is a term from Japanese martial arts and which relates to 'whole body movement', or repositioning. It can be translated as ''body-management''. It is a term used widely in and very important in kendo,

jujutsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...

aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles, including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in aroun ...

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

, karate and

ninjutsu , sometimes used interchangeably with the modern term , is the martial art strategy and tactics of unconventional warfare, guerrilla warfare and espionage purportedly practised by the ninja. ''Ninjutsu'' was a separate discipline in some trad ...

. Tai sabaki is usually used to avoid an attack, such that the receiver of the attack ends up in an advantageous position and it is often wrongly referred to as ''evasion''. An example of tai sabaki is 'moving off the line' of attack using

irimi In Japanese martial arts, is the act of entering straight into a technique, as opposed to the more indirect entrance into technique called ''tenkan''. In basic training, irimi usually looks like a step forward, straight or at an angle but usually ...

and

tenkan is the Japanese name of a movement practiced in several martial arts. It is a 180 degree pivot to the rear, on the lead foot. That is, if the left foot is forward, the pivot is clockwise, and if the right foot is forward, the pivot is counter-cl ...

movements rather than to 'move against' the attack. This implies the use of harmony rather than

physical strength Physical strength is the measure of a human's exertion of force on physical objects. Increasing physical strength is the goal of strength training. Overview An individual's physical strength is determined by two factors: the cross-sectional ar ...

. See

hard and soft (martial arts) In martial arts, the terms hard and soft technique denote how forcefully a defender martial artist counters the force of an attack in armed and unarmed combat. In the East Asian martial arts, the corresponding hard technique and soft technique te ...

Tai sabaki is related to ashi sabaki ( footwork) and te sabaki (handwork). The origins of Tai-sabaki can be transliterated from the sumo wrestler way of honoring the top ranks of grand champions "津名学士気"; which translates into "Bachelor Flow of Grand Champions" when taking into account the

yokozuna , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the on ...

ranking system for sumo wrestlers.

Kata

Tai sabaki is also the name of a group of kata created by

Yasuhiro Konishi was one of the first karateka to teach karate on mainland Japan. He was instrumental in developing modern karate, as well as a driving force in the art's acceptance in Japan. He is credited with developing the style known as Shindō jinen-ryū ( ...

under the tutelage of

Ueshiba Morihei was a Japanese martial artist and founder of the martial art of aikido. He is often referred to as "the founder" or , "Great Teacher/Old Teacher (old as opposed to ''waka (young) sensei'')". The son of a landowner from Tanabe, Ueshiba st ...

, the creator of

. These kata were named ''Tai sabaki Shodan, Tai sabaki Nidan'' and '' Tai sabaki Sandan'' and are some of the original kata of

Shindo Jinen-ryu Shindo or Shindō may refer to: * * Shindo (religion) (신도), an alternative name of Korean Shamanism used by Shamanic associations in modern South Korea. People * Shindō (surname) Other uses *, a Japanese manga by Akira Sasō (1998), film an ...

style of karate, created by

. All three katas were created on the basis of the Tai sabaki movements and the circular motions of

. Although they do not contain complex movements, the whole kata is to be performed as a chain of movements without a specific pause.

References

External links

How to Do Tai Sabaki

Tai sabaki Dojo in Valencia - Spain

Stances Japanese martial arts terminology {{martialart-term-stub