All About Aikido
Aikido is a new type of martial art. Its emphasis lies on the harmonious fusion of mind and body with the natural laws of Nature. Aikido focuses on accepting and respecting the energy of life and nature and channeling this harmony onto techniques that expresses this energy in physical forms.
Aikido is commonly viewed as more of a defensive martial art since its methods and teachings are made for you to avoid or get out of difficulty. To the contrary, Aikido's systems are terribly forceful and effective.
Basically, there are four levels of technique in Aikido training. These are the katai which alludes to the basic coaching and is designed to build the bedrock of body movements and respiring; the yawarakai trains the defendant to deflect attacks and fuse movements to take control of the attacker or situation; the ki-no-nagare which involves training the defendant to defend or counter attack by merging his movement with the attacker even before the latter makes contact; and the ki which is the downright Aikido strategy and involves building a link of ki or spirit from the defender to the assailant.
When coaching for Aikido, you want a sparring partner. The uke and the nage. The Uke is the initiator of the assault and receives the Aikido methodologies, while the Nage is the defender and the one that neutralises the assault.
Aikido basic techniques include ikky which involves control an attacker by placing one hand on the elbow and one on near the wrist giving an opportunity to throw the attacker to the ground; the niky which draws in the uke using a wristlock and twists the arm while applying painful nerve pressure; sanky which is a revolving method directed at trying an arching stress on the entire arm including the elbow and shoulder; yonky a shoulder control technique with both hands gripping the forearm; goky is another alternative of ikky whereby the hand gripping the wrist is reversed and is reasonably handy in weapon take-aways; shihnage or the four-direction throw; kotegaeshi or wrist return which involves a wristlock-throw that stretches the extensor digitorum; kokynage also known as breath throws or timing throws; iriminage or entering-body throws which looks like a 'clothesline' methodology; tenchinage or heaven-and-earth throw; koshinage or the Aikido's version of the hip throw; jinage or the shaped-like-'ten'-throw; and kaitennage or rotation throw wherein the nage sweeps the arm of the uke back until it locks the shoulder joint after which the nage applies forward pressure to throw the attacker.
These are just basic techniques and from the list thousands of possible implementations or combinations can be drawn by the aikidokas. In Aikido, the strikes employed during the implementation of the Aikido technique are called atemi. For noobs, grabs are the 1st ones to be taught. It is safer and the aikidoka can easily feel the energy flowing from the uke to the nage.
Among the basic grab methodologies are the katate-dori or single-hand-grab which includes using one hand to snatch one wrist; morote-dori or both-hands-grab which uses both hands to snatch one wrist; ryte-dori another both-hands-grab technique wherein both hands are used to grab both wrists; kata-dori or the shoulder-grab method; and the mune-dori or chest-grab which involves grabbing the clothing of the chest of the attacker.
Getting a grip on each system involves discipline and dedication. To be a good aikodoka, one must master both the techniques and principle of the marital art.
