The Body and Mind Initiative (BM1I)
Exploring the nature and essence of Aikidō and budō
“Zazen, Aikidō, and Self-development:
An Interview with Okamoto Yoko Shihan”
Antonio Terrone
An Interview with Okamoto Yoko Shihan”
Antonio Terrone
Okamoto Yoko Shihan for her availability to What role does “spirituality” have in Aikidō and budō? What are the benefits of meditation for Aikidō practitioners? What is “martial” about this Japanese budō and what is “artistic”? The founder of Aikidō, Ueshiba Morihei (1883-1969), was a candidly devoted religious person and on the tatami mats in his dōjō he would perform both budō techniques and religious rituals; he would call for practice and execute various techniques as well as engage in chants and recitations of prayers In his interviews, speeches, dōka poems, and books he addressed the spirit of Aikidō as much as he emphasized connection with the divine, nature, and the power of the transcendent. Yet, the Aikidō that the vast majority of us practice in the world, especially outside Japan, its land of origin, has little or nothing to do with that comprehensive vision.
What is the meaning of Aikidō in the 21st century? The Aikikai Foundation promotes Aikidō as a modern martial art, or shinbudō, that trains body and mind and the goal of Aikidō training is not perfection of a step or skill, but rather improving one’s character according to the rules of nature. So, how do we understand Aikidō and what is the message we want to give the world by promoting this “art” and “way [of life]” in America? In this and future posts I will offer personal reflections about this topic and engage with other Aikidō practitioners’ and especially instructors’ insights, thoughts, and comments into this type of questions. This first post inaugurates the “Body and Mind as One Initiative” a series of writings on the nature of Japanese budō and especially Aikidō, with a conversation with Okamoto Yoko Shihan, dōjōchō of the Sandokai Aikidō Kyōto in Kyōto, Japan, and Chairperson of the International Aikidō Federation (IAF).
On April 6 2024, in occasion of Okamoto Yoko Shihan’s Aikidō seminar organized by the Montérégie Aikikai in Montréal, Canada, I had the fortune and pleasure of having a short conversation in the form of an interview with Okamoto Sensei. I contacted her prior to the event about my interest in learning more about the relevance of zazen in her Aikidō practice. Being myself also a practitioner of zazen, I had learned about this feature of her activities with fascination and a curiosity to know more.
In Euro-American societies, the spiritual side of Aikidō specifically, and budō in general, is sometimes overemphasized but mostly ignored all together. There are either dōjōs and senseis who include zazen practice in the form of mindfulness meditation, mokusō (silent thinking), and quite sitting in their curricula, or a complete dismissal of any reference to the training of the mind and mental attitude in the practice of Aikidō.
Part of this dissonance, of course, relates to the cultural context. In Japan, spirituality (which does not necessarily mean “religion”) is something embedded in the society, and traditional activities such as budō are thought and performed through an everyday language that already embeds philosophical, spiritual, and psychological concepts. European societies welcomed Japanese budō as “martial arts” forcing them into a category of physical activities that include fighting skills, combat systems, and military techniques as well as competitive sports. But budō or “martial ways [of life]” have little or nothing to do with sports, let alone fighting, and even less with the entertainment industry. Budō, and not just Aikidō, as Okamoto Sensei points out, are primarily a path to “human development.”
*
I want to acknowledge and express my deep gratitude to Okamoto Yoko Shihan for agreeing to this interview and allowing me to share it publicly. I also want to thank Emmanuel Mares from Sandokai Aikido Kyoto for his assistance. I am also grateful to Joshua Leiton Sensei and the members of his dōjō, the Montérégie Aikikai, for their kind support and organization efforts that made this interview possible.
*
What is the meaning of Aikidō in the 21st century? The Aikikai Foundation promotes Aikidō as a modern martial art, or shinbudō, that trains body and mind and the goal of Aikidō training is not perfection of a step or skill, but rather improving one’s character according to the rules of nature. So, how do we understand Aikidō and what is the message we want to give the world by promoting this “art” and “way [of life]” in America? In this and future posts I will offer personal reflections about this topic and engage with other Aikidō practitioners’ and especially instructors’ insights, thoughts, and comments into this type of questions. This first post inaugurates the “Body and Mind as One Initiative” a series of writings on the nature of Japanese budō and especially Aikidō, with a conversation with Okamoto Yoko Shihan, dōjōchō of the Sandokai Aikidō Kyōto in Kyōto, Japan, and Chairperson of the International Aikidō Federation (IAF).
On April 6 2024, in occasion of Okamoto Yoko Shihan’s Aikidō seminar organized by the Montérégie Aikikai in Montréal, Canada, I had the fortune and pleasure of having a short conversation in the form of an interview with Okamoto Sensei. I contacted her prior to the event about my interest in learning more about the relevance of zazen in her Aikidō practice. Being myself also a practitioner of zazen, I had learned about this feature of her activities with fascination and a curiosity to know more.
In Euro-American societies, the spiritual side of Aikidō specifically, and budō in general, is sometimes overemphasized but mostly ignored all together. There are either dōjōs and senseis who include zazen practice in the form of mindfulness meditation, mokusō (silent thinking), and quite sitting in their curricula, or a complete dismissal of any reference to the training of the mind and mental attitude in the practice of Aikidō.
Part of this dissonance, of course, relates to the cultural context. In Japan, spirituality (which does not necessarily mean “religion”) is something embedded in the society, and traditional activities such as budō are thought and performed through an everyday language that already embeds philosophical, spiritual, and psychological concepts. European societies welcomed Japanese budō as “martial arts” forcing them into a category of physical activities that include fighting skills, combat systems, and military techniques as well as competitive sports. But budō or “martial ways [of life]” have little or nothing to do with sports, let alone fighting, and even less with the entertainment industry. Budō, and not just Aikidō, as Okamoto Sensei points out, are primarily a path to “human development.”
*
I want to acknowledge and express my deep gratitude to Okamoto Yoko Shihan for agreeing to this interview and allowing me to share it publicly. I also want to thank Emmanuel Mares from Sandokai Aikido Kyoto for his assistance. I am also grateful to Joshua Leiton Sensei and the members of his dōjō, the Montérégie Aikikai, for their kind support and organization efforts that made this interview possible.
