Technique atlas

Movement, plate by plate

36 animated plates to revise between classes. They don’t replace the mat — they help put pictures to the names you hear in the dojo.

Tori — performs the technique
Uke — attacks and receives
Point of contact
Path of a strike

Tai sabaki Everything starts with the feet. Body movements take you off the line of attack without blocking it, then let you take the centre back. 8

Attacks Grabs, strikes and attacks from behind: in aikido, uke’s sincere attack is what gives birth to the technique. 16

Strikes & cuts Empty-hand strikes imitate the sword. Learning them with a bokken makes their paths and targets much clearer. 3

Pins The first four principles, from ikkyō to yonkyō: controlling uke’s arm all the way to the mat, without violence and without leaving an opening. 4

Throws Five fundamental throws. Uke does not fall because they are pushed, but because their own movement unbalances them. 5

Weapons Bokken and jō extend the body. Studying them sharpens distance, timing and precision in every empty-hand technique.

Reading a technique’s name

A name is a sentence

In the dojo, the name tells you everything: posture, attack, technique and side. “Suwari-waza shōmen-uchi ikkyō omote” reads: kneeling, from a frontal strike, first principle, in front. Build your own.

Posture Attack Technique Form

Shōmen-uchi ikkyō omote

正面打ち一教表

一

二

The animations show the standing form with one typical entry; in the dojo, each technique is practised from many attacks.

How to use these plates

Each animation starts when it scrolls into view. Tap the stage to pause it.
The ½× button slows the movement down; the bar lets you scrub frame by frame.
Click a step to jump straight to it.
The figures are schematic and seen side-on: aikido’s spirals and pivots are suggested, not reproduced exactly. Your teacher remains the reference.

A word escapes you? The glossary gathers over a hundred dojo terms, with their kanji.