Jul 20, 20067

The Difference Between Judo and Aikido Ukemi

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The Difference Between Judo and Aikido Ukemi

Here is a nice demonstration of the classic Aikido form of Ukemi. Let me begin my comments with an admission that I am clearly biased, with over 30 years of Judo practice and only about 2 years of cumulative Aikido experience. That said, I have found the precise application of the Judo style to be more protective than that of Aikido. I have observed two fundamental differences, each of which is highlighted by comparing the various demo videos posted on this site.

First of all, the Aikido version has Uke tuck the off-direction leg under the other closer to the buttocks. This has the effect of somewhat facilitating a roll to a standing position, but it fails to protect either the ankle bone, or one leg from impacting the other upon significant impacts. This leg tuck also has the effect of decreasing the angular moment of inertia, and can do nothing to slow the rate of rotation and thus better control the landing position.

The other fundamental difference is that the Aikido style seems to rely on being relatively in control of the fall from the beginning with more use of hands for gentling the falls than does the Judo variation. Ultimately, I have found that the Judo techniques can protect a body from a wider range of falling situations that start out farther from control.

Those very minor details aside, it is clear that the fundamental principles are very similar, and it is very possible that there are larger differences from instructor to instructor than between the two arts.

7 Comments, Comment or Ping

  1. Guido

    Hi, nice article, but i would like to give you my cent…

    I practice aikido for 12 years and i’m pretty sure aikido falls are very well protective based. Not saying aikido falls are better or anything, just pointing that aikido falls are not made to work only in a tatami… all falls are developed to be made in any hard ground.

    As practicer of Aikido, i can guarantee you that we do not intend to “being relatively in control of the fall” .. we intent to be in TOTAL control of our fall, and we don’t do it using hands to make it softer.. we use the whole body.

    The guy in the video… i know hin, Sensei Manuel Ortega. I saw hin doing all thouse falls in a corridor once… never saw any other teacher do that.

    wish u best,

    Guido Ratti

    Jun 27th, 2007

  2. Sean Ingvard Ashby

    I’ve been doing judo and aikido both for about 15 years, and it seems to me that IN GENERAL the ukemi works pretty well in the “real world” either way. To me, the main difference is that with a lot of aikido ukemi, uke is either able to “roll away” (because of aloose connection with tori / nage) or at least keeps a light, minimal connection. In that case, rolling up into a standing position (forward, backwards, what have you) is easier and comes pretty natural.

    In judo, however, tori tends to be pretty closely connected with uke (body to body), which means uke is getting thrown with power and control straight into the earth. Not a lot of opportunity to roll out of things! You have to think more “flat” ukemi instead of “round” ukemi as is more common with aikido.

    Interestingly enough, in our organization, when we do the “rolling up” version in our aikido classes, we don’t tuck the knee under, but go ahead and do a judo style “flat” landing, but just let momentum carry us up. Here’s a video our org about it (the roll up leg position starts at the 1:50 mark):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCxd0ejbHd8

    Cheers!

    Apr 16th, 2010

  3. Taio Cruz

    enjoyed this blog!

    Jul 11th, 2010

  4. Elek

    I know that is really boring and you might be skipping on the next comment, but I just wanted to throw you a big thanks – you cleared up some things for me!

    Sep 9th, 2010

  5. Elliott

    As I’ve done 6 years in Judo and just a year in Aikido, the difference is simple: In Aikido uke is is more often thrown away from Tori, and in Judo uke is thrown down at Tori’s feet.

    Sep 27th, 2010

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    Sep 29th, 2010

  7. Phillip Alvelda

    That certainly encapsulates the most common falls in practice of either art. Part of my point was that when someone is thrown “away” they are for the most part under the influence of gravity alone. But when Uke is thrown at your feet, Tori, the thrower, is literally adding quite a lot of force and torque and thus momentum to the faller, far beyond what gravity alone would impart.

    You could see this in the more vigorous practices with any annoyed master teacher who can literally bounce Uke a couple feet off the mat. But only when they REALLY throw a person hard and with force assisted by gravity.

    So the question is, how do you deal with that extra force, and how do you do so when dissipation through rolling is not possible because of your trajectory and the retained hold of Tori. The answer is, what makes it easy to roll when you are thrown “away” (the tucked knee) actually and literally hurts you in that situation.

    As a side note, there are many situations in Judo where Uke is thrown away, but they are more rare as they tend towards the more advanced techniques.

    Oct 5th, 2010

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