*
The author with Okamoto Yoko Shihan and Joshua Layton Sensei (left)
and with Okamoto Yoko Shihan (right). Photo credit: Antonio Terrone 2004.
and with Okamoto Yoko Shihan (right). Photo credit: Antonio Terrone 2004.
Antonio Terrone (AT). Where do Zen focus on mind and body and Aikidō/budō practice intersect for you. Is the practice of zazen in your dojo explicitly connected to the practice of Aikidō? Are they inherently the same? What is your view on this? Also, how did Zen Buddhism enter your life?
Okamoto Yoko Shihan (OYS). I was born and basically raised in a Japanese temple, which was our family temple. This was a Zen temple attached to the Sōtō school, and it was called Hōfuku-ji temple in Kanazawa Prefecture, Japan. It was not a shugyō or training temple, where monks train in and practice zazen. It was a family-run Zen temple, following the danka system tradition, a system of affiliation between Buddhist temples and the surrounding households. My father, the abbot, was in charge of the temple and the few monks in the performance of various services for the community. I was influenced a lot by the monks in the temple. Their recitations and chants, their movements and their bowing, were all part of my growing up. However, when I was still a little girl, my father once took me with him to a shugyō temple where he sat for practice. Since he took me along, he asked me to sit too, but I was little and thus pretended to sit like him in zazen. The first time I decided to deliberately sit in zazen was when I came to America and settled down in Oregon. Near Portland, just outside of the city, there was a small Zen temple, and that’s where I started sitting in zazen and I enjoyed it very much.
What connects Zen and Aikidō for me is the “sitting”. I like sitting in zazen. It resets me. But Zen and Aikidō are also very different, of course, because while Zen is about sitting and not moving, Aikidō instead is about constantly moving. For me, that is the main difference. Additionally, Aikidō is also a little bit more difficult, because you are also always confronting an opponent, and thus you have to deal with yourself. Zazen is sitting, that’s it! And all that is asked of you [when you practice zazen] is to keep a good posture and pay attention to your breathing. It’s simple, but that’s the only difference.
Both practices, Aikidō and zazen focus on good concentration, and even if they have this in common (i.e. the attention to the mind), I like practicing zazen as action. I don’t practice it with a specific purpose in mind, because it has this, because it has that…For me zazen is pure movement, a pure gesture. Then, as you sit, you may also think about anything you want. But if you practice zazen with that purpose in mind (i.e. constantly thinking about something), after forty minutes you easily get tired. So, instead you switch your attention to the breathing and holding a good posture.”
AT. Along with the connection between Aikidō and zazen as practices oriented toward the purity of gesture, of the movement, and of the posture, another feature often highlighted in Aikidō in the context of the Japanese experience of budō is the concept of ningen keisei or “human development”. What do you think of this link?
OYS. “Oh, definitely! But you see, it’s not only true for Aikidō. The same is valid for budō in general too. If you seek to engage in a pure movement or a pure gesture, then anything can lead to this very same experience. For instance, take a pianist who wants to reproduce the best of Chopin’s music. He needs concentration for that. Or a chef, for that matter, who wants to cook the best dish. He or she also has to focus on the pure gesture. So, Aikidō, basically, is the gesture. Aikidō is the movement. Everything comes out through waza (technique). Waza is action, and you do your best in that circumstance. You might miss it once, but then, you have another opportunity to do it better. You might miss that opportunity as well? But then, again, you will soon have another chance to improve, and this might go on for a while. Sometimes, once in a million executions of techniques you might think ‘Wow, this is perfect!’ and if that happens, you are lucky, because the immediately following moment your movement might not be perfect anymore. It is an endless and continuous effort!”
AT. Based on this, where does the effectiveness of Aikidō lie? Let’s say that for the majority of martial arts the effectiveness is basically measured in winning over an opponent or knocking him out, like in Karate kumite bouts, with a tsuki punch, or a mawashi geri kick.
OYS. “That’s the short effect of Karate. But the long-term effect of Karate is also, or should also be, ningen keisei (human development). In Aikidō, we don’t have competition. So, what we immediately face is “us”, “ourselves”. When you are competing against someone, there will always be someone to compete against, and you will always strive to make a better point. You will keep on looking for someone to prove that you are better than him. In golf, baseball, or other sports, everything is the same. You want to get better points. In Aikidō, however, there are no better points. We face ourselves, right away. Perhaps this is not true in the early stages of learning Aikidō. In the very beginning, one’s progress is noticeable, obvious. As one improves, the teacher might call her to act as an uke in demonstrating techniques in class. That person might easily feel she is getting better and better, and experience confidence in her progress. At this time, you might think ‘The teacher chose me as his or her uke. It must mean that I’m getting better!’ But then, as you advance and start to compare yourself with other practitioners, you realize that there is no end to this process. You face yourself, immediately.”
AT. Would you like to offer a few words of advice to those who make efforts in the practice of Aikidō?
OYS. “To start new things, like a shoshinsha (i.e. a beginner) is easy. The difficult part is to continue. To continue is difficult, but as one continues, persistence is even more difficult. So, the clue is to persevere step by step, you know. Let’s do something new and take a chance. It is hard in the beginning, but then it becomes easy. The difficult moments might pass quickly, but continuing with stability and rigor is more difficult.
In Aikidō, just as in many other activities in life, we start something new and we dedicate ourselves to it for the first two years, and everything feels good and is bright as we are learning many new things. But then, during the third and fourth year we might feel we are going down, making no progress. It’s all ups and downs, just like it is in life. When an Aikidōka thinks of himself or herself as really good, that’s when she must be very careful!
For me, the beauty of Aikidō is that what we do is who we are. And what we cannot do is also who we are. It’s not that one should be ashamed of himself or herself because of the inability to do something correctly all the time. It’s not like that. We are learning beings, and so whatever we do in each circumstance, let’s say in the execution of an ikkyō technique, for instance, is who we are at that moment. That’s what a pure gesture is for me.
AT. Is that what you mean by jinen gōdō (natural realization) as represented in the calligraphy hanging in the kamiza (the alcove) of your dōjō in Kyōto?
OYS. “Yes, kind of... Jinen is ‘as it is’ or ‘as you are’, and gōdō means ‘realizing’ or ‘realization’. It means ‘meet the dō (way)’. But ‘as you are’ does not mean to lay down and do nothing and relax. It means ‘constantly walking along the path’.
