The following is a lexicon of some of the terms used in Aikido.
Movement / Position |
|
| irimi (omote) | entering |
| tenkan (ura) | turning |
| tenshin | retreat |
| tenkai | slide-in and rotate hip |
| uchi | inside |
| soto | outside |
| shikko | knee walking |
| ukemi | break fall, roll . . .back to top |
| Stances | |
| hamni handachi | Uke standing and Nage kneeling |
| suwari waza | Both Uke and Nage kneel |
| ai hamni | similar stance (Uke and Nage same foot forward) |
| gyakyu hamni | mirror image stance (Uke and Nage opposite foot forward) |
| seiza | Japanese style sitting on knees |
| kiza | seiza, up on balls of feet. . .back to top |
Attacks |
|
| atemi | strike |
| katate-tori | one wrist grabbed by one hand |
| kata-tori | one shoulder grabbed by one hand |
| morote-tori | one wrist grabbed by two hands |
| kata-tori-men-uchi | grab opponent’s shoulder with one hand and strike his head with the other |
| ryo-kata-tori | grab both shoulders of opponent |
| ryo-te-tori | grab both wrists of opponent |
| kubi-shime | choke |
| tsuki | punch, thrust |
| ushiro-waza | attacks from behind |
| ushiro-kubi-shime | rear choke with free hand grabbing wrist |
| ushiro-tekubi-tori | grab both wrists from behind |
| ushiro-ryo-kata-tori | grab both shoulders from behind |
| shomen-uchi | overhead strike to the head |
| yokomen-uchi | diagonal strike to the head |
| randori | free style (any attack). . .back to top |
Techniques |
|
| ikkyo | elbow and wrist control |
| nikyo | control by wrist compression |
| sankyo | control by wrist turning in |
| yonkyo | control by pressure point on wrist |
| gokyo | elbow and wrist control, with hand on wrist in opposite orientation to ikkyo |
| kote-gaeshi | wrist turn-out |
| irimi-nage | entering throw controlling head |
| shiho-nage | four directional throw |
| tenchi-nage | heaven and earth throw |
| kokyu-nage | breathing throw (any number of techniques where blending is the main element) |
| kokyu-ho | a specific example of kokyu-nage |
| kaiten-nage | wheel throw |
| ju-ji-nage | lock opponent’s elbows against each other and throw |
| tachi-tori | disarm a sword wielding attacker |
| jo-tori | disarm a staff wielding attacker |
| tanto-tori | disarm a knife wielding attacker |
| henka waza | switching from one to another technique |
| kaeshi waza | counter techniques. . .back to top |
Weapons |
|
| ken | sword |
| bokken | wooden sword |
| jo | staff, stick |
| tanto | knife. . .back to top |
The Uniform |
|
| do-gi | practice uniform |
| obi | belt |
| hakama | outer garment worn over do-gi. . .back to top |
The People |
|
| dan | black belt level(s) |
| kyu | ranks below black belt |
| nage | person defending |
| sensei | teacher |
| uke | person attacking. . .back to top |
General |
|
| ai | meet, join, blend |
| ki | universal energy |
| do | way, path |
| dojo | place of martial arts practice |
| ma'ai | distance between attacker and defender |
| suburi | sword cuts |
| waza | technique. . .back to top |