Movements of Aikido
2004 Article by Dan Penrod
Movement in aikido is often categorized by 4 words; Irimi, Tenkan, Omote,
and Ura. These 4 words can be used to help describe any attack combined
with any defense. I hope to clarify the meaning and use of these words
and
describe the subtle relationship between these terms.
Before I begin, I should mention that I'll be using the words nage
and uke repeatedly. For the unitiated, nage means
thrower and is generally the person who receives the attack and provides the
throw, pin or neutralization. Uke means receiver and is
usually the person who initiates the attack, but more specifically is the one
who receives the throw.
Let's begin with some basic definitions. You should pay attention to
which words are verbs and which words are adverbs. This is the first clue
to their relationships.
- Irimi: verb. To enter. Refers to nage's
movement in relation to uke. Nage enters on a line toward
uke as he receives an attack. Irimi is well represented by
the symbol of the straight line.
- Tenkan: verb. To turn. Refers to nage's movement
in relation to uke. Nage turns in a circular
motion as he receives the attack, usually by pivoting on the front
foot and describing a 90 to 180 degree semi-circle with the rear
foot. Tenkan is
well represented by the symbol of the circle.
- Omote: adverb. In front of. Refers to the
positional relationship of nage in regard to uke. Nage has
moved in front of uke.
- Ura: adverb. To the rear of. Refers to the
positional relationship of nage in regard to uke. Nage has
moved behind uke.
Ura is sometimes defined as the area outside or behind uke's
leading hand or foot while omote is viewed as the area inside or to the
front of uke's leading hand or foot. The most important thing to
notice here is that as adverbs, omote and ura describe the verbs
irimi and tenkan.
 There
is a 3rd verb we sometimes use which I'll just briefly mention and leave at that
because it falls somewhat outside the scope of this discussion.
Kaiten: adverb. Roughly translates as rotate.
It's applied when uke rotates 180 degrees... but unlike tenkan
where the rear foot sweeps in a 180 degree semi-circle... the feet don't move in
kaiten. They pivot in place and the hips rotate to look in the
opposite direction. Kaiten is, of course, used in kaiten nage,
the rotating throw. It is also frequently used in conjunction with
irimi to allow nage to reorient himself in the same direction as
uke.
It's important to notice that irimi and tenkan are diametrical
opposites. Omote and ura are also opposites. Omote
and ura share the x-axis while irimi and tenkan share the
y-axis. Viewed as a compass, irimi is north, tenkan is
south, omote is west, and ura is east. This compass model
brings into focus not only the 4 compass directions, but more importantly the 4
quadrants movements between them; irimi omote, irimi ura, tenkan omote, and
tenkan ura.
- Irimi omote: Nage enters in front of uke.
- Irimi ura: Nage enters to the rear of uke.
- Tenkan omote:
Nage turns to the front of uke.
- Tenkan ura: Nage turns to the
rear of uke.
These quadrants can be used to accurately describe the movement in an aikido
technique. Let's look at the syntactical structure used to describe an
aikido movement.
syntax: <attack> <quadrant movement> <throw> <quadrant movement>
example:. <yokomen uchi> <tenkan omote> <shiho nage> <tenkan ura>
The first quadrant movement describes how nage receives the attack. The
second quadrant movement describes how nage throws uke. In our example
here, nage receives the attack (side of head strike) with a tenkan omote or
turning to the front of uke. Then nage throws with a shihonage (4
direction throw) using tenkan ura or turning to the rear of uke.
It is not uncommon for people to abbreviate terms by saying something like,
yokomen uchi shihonage tenkan. While this description is accurate,
it is not precise. There is more than one way to perform yokomen uchi
shihonage tenkan. Specifically, there are 4 ways. Nage could
receive the attack (yokomen uchi) with tenkan omote or tenkan
ura. Also, nage could throw with a tenkan omote or tenkan
ura movement (of shihonage).
Since there are 4 possibilities that can be applied in receiving the attack
(first quadrant movement) and there are still 4 possibilities that can be
applied in executing the throw (second quadrant movement) there could be a
mind-numbing 2 ^4 = 16 possible combinations for just one technique. In
practice there will be many fewer do to specifics characteristics of each
technique. In the case of yokomen uchi shihonage, I submit
there are 4 possibilites.
- <yokomenuchi> <irimi ura> <shihonage> <tenkan ura>
- <yokomenuchi> <irimi ura> <shihonage> <irimi omote>
- <yokomenuchi> <tenkan omote> <shihonage> <tenkan ura>
- <yokomenuchi> <tenkan omote> <shihonage> <irimi omote>
For other techniques the number of combinations will be different. How
many for tsuki kotegaeshi? Or shomen uchi irimi nage.
I'll leave these calculations as an exercise for the reader.
Taking the time to fully recognize this model is more than an exercise in
semantics. It opens the students mind to the possibilities and provides a
tool for the student to discover techniques they may have never seen before. |
