small outer reap

Small outer reap is the literal English translation of the Japanese kosoto gari — the judo foot-sweep in which the attacker reaps the opponent’s heel from the outside line of the foot.

Etymology. The translation renders ko (“small”) + soto (“outer”) + gari (“reap”) into English. “Small outer reap” is the alternate translation form to “minor outer reap” — both render the same Japanese name, differing only in how the ko prefix is translated. “Small” is the more literal English equivalent of ko; “minor” is the more conventional judo-translation choice. Both labels appear in regional English-language judo material with no mechanical difference between them.

Mechanics. The sweep destabilises the opponent’s standing base by removing the supporting foot at the moment of weight transfer — the reaping leg sweeps the opponent’s heel from the outside while the upper-body pull commits the opponent’s weight forward over the swept foot.

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