Tsubame gaeshi

{{short description|Judo technique}}

{{Infobox_Judo_technique

|name =Tsubame gaeshi

|image =

|image_size =220px

|alt =

|caption =

|class =Nage-waza

|sub_class =Ashi-waza

|grip =

|back_up =

|follow_up =

|targets =

|counter =

|kodokan =Yes

|romaji =Tsubame gaeshi

|japanese =燕返し

|english =Swallow counter

}}{{nihongo|Tsubame Gaeshi|燕返し}} is a Judo throw that falls within the seventeen techniques of the Shimmeisho no waza, officially recognised by the Kodokan in 1982.{{citation | title = Kodokan Judo | last = Kano | first = Jigoro | date = 1986 | publisher = Kodansha | location = Tokyo}} 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.{{citation | title = Canon of Judo | last = Mifune | first = Kyuzo | date = 2004 | publisher = Kodansha | location = Tokyo}}

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.{{cite book |last=Lowry |first=Dave |author-link=Dave Lowry (martial arts) |date=1986 |title=Bokken: Art of the Japanese Sword |publisher=Ohara Publications |page=21–22 |isbn=978-0-89750-104-0}}