major outer reap

Major outer reap is the literal English translation of the Japanese osoto gari — the judo throw in which the attacker reaps the opponent’s supporting leg from the outside with a deep leg-and-hip engagement that drives the opponent over backward.

Etymology. The term is the direct rendering of o (“major” or “great”) + soto (“outer”) + gari (“reap”) into English. “Major outer reap” appears in older English-language judo translation conventions and in international judo material. The “major” descriptor distinguishes this throw from kosoto gari (minor outer reap), which targets the heel rather than the supporting leg above the knee and uses a much shallower reaping engagement. Both translations coexist in instructional vocabulary.

Mechanics. The throw destabilises the opponent’s standing base by reaping the supporting leg out from beneath their hip-line — the reaping leg sweeps deeply through the back of the opponent’s leg while the upper-body drive commits the opponent’s weight backward over the swept leg.

Cross-reference. “Large outer reap” is the alternate translation. Full mechanical coverage on Osoto Gari.