Essential English Glossary
of Aikido Technical Terms
(This list does not include diacritics)
• Ago tsuki: “straight punch to the chin”.
• Ago tsuki age: “arch strike or push to the chin” (uppercut).
• Aiki: Blending, harmony, unification/union, synchrony.
• Aikidoka: A person who practices Aikido.
• Aiki otoshi: lit. “aiki drop.” A throwing technique in which nage grabs uke by his knees and pulling them up forces uke to fall backward.
• Aite: “opponent”, “partner”.
• Anza: cross-legged sitting position.
• Arigato gozaimasu: “Thank you very much”.
• Ashi: “foot”; “leg”
• Ashihakobi: “manner of walking”; “footwork”- characteristic way of moving in martial arts, keeping the center of gravity low (center/hara)
• Ashisabaki: footwork.
• Atemi: Striking.
• Atemi waza: Striking techniques; designed to control or cause Uke to react.
• Ayumi ashi: “alternated step” (normal stepping).
• Barai: (harai) “sweep”
• Boken/bokken: “wooden training sword”.
• Bokuto: “wood sword”; wooden training sword.
• Buki: “weapon(s)”
• Buki waza: “weapon techniques”, training techniques with weapons.
• Butoku: “the principles of budo/martial arts.”
• Chudan: “middle level”.
• Chudan tsuki: “chest strike”, middle (chest/stomach) level strike/thrust.
• Chushin: “center” (in Aikido it refers to the center of the body).
• Dan: “dan holder,” Aikido grade holder, black belt rank.
• Deshi: “pupil”, “disciple”.
• Do: “Way”, “Path”.
• Dogi: “uniform,” “dojo garments.” See also, keikogi, “practice uniform.”
• Dojo: The place where the way is revealed. A place for the strengthening and refinement of spirit, mind and body.
• Dojokun: “training hall rules”
• Dosa: “movement [of the body]”; action; gesture, exercise.
• Doshu: “Master of the Way” - Japanese title given to the head of the Aikido school and founder or successor of the tradition.
• Dozo: “please”.
• Embu: “martial demonstration”
• Embukai: “gathering/meeting of martial demonstrations”
• Eri: “collar”; “lapel.”
• Eri dori: “lapel grab” attack.
• Fudochi: “immovable mind,” “unshakable wisdom.”
• Fukko kamae: “kneeling position on one knee”
• Fumikomi: “stepping in” or “sliding in” toward the oppontent.
• Funekogi undo: “boat rowing exercise”
• Gaeshi/Kaeshi: “reverse”. To reverse/counter. Overturning or countering of opponent’s offensive action.
• Gaeshi/Kaeshi Waza: “counter technique”. Reverse techniques/practice.
• Gaku: “[picture] frame” – in a dojo this term typically refers to the portrait of O-sensei hanging or placed on the shomen.
• Gaman: “endurance”; “patience”; “perseverance”; bearing (with something). Also “self-restraint.” Term of Buddhist origin.
• Ganmen tsuki: “face thrust”, a hit/atemi (knife-hand/punch) to the face.
• Garami: “arm lock”.
• Gatame: see “Katame”
• Gedan: “low level”
• Gedan tsuki: “low level strike/thrust”.
• Gi: “training uniform”.
• Gokyo: (dai gokyo) fifth technique” – wrist and elbow control, usually against a tanto.
• Guchoku: “simplicity”, “purity”.
• Gyaku: “opposite”, contrary; reverse.
• Haishin undo: stretching exercise done in couple for the practitioners’ back, hips, and torso.
• Hajime: “beginning”.
• Hakama: Formal, wide pleated skirt-like pants worn over the gi.
• Hanmi: “half body”. The relaxed triangular stance of Aikido, with one foot forward.
• Hanmi handachi: Techniques practiced with nage sitting and uke standing.
• Hara: “belly.” The center of existence. Lower abdomen, physical and spiritual center.
• Hidari: “left,” the left side.
• Hiji: “elbow”
• Hiji dori: “elbow grab”
• Hiji kime osae: “elbow locking/control” technique. Also known as rokkyo (dai rokkyo) or Sixth technique”.
• Ikkyo: (dai ikkyo) “first technique”, arm control.
• Irimi: Entering, moving into and through the line of attack.
• Jigeiko: Free training, training between two students without direct instruction (kendo).
• Jiyu: “freedom,” “liberty”
• Jiyugeiko: “free practice,” “unrestricted practice”
• Jiyu waza: “free/unrestricted techniques”.
• Jo: Short wooden staff.
• Jo dori: Techniques of staff taking.
• Jodan: “head/face level”.
• Jodan tsuki: “head strike”, face level strike/thrust.
• Joseki: “upper-end side,” higher [or closer] side of the dojo.
• Juji garami: “crossed arms” or “figure-10” throwing technique (also calles juji nage).
• Jukyo: Confucianism, the root of East Asian understanding of the Way/do.
• Jumbi taiso: preparatory/warm-up exercises.
• Kaeshi waza: “counter technique”.
•Kagami: “mirror”, “model”, “example”.
• Kagami biraki: Japanese ritual opening of the New Year’s Day with Aikido practice.
• Kaiten: “rotation”, “revolution”, To revolve or rotate.
• Kaiten nage: “Wheel/rotary throw” – pressing uke’s arm behind and over their back.
• Kakari keigo: form of Aikido training in which multiple attackers (uke) attack the defendant (nage) from various directions.
• Kakujiku: “hanging scroll” – this term typically refers to the painting scroll (usually Japanese calligraphy of the word Aikido or Japanese language maxims/mottos) hanging in a dojo on the shomen.
• Kamae: Natural ‘readiness’ stance. With a weapon: Jodan kamae – high position; Chudan kamae- middle position; Gedan kamae – lower position.
• Kamiza: “chief seat”, seat of honor – area of the dojo where the instructor (sensei) sits and where O-sensei is remembered and respected.
• Kangeiko: “winter training.”
• Kata: Shoulder; person. Also means ‘form’ practice of pre-arranged exercises(s).
• Kata dori: “shoulder grab”.
• Katadori menuchi: “one shoulder grab, while simultaneously hitting the face or the forehead with other hand.
• Kata gatame: “immobilization techniques of the arm and the shoulder” occurring after execution of nikkyo, sankyo, kotegaeshi.
