Plano Aikido Center

The goal of your 5th Kyu test is to demonstrate understanding of some very basic terminology of Aikido, in addition to being able to demonstrate the techniques.

Your goal should be that when Sensei calls out a technique, for instance “Shomenuchi Iriminage”, you should be able to go into that technique smoothly and without much hesitation.

Many students initially find the terminology difficult to master, since it is Japanese language terminology.

This page is intended to help you through this, and demonstrate that the terms for your 5th Kyu exam are, in fact, quite simple.

In order to learn the terminology for this test,  it might help to just break down the techniques you need to know, and first commit to memory the “attack” part — in other words – the attack you are responding to.  I have bolded them below, to show you that really there are not that many terms you need to know… not overwhelming.

So as you can see, there are actually only 7 attacks that you are responding to in this test. That’s not too bad. So you need to know what each of these 7 is:

1. Shomenuchi
2. Katatetori
3. Ai-Hanmi Katatetori
4. Ryotetori
5. Tsuki
6. Ushiro Tekubitori
7. Morotetori

Then, you need to understand what the techniques are with which you “reply” to the attacks. As you can see below, there are only 7 of them. So that’s not bad.

1. Ikkyo
2. IrimiNage
3. Shihonage
4. Tenchinage
5. Kotegaeshi
6. Kokyuho
7. Kokyunage

Every Aikido technique is some combination of these words (and others you will learn later), in this order:

Attack — Defense — Modifier (for a few there may be no Omote or Ura modifier)

Examples:

• Shomenuchi Ikkyo Omote
• Katatetori Ikkyo Ura
• Katatetori Kokyunage Omote
• Tsuki Kotegaeshi (there may not be a modifier for this one)

In the 6th and 5th kyu exams, you begin to build the framework on which your future Aikido will exist. Until 1st Kyu (right before black belt), all you exams will be similar to this, but of course you’ll be adding new terms and techniques.

The following videos demonstrate the required techniques for the 5th Kyu test.

The first three videos are parts 1-3 of an instructional video by Yamada Sensei. These are the United States Aikido Federation requirements. Embedding is not allowed on these videos, so please click through to Youtube to see them.

A list of the required techniques can be found on the 19th and 20th pages of the Plano Aikido Center Handbook. 

For your convenience, here are the techniques:

From USAF

• Shomenuchi ikkyo (omote & ura)
• Shomenuchi iriminage
• Katatetori shihonage (omote & ura)
• Ryotetori tenchinage
• Tsuki kotegaeshi
• Ushiro tekubitori kotegaeshi
• Morotetori kokyuho

Additional Plano Aikido techniques:

• Katatetori Ikkyo (Omote & Ura)
• Ai-Hanmi Katatetori Ikkyo (Omote & Ura)
• Katatetori kokyunage (Omote & Ura)
• Ushiro Tekubitori Ikkyo (Omote & Ura)
• Kokyu Ho

Part 1:
http://youtu.be/_MPwI4RmHeU

Part 2:
http://youtu.be/Vtv5Th-wh-c

Part 3:
http://youtu.be/DwCt0UEvYGg

Plano Aikido Center has additional 5th Kyu requirements, which we have recorded in the video below.

5th Kyu – Plano Aikido Center additional test requirements from Bob Loftin on Vimeo.

The following video demonstrates the requirements for the 6th Kyu rank test, which covers the basic movements and vocabulary of Aikido. Dojo members are eligible to take the 6th Kyu test when they have completed 20 practices. There is no fee for this test.

The only thing not shown in the video is Shiko (knee walking). We will produce a separate video for Shiko.

The requirements list is here.

6th Kyu Test Requirements from Bob Loftin on Vimeo.

6th Kyu Test Requirements from Bob Loftin on Vimeo.