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Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Understanding the Japanese Phrases Used In Aikido


In my previous post Aikido Japanese Terms- Do We Really Need to Learn Them?, I pointed out a common problem among the beginners of Aikido, specially those who does not speak Japanese, is the use of Japanese language when the Sensei tells the students what to do during training.





For example, when the Sensei says, "Katate dori Ikkyo Omote!" Of course the old timers will instantly jump into action do what the Sensei have just said. But, for most of the beginners, they might be scratching their heads first.


In the illustration below, shows how the phrase is usually divided. The first part is what the Uke should do. The second part is what the Nage (or more often referred to as Tori) should do.



Uke's Action


Uke's action is usually has two parts, the target and the action itself.

For example: Katate dori- Katate means Wrist and dori means grab.

Some common actions by the uke or attacks are:

  • kata dori - shoulder grab 
  • mune dori - lapel grab 
  • shomen uchi - frontal strike ( shomen means front/ or frontal; uchi means strike.) 
  • yokomen uchi - diagonal strike ( or strike to the side of the head) 
  • mune tsuki - trust / or punch to the chest


Nage's Action

Again, nage's action could be divided into two. First is the technique to be applied, and second the direction.

For example: Ikkyo Omote - Ikkyo is the technique; and Omote means to the front of uke. The other direction is ura which means to the back of uke.

Some examples are:

  • nikkyo omote - Second technique to front of uke. 
  • sankkyo ura - Third technique to the back of uke. 
  • shihonage ura - four corner throw to the back of uke.
These are just examples of the basic commands that used in Aikido. I hope this would help the beginners to understand the phrases or instructions given by the Sensei



I hope this helps








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