• Katame: “immobilization”, “holding”
• Katame waza: “immobilization techniques”, “holding techniques”, “grappling techniques”.
• Katate: “single hand.”
• Katate dori: “wrist grab.” Single hand grab.
• Katate dori ryote mochi: Grabbing your partner’s wrist with both hands; two-hand hold on two hands/wrists.
• Kawashi waza: “dodging techniques”, “deflecting/evasion techniques”.
• Kawasu: “to dodge” “to deflect”, “to evade”.
• Keiko/geiko: “practice”, “training”.
• Keikogi: “training uniform”.
• Keiretsu: “line alignment”, “arrangement in a row”.
• Kendo: the “Art of the Sword” a modern form of kenjustu in which use of the wooden sword has been replaced by that of a bamboo one.
• Kesa: a Buddhist monk’s robe; angle at which the robe collar slants.
• Kesa giri: “kesa cut”; “diagonal cut top to bottom.” A sword cut along the oblique line of the opponent’s lapel.
• Ki: The vital force of the body; Cosmic Energy; or “flow of energy” (ki no nagare).
• Kiai: A piercing scream or cry with practical and psychological value meaning – “Meeting of the Spirits”.
• Kihon waza: “fundamental techniques”, “basic techniques”.
• Kime: “blocking”, “immobilization”, “applying pressure on the joint”.
• Kimeru: “to immobilize with a double-arm lock”.
• Kime waza: immobilization techniques.
• Ki no nagare: “flow of Ki energy”; one way of practicing Aikido.
• Kiri: “cut.”
• Kiri otoshi: “falling cut throw” – typically executed from the opponent’s back (ushiro).
• Kohai: “Junior student.”
• Koho tento undo: “backward rocking exercise”
• Kokoro: “mind/heart”, “spirit”
• Kokyu: “breathing”; the power of breath.
• Kokyu nage: “breath power throw”. Name referring to a set of techniques that involve throwing uke without grabbing any parts of his body.
• Kokyu tanden ho: Paired, two-hand grab sitting exercise. Also referred to as kokyu-ho, or kokyu-dosa.
• Kosa dori: “Cross hand grab” (right hand grabbing right wrist), same as aihanmi katate dori.
• Koshi: “hip(s)”, “waist”.
• Koshi nage: “hip throw”.
• Kotae gaeshi: ‘turning the wrist’ – a wrist-turning throw.
• Kote: “wrist”, the forearm.
• Kubi: “neck”.
• Kubi nage: “throwing by grabbing the neck”.
• Kubi shime: “choke hold.”
• Kubi uchi: “blow/ strike to the neck”.
• Kuki nage: “air throw” or “whirling throw.”
• Kumi jo: “paired jo staff practice”, “sparring practice with jo staff”.
• Kumi tachi: “paired sword practice”
• Kuro/kuroi: the color “black”.
• Kuzushi waza: techniques to break opponent’s balance.
• Kuzusu: “to break one’s balance”, “to throw off balance”.
• Kyu: Aikido rank, class. A mudansha (or undergraduate).
• Kyudo: the traditional art of archery, or the “Way of the Bow”
• Kyusho: “vital points” of the human body.
• Ma-ai: “distance.” Space or gap between uke and nage, meaning “harmony of space.”
• Mae: “the front,” forward.
• Mae geri: “front kick”.
• Mae mawari ukemi; "forward rolling fall/ukemi".
• Mae ukemi: “front fall”. See also utsubuse ukemi.
• Maki: winding; wrapping.
• Makoto: “sincerity”, “truth”
• Mawari: "rotation," "round" (as a suffix).
• Mawashi geri: “roundhouse kick,” spin kick.”
• Men: “face”
• Men tsuki: Straight thrust (punch) to the face. Same as jodan tsuki.
• Menuchi: “strike to the opponent’s head or forehead”.
• Metsuke: “expression of the eyes”
• Migi: “right”, right side.
• Misogi: “purification ritual” (Shinto). Ritual ceremony typically performed with water/ablutions.
• Mitori-geiko: “looking practice,” usually means coming to class when you are injured and can't participate. To learn something by watching and copying/mimicking.
• Mokuso: “silent sitting”; “silent contemplation” - short meditation before or after class.
• Morote: “both hands,” two handed.
• Morote dori: “two hand hold”. Grabbing [the opponent’s wrist] with two hands.
• Muga: “no ego”, “no self”. Buddhist term.
• Mune: “chest”; “lapel”
• Munen: “no thought”, “no thinking”. Buddhist term.
• Musha shugyo: a “warrior’s ascetic practice” to hone and ascertain one’s skills.
• Mushin: “no mind”. Buddhist term.
• Musubi: “connection”, “unification”.
• Nageru: “to throw”.
• Naname: “diagonal” direction.
• Naname kokyu nage/naname irimi nage: “diagonal throw” also referred to as sokumen irimi nage (Lit. “Side-of-the-face/frontal throw”).
• Nikkyo: (dai nikkyo) ‘Second Technique’ – a wrist joint-lock control.
• Obi: “belt”.
• Omote: “front side.”
• Osae: “suppression”; “keeping control”, pression; immobilization.
• Osaeru: “to suppress” (to hold; to immobilize)
• O Sensei: “Great teacher” – the title used for the Founder of Aikido.
• Otoshi: “drop”
• Randori: “free technique” against multiple attacking opponents (lit. “grabbing [the opponent] in a disorderly manner”].
• Rei: “bow”, to bow.
• Reigi: “courtesy”, “manners”, “etiquette”.
• Reiho: “rules of courtesy and respect,” “etiquette”.
• Ritsurei: “standing bow”.
• Ryohiji dori: “grabbing both elbows”.
• Ryokata dori: “grabbing both shoulders”.
• Ryokatate dori: “both hands grabbing one of the opponent’s wrists”.
• Ryote: “two handed”.
• Ryote dori: “grabbing with two hands”; two-hand hold.
• Ryote mochi: “grabbing with two hands”.
• Sabaki: “movement control”, “managing”.
• Sankaku: “triangle”
• Sankyo: (dai sankyo) “third technique”, a wrist-joint twisting technique.
• Sayu undo: “side exercise” (lit. left and right exercise)
• Seika [no] tanden: “point below one’s navel” – a focal point in meditative practice related to one’s mental and physical centralization.
• Seiza: formal sitting position on knees.
