Off Balance

The art of Aikido is to immediately take Uke's balance. Once this is done most of the work is done. There are some Aikido techniques to follow up with but most any technique will do. For this reason there are thousands of techniques.

Fig. 1 Off Balance Points

Fig. 1 shows the feet of Uke standing on a line. If the feet are a few feet apart Uke is very stable if pushed in the direction of the line. On the other hand, Uke will readily start falling and have to take a step if pushed towards either X. In Aikido we place our bodies and feet in a position that makes if very difficult for Uke to step and then we wrap Uke around us pulling Uke to the side of the line toward the X's. Nage is careful not to get in the way and prevent Uke's fall.

Most people resist their partners force. Judo has the principle that if my partner pushes I pull. If my partner pulls I push. Aiki is different. When people exert force to push or pull they generally line their feet up in the direction of the force. The points of unbalance are on either side of the line of force. For that reason in Aiki Nage pulls Uke down at right angles to the line of force. Uke will react to this by stepping in the direction of Nage's pull. Nage makes another 90 degree adjustment to Uke's adjustment. This process continues until Uke falls. Another way of saying this is that Nage starts a force in a radial direction out from Uke's center. The radial starts on Uke's line of force and then starts rotating around Uke's center. At some point Uke falls into a hole of no balance. It does not work well in practice to always go to the same point because Uke will soon adjust to what Nage is doing. By spinning Nage automatically adjusts to Uke's adjustments. This is why the tornado movement is basic to Aiki. Once the Aikika gets the feel of what is happening it is easy to just step to the side and counter most attacks.

Aiki is very simple and easy to learn once this principle is understood. Four methods of doing this make up the vast majority of formal Aiki moves. These are:

1. Irimi

2. Tenkan

3. Tenshim

4. Ushiro

Some of these four have important variations so it is not quite this simple. These are Kata forms. In dynamic practice Nage creates the feeling learned in the Katas but not the exact movements. The material in this section on Aiki Basics contains the basis of Aikido. Aikido is position and movement. We have spent many years looking for magic in every possible place and tried many theories. The simple truth is position and movement. Aiki means moving together, the dancing art. We dance with our death.