Karasukai
Stavanger, Norway
Thrusts
(突き tsuki)
Mune-tsuki (also, muna-tsuki) 胸突き (chest thrust), a punch to the torso is the most usual thrust in aikido. Aka Chūdan-tsuki 中段突き ("middle-level thrust"). Jōdan-tsuki 上段突き ("upper-level thrust") aka Ganmen-tsuki
顔面突き (face thrust), a punch to the face, is less frequent in aikido practice.
Unlike in karate etc., no difference is normally made between oi-tsuki 追い突き (leg and hand are on the same side) and gyaku-tsuki 逆突き (reverse punch, leg and hand are on opposite sides). However, the former is more frequent in aikido practice, and is simply called tsuki 突き.
Tsuki are performed with the fist, sword, knife, or staff.
Kicks
(蹴り keri)
In general, kicks are infrequent in aikido practice, much because falls from kicks are considered dangerous. Especially high kicks are considered impractical and dangerous for the attacker.
Two kicks are generally differentiated, both targeting the lower parts of the body (gedan 下段, area from the belt down) or the mid level (chūdan 中段, torso).
Mae-geri 前蹴り(front kick).
Mawashi geri 回し蹴り (roundhouse kick).
ATEMI-WAZA
当て身技
(body-striking techniques)
Many body-striking techniques of aikido have a connection to sword and knife techniques.
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- E. L.
March 2025
Strikes and cuts
(打ち uchi and 切り kiri)
Strikes and cuts are normally performed with Tegatana/Shutō 手刀 ("hand-sword"), but also Bokken (wooden sword), Tantō (knife), or, when applicable, Jō (a mid-sized staff) is used. All strikes and cuts are slightly different depending on a weapon of choice.
Shōmen-uchi 正面打ち (front-of-the-head strike). A vertical strike to the head.
Yokomen uchi 横面打ち (side-of-the-head strike). A diagonal/lateral strike to the side of the head or neck.
Naname-uchi 斜め打ち (diagonal strike).
Kesa-giri 袈裟 切り(diagonal cut across the chest; "kesa" is the robe worn by Buddhist monks).
Do-uchi 胴打ち (body strike). A lateral strike to the torso.
Kiri-otoshi 切り落し (cutting drop). See,
https://budojapan.com/kenjutsu-iai/principles-of-budo-ono-ha-itto-ryu/.
Sakate-mochi 逆手 持ち (alternative reading: gyakute-mochi) reverse grip (on a knife etc.). Used frequently with both Shomen-uchi and Yokomen-uchi.
N.B. While most schools agree on what is Shomen-uchi, there is a great variety as to how to execute a Yokomen-uchi, Naname-uchi, and Kesa-giri.
See, the bottom of this page.
Nota bene
N.B. While most schools agree on what is Shomen-uchi, there is a great variety as to how to execute a Yokomen-uchi, Naname-uchi, and Kesa-giri. In particular, the differences are in the cutting angle and the starting position (Kamae).
Examples from various aikido and kenjutsu (sword) schools
Kesa-giri & Naname-uchi by Pavel Antonsson: https://antonssonshihan.wordpress.com/2024/05/23/cutting-angles-targets-kesa-giri-naname-uchi/.
Yokomen-uchi by Pavel Antonsson: https://antonssonshihan.wordpress.com/2024/05/21/cutting-angles-targets-yokomen-uchi/.
Kesagiri by Saneteru Radzikowski: https://shinkanryu.org/kesagiri-anatomy-of-a-sword-strike/.
Kesa-giri and Yokomen-uchi by Greg Habert et al.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2vZeiEllbQ
Shomen-uchi, Yokomen-uchi, Kesa-giri, Do-uchi by Bruno Gonzales:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pThAGQmEZZI
Yokomen-uchi and Kesa-giri (etc.) by Christian Tissier: https://www.yokohamaaikidojo.com/en/kenjutsu.