• Sekka no ki: “flash from a flint” a principle in martial arts that denotes a instantaneous reaction to an attack and immediate as a spark from a flint.
• Seoi: “shoulder”.
• Seoi otoshi: “shoulder drop technique” (typically from ushiro)
• Sempai: “senior student”.
• Sensei: “teacher”, one who gives guidance along the way.
• Senshin: “pure mind”. A purified heart and spirit; enlightened attitude.
• Shihan: official title in Aikido given to the most senior teacher in a dojo (typically after 6th dan).
• Shiho: “four directions/sides”.
• Shiho nage: “four corner throw” – a wrist / elbow lock, throw, and pin.
• Shikaku: “blind spot”.
• Shikko: “knee walking exercise”; moving on one’s knees.
• Shime waza: “choking techniques”
• Shimoseki: “lower end side”, lower [or further away] side of the dojo.
• Shimoza: “lower seat” – the area in the dojo where students (deshi) sit, facing the kamiza and the shomen.
• Shingitai ichinyo: “the unity of mind, technique, and body.”
• Shinshin ichinyo: “Body and mind as One.” Practicing with the goal of uniting movement and thinking.
• Shinzenbi: the principle of “mind, honesty, and beauty”
• Shiro/shiroi: the color “white”.
• Shisei: “body posture”.
• Shizen: “nature”, natural.
• Shizen hontai: “natural physical attitude”.
• Shizan tai: “natural standing posture”.
• Shochugeiko: “summer training.”
• Shodan: Holder of the first-grade black belt.
• Shomen: “front”. Also, name given to the area in the dojo housing the picture of O-Sensei, calligraphies, and often flowers/plants.
• Shomen uchi: “strike to the forehead”. Downward strike or cut to one’s forehead or the top of the head.
• Shuto: “knife-hand.” See tegatana.
• Sode: “sleeve”.
• Sode dori: “sleeve grab”.
• Sokumen: “side”, “profile”, “lateral”.
• Sokumen irimi nage. See naname kokyu nage above.
• Soto: “outer/outside”.
• Soto kaiten nage: throwing technique that involves reversing one’s posture next to uke’s side.
• Suigetsu: “solar plexus” (vital target point); lit. “water-moon.”
• Sumi: “corner”, “angle”.
• Sumi otoshi: “Corner drop”, sometimes a locked-elbow throw.
• Suriashi: “sliding step” – moving on the tatami mats with feet always in contact with the surface.
• Sutemi: “suicide fall”, a hard fall; lit. “throwing or sacrificing one’s own body to throw an opponent”).
• Suwari waza: “kneeling techniques”.
• Tachi: Japanese sword; also “standing/upright position”.
• Tai no henko: Basic blending practice.
• Tai otoshi: “body dropping” - throwing technique in which nage lowers his body forcing uke to follow and fall to the ground.
• Taiso: “Body conditioning”; exercises and calisthenics.
• Tanden: The hara, the center of the body below the navel; the lower abdomen, the center of the body’s KI, or vital energy.
• Tanto: “knife” (lit. short blade)
• Tanto dori: Techniques of knife taking.
• Te: “hand”.
• Tegatana: “hand-blade” or “knife-hand”. Edge of the hand used like a sword in fighting. Same as Japanese term shuto; same meaning different pronunciation.
• Tekubi: “wrist(s)”.
• Tekubi kosa undo: “wrist crossing exercise”.
• Tenchi: Ten=heaven, chi=earth. A position of the hands, one up and one down.
• Tenchi nage: “heaven and earth throw.”
• Tenkan: “pivoting,” turning to dissipate force.
• Tenshin: “body turn”.
• Tobi ukemi: “flying fall”, “break fall”.
• Tori: “doer” the thrower. See “nage.”
• Toru: “to take,” grab, catch; seize.
• Tsugi ashi: “follow-up step”. Moving the leading foot first and bringing the rear foot one close behind it.
• Tsuki: “thrust”.
• Uchi: “Inner”, “inside”, “under”
• Uchideshi: (lit. inside student), “live-in student,” apprentice who trains under and assists a sensei on a full-time basis.
• Uchi kaiten nage: throwing technique involving nage’s stepping under uke’s arm before performing a rotation (kaiten).
• Ude: “forearm”.
• Ude furi undo: “arm swinging exercise”.
• Ude garami: “entangled arm lock.”
• Uke: “receiver;” one who receives [the technique]. The person being thrown.
• Ukemi: Techniques of receiving, falling and protecting yourself. The art of falling away from harm.
• Ukeru: to receive; to accept.
• Uki otoshi [kokyu nage]: Throwing techniques in which nage pulls uke by the hand and the latter rolls to nage’s side. Lit. “floating drop”.
• Ura: “ear/back/behind”.
• Ushiro: Attacking from the back, behind, rear.
• Ushiro dori/tori: holding/attacking/grabbing from behind.
• Ushiro hiji dori: elbow hold from behind.
• Ushiro kata dori: shoulder hold from behind.
• Ushiro kiri otoshi: “cutting down from behind”
• Ushiro kubishime: strangulation from behind.
• Ushiro ryote dori: Two hands grabbing two hands/wrists, from behind.
• Ushiro tekubi tori: wrist grab/hold from behind.
• Ushiro tekubi tori zenshin undo: “wrist grab from behind backward throw”.
• Ushiro tori undo: “forward extension exercise”.
• Ushiro ukemi: “rear fall”.
• Waka sensei: “young teacher”, “young mater” – in Aikido title given the son and successor of the doshu.
• Utsubuse ukemi: "face down/front ukemi".
• Waza: “technique(s)”.
• Yoko geri: “side kick.”
• Yoko menuchi: “side of the head strike”. A lateral cut or strike.
• Yoko ukemi: “side fall”.
• Yonkyo: (dai yonkyo) “fourth technique” – a wrist pressure point technique.
• Yudansha: Black belt grade holder(s).
• Yukyusha: White belt grade holder(s).
• Za: “sit”.
• Zanshin: “remaining mind”. Awareness of action and surroundings at all times (subconsciously).
• Zori: “sandals,” – traditional Japanese split-toe sandals.
of Aikido Technical Terms
(This list does not include diacritics)
• Ago tsuki: “straight punch to the chin”.
• Ago tsuki age: “arch strike or push to the chin” (uppercut).
• Aiki: Blending, harmony, unification/union, synchrony.
