Aikido in Egham

Kyu Grading Syllabus

The following is a summary of the kyu grading syllabus we currently (2019) follow. If you’re new to aikido, don’t worry about remembering all the names... by the time you need to care about gradings, they will probably seem very familiar :-)

* 6th kyu: for items marked with an asterisk, you just need to show the entry movement (and not execute any particular technique).

If you want to look at those in a spreadsheet, download the CSV file.

Attacks and their names

For beginners:
The following are not strict translations, just explanations of the terms you’ll hear during classes. You really don’t need to study the names and memorise them when you start aikido. Trust us, you’ll pick them up as you go along!

These are some of aikido’s formalised attacks. Translations of technique names aren’t so helpful (“four direction throw”, huh?) — it’s much better to learn those while you’re actually seeing them (or doing them), on the mat.

tachi-waza

both standing
(this is the common form, so we often leave it out of the name)

hanmi-handachi

tori seated, uke standing

suwari-waza

both seated

jodan
chudan
gedan

high
middle
low

ai-hanmi
katate-dori

same-stance
one-handed wrist grab
(e.g., right hand holds right wrist)
this is sometimes called kosa dori (“cross grab”)

gyaku-hanmi
katate-dori

opposite-stance
one-handed wrist grab
(e.g., left hand holds right wrist)

shomen-uchi

strike to front of the head

yokomen-uchi

strike to side of the head ^†

(chudan) tsuki

(middle) punch

kata-dori

shoulder grab ^†

morote-dori

two-handed wrist grab ^†

ryote-mochi ryote-dori

both hands held

ushiro ryote-dori

both hands held from behind

ushiro ryokata-dori

both shoulders held from behind

ushiro katate-dori kubi-shime

one wrist held while choked from behind

kata-dori shomen-uchi
kata-dori men-tsuki

shoulder held with strike to the head ^†

Attacks marked ^† can only be performed effectively in gyaku-hanmi form (that is, the same hand grabbing — or, for yokomen-uchi, striking — the “outside” side), which is why we don’t include that term in their names.