi harai from the opposite leg. A right-handed Deashi-harai executed by uke, for instance, would be avoided by tori bending his right knee, followed by a left-handed Deashi-harai. Tsubame gaeshi as a counter against uke's Deashi harai is the opening move of the Kaeshi-no-kata. As a counter against Okuriashi harai, it forms the sixth technique of the Nage-Waza-Ura-no-kata.[2]
The name Tsubame Gaeshi is a reference to the famous technique of the legendary Japanese swordsman Sasaki Kojirō. It was an overhead katana (or, in Sasaki's case, a nodachi) stroke that was performed so swiftly it resembled the flight of a swallow, hence the name.[3]
