Ai-hanmi (相半身) and Gyaku-hanmi (逆半身)

In aikido, when you face a partner, both of you take a hanmi stance. Depending on which foot each person has forward, the relationship is called ai-hanmi or gyaku-hanmi.

In ai-hanmi, you and your partner stand in hanmi on the same side. If you are in migi hanmi, your partner is also in migi hanmi (migi ai-hanmi); if you are in hidari hanmi, so is your partner (hidari ai-hanmi). Here it is important to line up the center line of your body, the seichusen (正中線), with your partner’s center.

Gyaku-hanmi is the opposite of ai-hanmi: the two of you stand in hanmi on opposite sides. If you are in migi hanmi and your partner in hidari hanmi, it is migi gyaku-hanmi; if you are in hidari hanmi and your partner in migi hanmi, it is hidari gyaku-hanmi. In gyaku-hanmi, too, the key is to line up your centers with each other.