• Aikidoka: A person who practices Aikido.
• Aiki otoshi: lit. “aiki drop.” A throwing technique in which nage grabs uke by his knees and pulling them up forces uke to fall backward.
• Aite: “opponent”, “partner”.
• Anza: cross-legged sitting position.
• Arigato gozaimasu: “Thank you very much”.
• Ashi: “foot”; “leg”
• Ashihakobi: “manner of walking”; “footwork”- characteristic way of moving in martial arts, keeping the center of gravity low (center/hara)
• Ashisabaki: footwork.
• Atemi: Striking.
• Atemi waza: Striking techniques; designed to control or cause Uke to react.
• Ayumi ashi: “alternated step” (normal stepping).
• Barai: (harai) “sweep”
• Boken/bokken: “wooden training sword”.
• Bokuto: “wood sword”; wooden training sword.
• Buki: “weapon(s)”
• Buki waza: “weapon techniques”, training techniques with weapons.
• Butoku: “the principles of budo/martial arts.”
• Chudan: “middle level”.
• Chudan tsuki: “chest strike”, middle (chest/stomach) level strike/thrust.
• Chushin: “center” (in Aikido it refers to the center of the body).
• Dan: “dan holder,” Aikido grade holder, black belt rank.
• Deshi: “pupil”, “disciple”.
• Do: “Way”, “Path”.
• Dogi: “uniform,” “dojo garments.” See also, keikogi, “practice uniform.”
• Dojo: The place where the way is revealed. A place for the strengthening and refinement of spirit, mind and body.
• Dojokun: “training hall rules”
• Dosa: “movement [of the body]”; action; gesture, exercise.
• Doshu: “Master of the Way” - Japanese title given to the head of the Aikido school and founder or successor of the tradition.
• Dozo: “please”.
• Embu: “martial demonstration”
• Embukai: “gathering/meeting of martial demonstrations”
• Eri: “collar”; “lapel.”
• Eri dori: “lapel grab” attack.
• Fudochi: “immovable mind,” “unshakable wisdom.”
• Fukko kamae: “kneeling position on one knee”
• Fumikomi: “stepping in” or “sliding in” toward the oppontent.
• Funekogi undo: “boat rowing exercise”
• Gaeshi/Kaeshi: “reverse”. To reverse/counter. Overturning or countering of opponent’s offensive action.
• Gaeshi/Kaeshi Waza: “counter technique”. Reverse techniques/practice.
• Gaku: “[picture] frame” – in a dojo this term typically refers to the portrait of O-sensei hanging or placed on the shomen.
• Gaman: “endurance”; “patience”; “perseverance”; bearing (with something). Also “self-restraint.” Term of Buddhist origin.
• Ganmen tsuki: “face thrust”, a hit/atemi (knife-hand/punch) to the face.
• Garami: “arm lock”.
• Gatame: see “Katame”
• Gedan: “low level”
• Gedan tsuki: “low level strike/thrust”.
• Gi: “training uniform”.
• Gokyo: (dai gokyo) fifth technique” – wrist and elbow control, usually against a tanto.
• Guchoku: “simplicity”, “purity”.
• Gyaku: “opposite”, contrary; reverse.
• Haishin undo: stretching exercise done in couple for the practitioners’ back, hips, and torso.
• Hajime: “beginning”.
• Hakama: Formal, wide pleated skirt-like pants worn over the gi.
• Hanmi: “half body”. The relaxed triangular stance of Aikido, with one foot forward.
• Hanmi handachi: Techniques practiced with nage sitting and uke standing.
• Hara: “belly.” The center of existence. Lower abdomen, physical and spiritual center.
• Hidari: “left,” the left side.
• Hiji: “elbow”
• Hiji dori: “elbow grab”
• Hiji kime osae: “elbow locking/control” technique. Also known as rokkyo (dai rokkyo) or Sixth technique”.
• Ikkyo: (dai ikkyo) “first technique”, arm control.
• Irimi: Entering, moving into and through the line of attack.
• Jigeiko: Free training, training between two students without direct instruction (kendo).
• Jiyu: “freedom,” “liberty”
• Jiyugeiko: “free practice,” “unrestricted practice”
• Jiyu waza: “free/unrestricted techniques”.
• Jo: Short wooden staff.
• Jo dori: Techniques of staff taking.
• Jodan: “head/face level”.
• Jodan tsuki: “head strike”, face level strike/thrust.
• Joseki: “upper-end side,” higher [or closer] side of the dojo.
• Juji garami: “crossed arms” or “figure-10” throwing technique (also calles juji nage).
• Jukyo: Confucianism, the root of East Asian understanding of the Way/do.
• Jumbi taiso: preparatory/warm-up exercises.
• Kaeshi waza: “counter technique”.
•Kagami: “mirror”, “model”, “example”.
• Kagami biraki: Japanese ritual opening of the New Year’s Day with Aikido practice.
• Kaiten: “rotation”, “revolution”, To revolve or rotate.
• Kaiten nage: “Wheel/rotary throw” – pressing uke’s arm behind and over their back.
• Kakari keigo: form of Aikido training in which multiple attackers (uke) attack the defendant (nage) from various directions.
• Kakujiku: “hanging scroll” – this term typically refers to the painting scroll (usually Japanese calligraphy of the word Aikido or Japanese language maxims/mottos) hanging in a dojo on the shomen.
• Kamae: Natural ‘readiness’ stance. With a weapon: Jodan kamae – high position; Chudan kamae- middle position; Gedan kamae – lower position.
• Kamiza: “chief seat”, seat of honor – area of the dojo where the instructor (sensei) sits and where O-sensei is remembered and respected.
• Kangeiko: “winter training.”
• Kata: Shoulder; person. Also means ‘form’ practice of pre-arranged exercises(s).
• Kata dori: “shoulder grab”.
• Katadori menuchi: “one shoulder grab, while simultaneously hitting the face or the forehead with other hand.
• Kata gatame: “immobilization techniques of the arm and the shoulder” occurring after execution of nikkyo, sankyo, kotegaeshi.
• Katame: “immobilization”, “holding”
• Katame waza: “immobilization techniques”, “holding techniques”, “grappling techniques”.
• Katate: “single hand.”
• Katate dori: “wrist grab.” Single hand grab.
