I've just been having a chat with Boon and Michael Stuempel over in the chatroom. The general consensus is that the variation of sutemi that I would use going forward here is not considered sutemi waza. I concede that it is a kokyunage .

I definately wouldn't want to go flat on my back for even an instance in a randori or on the street, regardless of the number of attackers. But, there may be a time when it is necessary depending on uke' s movement. Don't rule it out as an option .

rgds

Bryan