In Japanese martial arts, Irimi (入り身) is the act of entering straight into a technique, as opposed to the more indirect entrance into technique called tenkan. In basic training, irimi usually looks like a step forward, straight or at an angle but usually ending with the body facing the attacker, rather than in the direction of the step. To enter with irimi, the defender needs to move in the very moment of the attack or even himself initiate it.
The Aikikai is the original school of Aikido. It is centered on the Aikikai Foundation in Japan, and its figurehead is the Doshu. It is represented globally through the International Aikido Federation.
Iwama Style Aikido is the style of aikido that was taught at Iwama dojo by the founder of aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, and especially the lineage passed on through Morihiro Saito, a close disciple who was given responsibility over Iwama dojo by Ueshiba.
Gozo Shioda was a Japanese master of aikido who founded the Yoshinkan style of aikido. He was one of aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba's most senior students. Shioda held the rank of 10th dan in aikido.
Yoseikan budō (養正館武道) may be classified as a sōgō budō form, but is used here to indicate a martial art into which various martial ways have been integrated. It is probably most widely known for its connection to a pre-war style of aikido; however, it has important connections to judo, karate, western boxing, savate and a traditional form of Japanese armed combat known as Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū.
Angry White Pyjamas is a book written by Robert Twigger about his time in a one-year intensive program of studying Yoshinkan aikido.
Senshusei course is an intensive, 11-month aikido training program conducted at Yoshinkan Aikido's honbu dojo in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The course has received attention through Robert Twigger's book, Angry White Pyjamas (1997).
Minoru Hirai was a Japanese martial artist and creator of the Korindo style of aikido.
Tai sabaki (体捌き) is a term from Japanese martial arts and which relates to 'whole body movement', or repositioning. It can be translated as body-management. It is a term used widely in and very important in kendo, jujutsu, aikido, judo, karate and ninjutsu. Tai sabaki is usually used to avoid an attack, such that the receiver of the attack ends up in an advantageous position and it is often wrongly referred to as evasion.
Aiki-jō is the name given specifically to the set of martial art techniques practiced with a jō, according to the principles of aikido. Jō techniques were introduced into aikido by Morihei Ueshiba, aikido's founder, and further developed by Morihiro Saito, one of Ueshiba's most prominent students.
Yoseikan Aikido is the aikido taught at the Yoseikan Dojo in Shizuoka, Japan, under the direction of Minoru Mochizuki.
Though the art of aikido is characteristically different from other Japanese martial arts, it has a variety of identifiable styles within the family of organizations descending from the teachings of Morihei Ueshiba.
Shodokan Aikido is the style of Aikido founded in 1967 by Kenji Tomiki. Shodokan Aikido is sometimes referred to as "Sport Aikido" because of its use of regular competitions, the style also may be referred to as "Tomiki Aikido". Shodokan places more emphasis on free-form randori sparring than most other styles of aikido. The training method requires a balance between randori and the more stylized kata training along with a well-developed set of training drills both specific for randori and for general aikido development. The participation in actual shiai very much depends on the club with greater emphasis being found in the university clubs, although randori is core to all Shodokan clubs.
Kyoichi Inoue was a 10th dan Yoshinkan aikido master. He was an uchideshi under Yoshinkan founder Gozo Shioda, in what became the Yoshinkan senshusei course. During his early years as an uchi-deshi, he was instrumental in developing the Yoshinkan's current pedagogical system along with Takashi Kushida in consultation with Gozo Shioda.
Tsuneo Ando is an 8th dan Yoshinkan Aikido teacher. He spent 14 years as uchi deshi to Gozo Shioda, the founder of Yoshinkan Aikido. He is said to most closely resemble Shioda in terms of size; speed and style. He is highly sought after as a teacher both in Japan and all around the world for his technique and for the warmth of his personality.
Aikido techniques are frequently referred to as waza 技. Aikido training is based primarily on two partners practicing pre-arranged forms (kata) rather than freestyle practice. The basic pattern is for the receiver of the technique (uke) to initiate an attack against the person who applies the technique—the 取り tori, or shite 仕手, also referred to as (投げ nage, who neutralises this attack with an aikido technique.
Shudokan Aikido is a school that teaches Yoshinkan Aikido. Established by Thamby Rajah in Seremban, Malaysia, during the early 1950s. Whilst in Japan Thamby Rajah trained with Shioda Gozo and returned to Malaysia as the first Malaysian shodan black belt in Judo and in Aikido The words "Shudokan Aikido" have sometimes been misconstrued as a separate style to Yoshinkan Aikido. Some online sources suggested incorrectly it is a derivation from Aikido and Karate. However, video and anecdotal sources suggest that Thamby Rajah has always taught a natural derivation of the techniques he learned at Yoshinkan Hombu Dojo. Thamby Rajah's technique is also influenced by extensive experience in Judo at the Kodokan, and his earlier Jujutsu training under Walter De Silva in Malaysia during the post war years. Thamby Rajah's Aikido is fundamentally the same as Yoshinkan Aikido, but is more reflective of the early days of Shioda Gozo's Aikido.
Jacques Payet is a practitioner of Yoshinkan-style aikido. He was the longest-serving non-Japanese uchi-deshi of Yoshinkan founder Gozo Shioda and is ranked Hachidan in the Yoshinkan organization, with the honorific Shihan. He is the founder and head instructor of Mugenjuku dojo and the Mugenjuku Kenshusei program in Kyoto, Japan. He is also the originator of the well-known Senshusei Course, a translator of several important works in aikido, and a guest instructor in demand around the world.