• Katate dori ryote mochi: Grabbing your partner’s wrist with both hands; two-hand hold on two hands/wrists.
• Kawashi waza: “dodging techniques”, “deflecting/evasion techniques”.
• Kawasu: “to dodge” “to deflect”, “to evade”.
• Keiko/geiko: “practice”, “training”.
• Keikogi: “training uniform”.
• Keiretsu: “line alignment”, “arrangement in a row”.
• Kendo: the “Art of the Sword” a modern form of kenjustu in which use of the wooden sword has been replaced by that of a bamboo one.
• Kesa: a Buddhist monk’s robe; angle at which the robe collar slants.
• Kesa giri: “kesa cut”; “diagonal cut top to bottom.” A sword cut along the oblique line of the opponent’s lapel.
• Ki: The vital force of the body; Cosmic Energy; or “flow of energy” (ki no nagare).
• Kiai: A piercing scream or cry with practical and psychological value meaning – “Meeting of the Spirits”.
• Kihon waza: “fundamental techniques”, “basic techniques”.
• Kime: “blocking”, “immobilization”, “applying pressure on the joint”.
• Kimeru: “to immobilize with a double-arm lock”.
• Kime waza: immobilization techniques.
• Ki no nagare: “flow of Ki energy”; one way of practicing Aikido.
• Kiri: “cut.”
• Kiri otoshi: “falling cut throw” – typically executed from the opponent’s back (ushiro).
• Kohai: “Junior student.”
• Koho tento undo: “backward rocking exercise”
• Kokoro: “mind/heart”, “spirit”
• Kokyu: “breathing”; the power of breath.
• Kokyu nage: “breath power throw”. Name referring to a set of techniques that involve throwing uke without grabbing any parts of his body.
• Kokyu tanden ho: Paired, two-hand grab sitting exercise. Also referred to as kokyu-ho, or kokyu-dosa.
• Kosa dori: “Cross hand grab” (right hand grabbing right wrist), same as aihanmi katate dori.
• Koshi: “hip(s)”, “waist”.
• Koshi nage: “hip throw”.
• Kotae gaeshi: ‘turning the wrist’ – a wrist-turning throw.
• Kote: “wrist”, the forearm.
• Kubi: “neck”.
• Kubi nage: “throwing by grabbing the neck”.
• Kubi shime: “choke hold.”
• Kubi uchi: “blow/ strike to the neck”.
• Kuki nage: “air throw” or “whirling throw.”
• Kumi jo: “paired jo staff practice”, “sparring practice with jo staff”.
• Kumi tachi: “paired sword practice”
• Kuro/kuroi: the color “black”.
• Kuzushi waza: techniques to break opponent’s balance.
• Kuzusu: “to break one’s balance”, “to throw off balance”.
• Kyu: Aikido rank, class. A mudansha (or undergraduate).
• Kyudo: the traditional art of archery, or the “Way of the Bow”
• Kyusho: “vital points” of the human body.
• Ma-ai: “distance.” Space or gap between uke and nage, meaning “harmony of space.”
• Mae: “the front,” forward.
• Mae geri: “front kick”.
• Mae mawari ukemi; "forward rolling fall/ukemi".
• Mae ukemi: “front fall”. See also utsubuse ukemi.
• Maki: winding; wrapping.
• Makoto: “sincerity”, “truth”
• Mawari: "rotation," "round" (as a suffix).
• Mawashi geri: “roundhouse kick,” spin kick.”
• Men: “face”
• Men tsuki: Straight thrust (punch) to the face. Same as jodan tsuki.
• Menuchi: “strike to the opponent’s head or forehead”.
• Metsuke: “expression of the eyes”
• Migi: “right”, right side.
• Misogi: “purification ritual” (Shinto). Ritual ceremony typically performed with water/ablutions.
• Mitori-geiko: “looking practice,” usually means coming to class when you are injured and can't participate. To learn something by watching and copying/mimicking.
• Mokuso: “silent sitting”; “silent contemplation” - short meditation before or after class.
• Morote: “both hands,” two handed.
• Morote dori: “two hand hold”. Grabbing [the opponent’s wrist] with two hands.
• Muga: “no ego”, “no self”. Buddhist term.
• Mune: “chest”; “lapel”
- Mune dori: “lapel grab”. Lapel grab with one hand”.
• Munen: “no thought”, “no thinking”. Buddhist term.
• Musha shugyo: a “warrior’s ascetic practice” to hone and ascertain one’s skills.
• Mushin: “no mind”. Buddhist term.
• Musubi: “connection”, “unification”.
- Nafuda kake: “name tag board” – traditional wooden board (kake) containing name tags (nafuda) of the members of a dojo arranged according to rank.
- Nagare: “flow” – typically referred to a flowing technique between two partners that is smooth and uninterrupted.
• Nageru: “to throw”.
• Naname: “diagonal” direction.
• Naname kokyu nage/naname irimi nage: “diagonal throw” also referred to as sokumen irimi nage (Lit. “Side-of-the-face/frontal throw”).
• Nikkyo: (dai nikkyo) ‘Second Technique’ – a wrist joint-lock control.
• Obi: “belt”.
• Omote: “front side.”
• Osae: “suppression”; “keeping control”, pression; immobilization.
• Osaeru: “to suppress” (to hold; to immobilize)
• O Sensei: “Great teacher” – the title used for the Founder of Aikido.
• Otoshi: “drop”
• Randori: “free technique” against multiple attacking opponents (lit. “grabbing [the opponent] in a disorderly manner”].
• Rei: “bow”, to bow.
• Reigi: “courtesy”, “manners”, “etiquette”.
• Reiho: “rules of courtesy and respect,” “etiquette”.
• Ritsurei: “standing bow”.
• Ryohiji dori: “grabbing both elbows”.
• Ryokata dori: “grabbing both shoulders”.
• Ryokatate dori: “both hands grabbing one of the opponent’s wrists”.
• Ryote: “two handed”.
• Ryote dori: “grabbing with two hands”; two-hand hold.
• Ryote mochi: “grabbing with two hands”.
• Sabaki: “movement control”, “managing”.
• Sankaku: “triangle”
• Sankyo: (dai sankyo) “third technique”, a wrist-joint twisting technique.
• Sayu undo: “side exercise” (lit. left and right exercise)
• Seika [no] tanden: “point below one’s navel” – a focal point in meditative practice related to one’s mental and physical centralization.
