The popular Facebook group “Aikido” shares well-written content about the traditional martial art, and the technical notebook.
Ryosodedori is when uke grips tori’s jacket by the end of both the sleeves. It is closely related to ryotedori (and to sodedori, of course), so in the stance, if uke stands with left foot forward, then tori has right foot forward, and vice versa.
Do the grips mainly with the little finger, and with the same angle of the hand as in katatedori. Stand straight toward tori, not in a hanmi kamae angle, for better control. Also, if tori stands in too much of a hanmi kamae angle, this grip is awkward to apply for uke. Therefore, it’s best if both stand straight toward each other.
The grips should be done in the spirit of being an initial attack, with a readiness to continue with other attack forms (with legs, pushing or pulling). It is not a very interesting attack form, except for its lack of physical contact body to body, which makes it a little more difficult for tori to gain control of uke, than in for example ryotedori. Usually, this grip is mostly trained in the double form, ryosodedori, and not in the single version sodedori. Still, it’s not one of the major attack forms in aikido.
