In aikido, as in virtually all Japanese martial arts, there are both physical and mental aspects of training. The physical training in aikido is diverse, covering both general physical fitness and conditioning, as well as specific techniques.
Because a substantial portion of any aikido curriculum consists of throws, the first thing most students learn is how to safely fall or roll. The specific techniques for attack include both strikes and grabs; the techniques for defense consist of throws and pins. After basic techniques are learned, students study freestyle defense against multiple opponents, and in certain styles, techniques with weapons.
Aikido training is mental as well as physical, emphasizing the ability to relax the mind and body even under the stress of dangerous situations. This is necessary in order to enable the practitioner to perform the bold enter-and-blend movements that underlie aikido techniques, wherein an attack is met with confidence and directness. Morihei Ueshiba once remarked that one "must be willing to receive 99% of an opponent's attack and stare death in the face" in order to execute techniques without hesitation. As a martial art concerned not only with fighting proficiency but also with the betterment of daily life, this mental aspect is of key importance to aikido practitioners.
General fitness and training:
Physical training goals pursued in conjunction with aikido include controlled relaxation, flexibility, and endurance, with less emphasis on strength training.
In aikido technique, pushing or extending movements are much more common than pulling or contracting movements found in other arts, and this distinction can be applied to general fitness goals for the aikido practitioner.
Certain anaerobic fitness activities, such as weight training, emphasize contractionary power, in which specific muscles or muscle groups are isolated and worked to improve tone, mass, and power. Aikido-related training instead emphasizes the use of coordinated whole-body movement and balance, more similar to yoga or pilates. For example, many dojo begin each class with warm-up exercises (準備体操, junbi taisō), which may include stretching and breakfalls.
Roles of uke and nage: Aikido training is based primarily on two partners practicing pre-arranged forms (kata) rather than freestyle practice. The basic pattern is for the receiver of the technique (uke) to initiate an attack against the thrower (投げ nage, also referred to as 取り tori, or 仕手 shite, depending on aikido style), who neutralises this attack with an aikido technique.
Both halves of the technique, that of uke and that of nage, are considered essential to aikido training. Both are studying aikido principles of blending and adaptation. Nage learns to blend with and control attacking energy, while uke learns to become calm and flexible in the disadvantageous, off-balance positions in which nage places them. This "receiving" of the technique is called ukemi. Uke continuously seeks to regain balance and cover vulnerabilities (e.g., an exposed side), while nage uses position and timing to keep uke off-balance and vulnerable. In more advanced training, uke will sometimes apply reversal techniques (返し技, kaeshi-waza) to regain balance and pin or throw nage.
Ukemi refers to the act of receiving a technique. Good ukemi involves a parry or breakfall that is used to avoid pain or injury. In applying a technique, it is the responsibility of nage to prevent injury to uke by employing a speed and force of application that is commensurate with their partner's proficiency in ukemi. Injuries (especially those to the joints), when they do occur in aikido, are often the result of nage misjudging the ability of uke to receive the throw or pin.
Initial attacks: Aikido techniques are usually a defense against an attack; therefore, to practice aikido with their partner, students must learn to deliver various types of attacks. Although attacks are not studied as thoroughly as in striking-based arts, "honest" attacks (a strong strike or an immobilizing grab) are needed to study correct and effective application of technique.
Many of the strikes of aikido are often said to resemble cuts from a sword or other grasped object, which may suggest origins in techniques intended for armed combat. Other techniques, which appear to explicitly be punches (tsuki), are also practiced as thrusts with a knife or sword. Kicks are generally reserved for upper-level variations; reasons cited include that falls from kicks are especially dangerous, and that kicks (high kicks in particular) were uncommon during the types of combat prevalent in feudal Japan. Some basic strikes include:
Front-of-the-head strike(正面打ち,shōmen'uchi)
a vertical knife-hand strike to the
head.
Side-of-the-head strike(横面打ち,yokomen'uchi)
a diagonal knife-hand strike to the side
of the head or neck.
Chest thrust(胸突き,mune-tsuki)
a punch to the torso. Specific targets
include the chest, abdomen, and solar
plexus. Same as "middle-level
thrust" (中段突き,chūdan-tsuki),
and "direct thrust" (直突き,choku-tsuki).
Face thrust(顔面突き,ganmen-tsuki)
a punch to the face. Same as
"upper-level thrust" (上段突き,jōdan-tsuki).
Beginners in particular often practice techniques from grabs, both because they are safer and because it is easier to feel the energy and lines of force of a hold than a strike. Some grabs are historically derived from being held while trying to draw a weapon; a technique could then be used to free oneself and immobilize or strike the attacker who is grabbing the defender. The following are examples of some basic grabs:
Single-hand grab(片手取り,katate-dori)
one hand grabs one wrist.
Both-hands grab(諸手取り,morote-dori)
both hands grab one wrist.
Both-hands grab(両手取り,ryōte-dori)
both hands grab both wrists. Same as
"double single-handed grab" (両片手取り,ryōkatate-dori).
Shoulder grab(肩取り,kata-dori)
a shoulder grab.
"Both-shoulders-grab" is ryōkata-dori(両肩取り,ryōkata-dori)
Chest grab(胸取り,mune-dori)
grabbing the (clothing of the) chest.
Same as "collar grab" (襟取り,eri-dori).
