Tenkan

Aikido

Tenkan is a very common foot move in aikido. Strategically, tenkan is most often used to place tori back-to-back with uke. A few attacks - techniques that commonly begin by executing tenkan include: shōmen'uchi - kaitennage; katate-dori - shihōnage; and morote-dori - kokyūnage.

Some styles of aikido practice six basic ashi sabaki (stepping/footwork) movements, of which tenkan is one.

Those six basic stepping techniques are:

• Tsugi-ashi (shuffle step)
• Ayumi-ashi (crossing step)
• Kaiten (hip shift to avoid attack)
• Tenshin (step and pivot to avoid attack)
• Tenkan (180 degree pivot to avoid attack)
• Ude-furi (spin step)