Moves, Actions, Parts

Ate – attack Dori – hold, grab, grip Gaeshi – turn or reverse (about turn) Gedan – low Geri or keri – kick Gyaku – opposite/reverse Hajime – start Hammi – position where one foot half step in front of other; weight even Hanmi or kamae – posture Hiki – pull Ikkyo – press arm (1st technique) Irimi – enter/entering Kaeshi – counter Katate – one hand (hold on tori) Kokyu – breath Kosa – cross hand Mawashi – sweep (of hand or foot) Nage – throw or thrower Nikyo – turn wrist Oroshi – lead down Oshi – push Otoshi – drop Ryo-te – two hand hold Sankyo – twist wrist Shiho – 4 directions Shikko – knee walking Shime or zime – choke or strangle Shomen – front/top Soto – outside Suburi – basic weapons practice Tai-sabaki – body movement Taoshi – down Teganatana – edge of the hand Tenshin / Tenkan – turn, turning Tsuki – thrust Uchi – strike OR Uchi – inside Ukemi – roll Ushiro – rear / behind Yame – stop/end Yoko – side Zagi – kneel Zempo /zenpo – forward roll

Aikido Terminology, Language, Words and Names

1st technique (press arm) – Ikkyo Attack – ate Body movement – tai-sabaki Breath – kokyu Choke or strangle – shime or zime Counter – kaeshi cross hand – kosa Down – taoshi Drop – otoshi Edge of hand – teganatana Enter – irimi forward roll – zempo Front – showmen Hold, grab – dori Inside – uchi Kick – geri / keri Knee walking – shikko kneel – zagi Lead down – oroshi Low – gedan One hand – katate Opposite / reverse – gyaku Outside – soto Posture – hanmi or kamae Pull – hiki Push – oshi Rear – ushiro Ready pose – hammi (see ‘hammi’) Roll – ukemi Side – yoko Start – hajime Stop/end – yame Strike – uchi Sweeping movement – mawashi Throw/thrower – nage Throw in 4 directions - shiho Thrust – tsuki Turn – gaeshi Turn/turning – tenshin Two hand hold – ryote Weapons practice – suburi Wrist turn – nikyo Wrist twist – sankyo

Terminology:

Ki – Energy, intention, force, spirit, life force, life energy or, my favourite, unified physical and mental intention. Teacher is the Sensei. Student is Deshi. Person applying the technique is the Tori (also referred to as the Nage when the tori uses a throwing technique). The Uke is the one who attacks, the one who receives the technique and, usually, gets thrown. Dojo is the place where you train. Kamidana is the shrine symbol (it faces South or East) at the head of the dojo to which you bow (rei); usually from the seiza (kneeling) position (bowing signifies paying respect to god, nature and every person and object around us). A standing bow (rei) towards the Kamidana is made when stepping on or off the mat. Kyu is the ranking system below Black belt then it changes to Dan. Gi – the jacket people wear (often refers to whole suit). The belt is called the obi. Advanced Deshi also wear a Hakama. Jo – the wooden training stave Tanto – the wooden knife Bokken – the wooden sword (white oak less likely to shatter than red oak; red oak is heavier, more like weight of sword, but many that are sold as red oak are inferior woods that have been stained. Hickory and ash are softer but this can be good from a safety point of view as they dent rather than shatter or splinter. More at: www.aikiweb.com/weapons/goedkoop1.html

Note: Underlined words are those mentioned in the basic techniques (up to and including Green belt)

Body Parts

Ashi – leg/foot/ankle Chudan – middle (trunk) of body Gedan – lower area of body Hanmi or kamae – posture Hiji – elbow Jodan – upper part of body (^ neck) Kata – shoulder Katate – one hand Koti or tekubi – wrist Kote – forearm, wrist Kokyu – breath Koshi – hip Kubi – neck Mae – forward Men – face or head Mune – body / chest Shomen – front/top Soto – outside Tai-sabaki – body movement Te – hand Teganatana – edge of the hand Ude – arm

Arm – ude Body – mune Body movement – tai-sabaki Breath – kokyu Edge of hand – teganatana Elbow – hiji Face or head – men Foot/leg/ankle – ashi Forearm – kote Foreward – mae Front – showmen Hand – te Hip – koshi Lower area of body – gedan Middle area of body – chudan Neck – kubi One hand – katate Outside – soto Posture – hanmi or kamae Shoulder – kata Upper part of body (^ neck) – Jodan Wrist – koti or tekubi

As in English, there are different words for different contexts. Eg ‘front’ can be ‘shomen’, ‘mae’ or ‘omote’. ‘Shomen’ can be used to mean ‘front’ or ‘top’ or ‘the front of the dojo.

Compound Words / Moves

Words can be combined (often written without hyphens –added here for clarity). For example: Shomen-ate Front attack Shomen-uchi Strike to top of head Yokomen-uchi Strike to side of the head Mae ukemi Front (forward) roll Ushiro ukemi Rear roll (or break-fall) Katate-dori one hand grab (Uke’s right to Tori’s left ie hands not crossed across body) Katate kosa-dori Cross hand grab (prefer gyaku te-dori but not used here) Ryo-te-dori Two hand hold, one on each wrist Ryo-te-mochi Two hand hold, both Uke’s hands hold Tori’s one hand Katate-dori ryo-te-mochi Uke holds Tori’s wrist with both hands Zempo-nage Throw where Uke rolls out forward

Counting to Ten

Number

Japanese Pronounced

1 ichi itch 2 ni nee 3 san saan 4 shi shee 5 go goh 6 roku lok 7 shichi sheech 8 hachi haach 9 kyu or ku coo (kyoo) 10 jyu or ju joo Eleven in Japanese is translated as “10 plus 1″, as ‘jyu ichi’, 12 as jyu ni, etc. Twenty is two tens, ie Ni jyu, 21 = ni jyu ichi, 22 = ni jyu ni, etc. 100 = hyaku.