Basic Techniques: The following are a sample of the basic or widely practiced throws and pins. The precise terminology for some may vary between organisations and styles, so what follows are the terms used by the Aikikai Foundation. Note that despite the names of the first five techniques listed, they are not universally taught in numeric order.
First technique(一教,ikkyō)
a control using one hand on the elbow
and one on near the wrist which
leverages uke to the ground. This
grip also applies pressure into the
ulnar nerve at the wrist.
Second technique(二教,nikyō)
an adductive wristlock that torques the
arm and applies painful nerve pressure.
Third technique(三教,sankyō)
a pronating wristlock that directs
upward-spiraling tension throughout the
arm, elbow and shoulder.
Fourth technique(四教,yonkyō)
a shoulder control similar to ikkyō,
but with both hands gripping the
forearm. The knuckles (from the palm
side) are applied to the recipient's
radial nerve against the periosteum of
the forearm bone.
Fifth technique(五教,gokyō)
visually similar to ikkyō,
but with an inverted grip of the wrist,
medial rotation of the arm and shoulder,
and downward pressure on the elbow.
Common in knife and other weapon
take-aways.
Four-direction throw(四方投げ,shihōnage)
The hand is folded back past the
shoulder, locking the shoulder joint.
Forearm return(小手返し,kotegaeshi)
a supinating wristlock-throw that
stretches the extensor digitorum.
Breath throw(呼吸投げ,kokyūnage)
a term for various types of flowing
"timing throws".
Entering throw(入身投げ,iriminage)
throws in which nage moves
through the space occupied by uke.
The classic form superficially resembles
a "clothesline" technique.
Heaven-and-earth throw(天地投げ,tenchinage)
beginning with ryōte-dori;
moving forward, nage sweeps one
hand low ("earth") and the
other high ("heaven"), which
unbalances uke so that he or she
easily topples over.
Hip throw(腰投げ,koshinage)
aikido's version of the hip throw. Nage
drops his or her hips lower than those
of uke, then flips uke
over the resultant fulcrum.
Shaped-like-"ten" throw(十字投げ,jūjinage)
a throw that locks the arms against each
other. (The kanji for "10" is
a cross-shape: 十)
Rotation throw(回転投げ,kaitennage)nage sweeps the arm back until it
locks the shoulder joint, then uses
forward pressure to throw.
Implementations: Aikido makes use of body movement (tai sabaki) to blend with uke. For example, an "entering" (入身, irimi) technique consists of movements inward towards uke, while a "turning" (転換, tenkan) technique uses a pivoting motion.[28] Additionally, an "inside" (内, uchi?) technique takes place in front of uke, whereas an "outside" (外, soto?) technique takes place to his side; a "front" (表, omote?) technique is applied with motion to the front of uke, and a "rear" (裏, ura) version is applied with motion towards the rear of uke, usually by incorporating a turning or pivoting motion. Finally, most techniques can be performed while in a seated posture (seiza). Seated techniques are called suwari-waza.
Thus, from fewer than twenty basic techniques, there are thousands of possible implementations. For instance, ikkyō can be applied to an opponent moving forward with a strike (perhaps with an ura type of movement to redirect the incoming force), or to an opponent who has already struck and is now moving back to reestablish distance (perhaps an omote-waza version). Specific aikido kata are typically referred to with the formula "attack-technique(-modifier)". For instance, katate-dori ikkyō refers to any ikkyō technique executed when uke is holding one wrist. This could be further specified as katate-dori ikkyō omote, referring to any forward-moving ikkyō technique from that grab.
Atemi (当て身) are strikes (or feints) employed during an aikido technique. Some view atemi as attacks against "vital points" meant to cause damage in and of themselves. For instance, Gōzō Shioda described using atemi in a brawl to quickly down a gang's leader. Others consider atemi, especially to the face, to be methods of distraction meant to enable other techniques. A strike, whether or not it is blocked, can startle the target and break his or her concentration. The target may also become unbalanced in attempting to avoid the blow, for example by jerking the head back, which may allow for an easier throw. Many sayings about atemi are attributed to Morihei Ueshiba, who considered them an essential element of technique.
Weapons training: Weapons training in aikido traditionally includes the short staff (jō), wooden sword (bokken), and knife (tantō). Today, some schools also incorporate firearms-disarming techniques. Both weapon-taking and weapon-retention are sometimes taught, to integrate armed and unarmed aspects, although some schools of aikido do not train with weapons at all. Others, such as the Iwama style of Morihiro Saito, usually spend substantial time with bokken and jō, practised under the names aiki-ken, and aiki-jō, respectively. The founder developed much of empty handed aikido from traditional sword and spear movements, so the practice of these movements is generally for the purpose of giving insight into the origin of techniques and movements, as well as vital practice of these basic building blocks.
Multiple attackers and randori: One feature of aikido is training to defend oneself against multiple attackers. Freestyle (randori, or jiyūwaza) practice with multiple attackers is a key part of most curriculae and is required for the higher level
ranks. Randori exercises a person's ability to intuitively perform techniques in an unstructured environment. Strategic choice of techniques, based upon how they reposition the student relative to other attackers, is important in randori training. For instance, an ura technique might be used to neutralise the current attacker while turning to face attackers approaching from behind.
In Shodokan Aikido, randori differs in that it is not performed with multiple persons with defined roles of defender and attacker, but between two people, where both participants attack, defend, and counter at will. In this respect it resembles judo randori.
