市大同合氣道社

irit." The physical training in aikido is diverse, covering both general physical fitness and conditioning, as well as specific techniques. As aikido mainly consists of throws and joint locks, the first thing most students learn is how to safely fall and roll. The specific techniques for attack include both strikes and grabs; the techniques for defense are made up of throws and pins. For example, First Technique (一教) is a control using one hand on the elbow and another hand near the wrist which leverages uke(受者) to the ground. After basic techniques are learned, students study freestyle defense against multiple opponents, and techniques with short staff, wooden sword, or knife. Compared to those martial arts we usually heard of, such as Taekwondo and karate, aikido is performed by blending the motion of the attacker with redirecting the force of the attack rather than opposing it head-on. This requires very little physical strength when practicing the techniques and makes aikido looks gentler. Moreover, aikido techniques are usually a defense against an attack, so students must learn to deliver various types of attacks to be able to practice with a partner rather than practicing on their own for most of the time. Aikido practitioners generally progress by promotion through a series of "grades" (帶), followed by a series of "degrees" (段). The grades of Aikido from the lowest to the highest are white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, and the black belt.