• Seiza: formal sitting position on knees.
• Sekka no ki: “flash from a flint” a principle in martial arts that denotes a instantaneous reaction to an attack and immediate as a spark from a flint.
• Seoi: “shoulder”.
• Seoi otoshi: “shoulder drop technique” (typically from ushiro)
• Sempai: “senior student”.
• Sensei: “teacher”, one who gives guidance along the way.
• Senshin: “pure mind”. A purified heart and spirit; enlightened attitude.
• Shihan: official title in Aikido given to the most senior teacher in a dojo (typically after 6th dan).
• Shiho: “four directions/sides”.
• Shiho nage: “four corner throw” – a wrist / elbow lock, throw, and pin.
• Shikaku: “blind spot”.
• Shikko: “knee walking exercise”; moving on one’s knees.
• Shime waza: “choking techniques”
• Shimoseki: “lower end side”, lower [or further away] side of the dojo.
• Shimoza: “lower seat” – the area in the dojo where students (deshi) sit, facing the kamiza and the shomen.
• Shingitai ichinyo: “the unity of mind, technique, and body.”
• Shinshin ichinyo: “Body and mind as One.” Practicing with the goal of uniting movement and thinking.
• Shinzenbi: the principle of “mind, honesty, and beauty”
• Shiro/shiroi: the color “white”.
• Shisei: “body posture”.
• Shizen: “nature”, natural.
• Shizen hontai: “natural physical attitude”.
• Shizan tai: “natural standing posture”.
• Shochugeiko: “summer training.”
• Shodan: Holder of the first-grade black belt.
• Shomen: “front”. Also, name given to the area in the dojo housing the picture of O-Sensei, calligraphies, and often flowers/plants.
• Shomen uchi: “strike to the forehead”. Downward strike or cut to one’s forehead or the top of the head.
• Shuto: “knife-hand.” See tegatana.
• Sode: “sleeve”.
• Sode dori: “sleeve grab”.
• Sokumen: “side”, “profile”, “lateral”.
• Sokumen irimi nage. See naname kokyu nage above.
• Soto: “outer/outside”.
• Soto kaiten nage: throwing technique that involves reversing one’s posture next to uke’s side.
• Suigetsu: “solar plexus” (vital target point); lit. “water-moon.”
• Sumi: “corner”, “angle”.
• Sumi otoshi: “Corner drop”, sometimes a locked-elbow throw.
• Suriashi: “sliding step” – moving on the tatami mats with feet always in contact with the surface.
• Sutemi: “suicide fall”, a hard fall; lit. “throwing or sacrificing one’s own body to throw an opponent”).
• Suwari waza: “kneeling techniques”.
• Tachi: Japanese sword; also “standing/upright position”.
- Tachi dori: “sword taking”. Techniques of taking an opponent’s sword
- Tachi waza: “standing techniques”.
- Tai: “body”
• Tai no henko: Basic blending practice.
• Tai otoshi: “body dropping” - throwing technique in which nage lowers his body forcing uke to follow and fall to the ground.
• Taiso: “Body conditioning”; exercises and calisthenics.
• Tanden: The hara, the center of the body below the navel; the lower abdomen, the center of the body’s KI, or vital energy.
• Tanto: “knife” (lit. short blade)
• Tanto dori: Techniques of knife taking.
• Te: “hand”.
• Tegatana: “hand-blade” or “knife-hand”. Edge of the hand used like a sword in fighting. Same as Japanese term shuto; same meaning different pronunciation.
• Tekubi: “wrist(s)”.
• Tekubi kosa undo: “wrist crossing exercise”.
• Tenchi: Ten=heaven, chi=earth. A position of the hands, one up and one down.
• Tenchi nage: “heaven and earth throw.”
• Tenkan: “pivoting,” turning to dissipate force.
• Tenshin: “body turn”.
• Tobi ukemi: “flying fall”, “break fall”.
• Tori: “doer” the thrower. See “nage.”
• Toru: “to take,” grab, catch; seize.
• Tsugi ashi: “follow-up step”. Moving the leading foot first and bringing the rear foot one close behind it.
• Tsuki: “thrust”.
• Uchi: “Inner”, “inside”, “under”
• Uchideshi: (lit. inside student), “live-in student,” apprentice who trains under and assists a sensei on a full-time basis.
• Uchi kaiten nage: throwing technique involving nage’s stepping under uke’s arm before performing a rotation (kaiten).
• Ude: “forearm”.
• Ude furi undo: “arm swinging exercise”.
• Ude garami: “entangled arm lock.”
• Uke: “receiver;” one who receives [the technique]. The person being thrown.
• Ukemi: Techniques of receiving, falling and protecting yourself. The art of falling away from harm.
• Ukeru: to receive; to accept.
• Uki otoshi [kokyu nage]: Throwing techniques in which nage pulls uke by the hand and the latter rolls to nage’s side. Lit. “floating drop”.
• Ura: “ear/back/behind”.
• Ushiro: Attacking from the back, behind, rear.
• Ushiro dori/tori: holding/attacking/grabbing from behind.
• Ushiro hiji dori: elbow hold from behind.
• Ushiro kata dori: shoulder hold from behind.
• Ushiro kiri otoshi: “cutting down from behind”
• Ushiro kubishime: strangulation from behind.
• Ushiro ryote dori: Two hands grabbing two hands/wrists, from behind.
• Ushiro tekubi tori: wrist grab/hold from behind.
• Ushiro tekubi tori zenshin undo: “wrist grab from behind backward throw”.
• Ushiro tori undo: “forward extension exercise”.
• Ushiro ukemi: “rear fall”.
• Waka sensei: “young teacher”, “young mater” – in Aikido title given the son and successor of the doshu.
• Utsubuse ukemi: "face down/front ukemi".
• Waza: “technique(s)”.
• Yoko geri: “side kick.”
• Yoko menuchi: “side of the head strike”. A lateral cut or strike.
• Yoko ukemi: “side fall”.
• Yonkyo: (dai yonkyo) “fourth technique” – a wrist pressure point technique.
• Yudansha: Black belt grade holder(s).
• Yukyusha: White belt grade holder(s).
• Za: “sit”.
• Zanshin: “remaining mind”. Awareness of action and surroundings at all times (subconsciously).
• Zori: “sandals,” – traditional Japanese split-toe sandals.