The elusive sumi otoshi

For years, I never understood sumi otoshi. In some ways, I still don't. It's one of those things that sometimes I get, sometimes I don't. I'll go through periods thinking, Oh, I get it. Here's how you do it. Those periods are usually followed by periods where I'm completely baffled by it.

Recently, I've been watching a whole series of videos taken from a clinic with Henry Kono (You can find the 11 part series here. Just type in "Kono" in the search field on this channel's uploads). I'm in awe of his sumi otoshi timing (among other things, of course). I force it too much, I know, and I hope to someday achieve such exquisite lightness. He actually does it several times during the seminar, but this is just one instance.