Karate Terminology
Sounds kind of Japanese to you? - Well, it is. :-)
For some karate expressions that come up again and again you can find brief explainations below.
- Bowing in and out
- Basic expressions in karate training
- Basic techniques
- Stepping variants
- Weapons and other parts of the body
- Pronunciation of Japanese transcription
More Karate expressions with kanji at Wikipedia (German). (Please point me to a similar page in English if you find one).
Bowing in and out
Karate begins and ends with respect (Gichin Funakoshi).
| Japanese Expression | Explanation | Kanji |
|---|---|---|
| Karate | empty hand | 空手 |
| Rei | (to take a) bow, salute, expression of gratitude | 礼 |
| Seiza | kneeling with the tops of the feet flat on the floor, and sitting on the soles (literally: righteous sitting) | 正座 |
| Mokuso | silent contemplation - the meditation phase, usually with eyes closed and concentrating on breathing | 黙想 |
| Shomen ni Rei | (to take a) bow to the front side (of the dojo; bowing to the ancestors) | 正面 に 礼 |
| Sensei ni Rei | (to take a) bow to the teacher (literally: ahead life) - a command spoken by the highest ranking student before bowing when the group is lined up | 先生 に 礼 |
| Senpai | senior (at work or school), more experienced fellow - somebody who practices karate for a longer time, highest ranking student when lined up | 先輩 |
| Kiritsu | standing up | 起立 |
| Otagaini Rei | bowing to one another / together - e.g. in partner training or in a circle | お互いに 礼 |
| Ossu | hello, OK, Yo! - a multi-purpose exclamation within the context of karate. In Japan a greeting used between close male friends; Hi!; Yes Sir!; Yo!. | 押忍 |
| Narande | to line up | 並んで |
Basic expressions in karate training
| Japanese Expression | Explanation | Kanji |
|---|---|---|
| Yoi! | Attention! or Get ready! | 用意 |
| Hajime! | Begin! | 初め |
| Yame! | Stop! | 止め |
| Kamae | posture (esp. fighting pose) | 構え |
| Mawate! | Turn around! - step across with back foot if required | 回て |
| Kiai | join spirit/mind, fighting spirit, gather courage - focussing a technique, also fighting scream | 気合 |
| Kime | decisiveness, ruling decision | 決め |
| Zanshin | continued alertness, remaining on one's guard | 残心 |
| Kihon | basis, foundation | 基本 |
| Kata | form (in the sense of shape, style, method OR in the sense of template, model, pattern, mould, type) - in karate especially: standardised sequence of techniques | 形 or 型 |
| Kumite | grappling hands; cooperating hands, working hand in hand - sparring, partner work | 組手 |
| Bunkai | taking apart, analysis - in karate the study of practical applications (oyo) of kata sequences | 分解 |
| Oyo | Application - in karate the practical application of karate techniques | 応用 |
| Goshin-Jutsu | the art of personal protection - self-defence techniques | 護身術 - more |
| Mochimi | being sticky, being adhesive (literally: rice cake person) | 餅身 |
| Muchimi | being like a whip (wörtlich: whip person) | 鞭身 |
| Omomi | heaviness, weight (also: importance, emphasis) | 重み |
| Atifa / Shougekiha / Tsuunami | shock wave | 衝撃波 |
Basic karate techniques
| Japanese Expression | Explanation | Kanji |
|---|---|---|
| Dachi | stance, that one assumes at the end of a movement | 立ち |
| Zenkutsu-Dachi | front-bending stance / forward submitting stance | 前屈 立ち |
| Kokutsu-Dachi | rear-bending stance / backward yielding stance | 後屈 立ち |
| Kiba-Dachi | horse-riding stance | 騎馬 立ち |
| Neko-Ashi-Dachi | cat foot stance | 猫足 立ち |
| Kosa-Dachi | crossing stance | 交差 立ち |
| Jodan | upper level (head and neck) | 上段 |
| Chudan | middle level (from neck to belt) | 中段 |
| Gedan | lower level (from belt to knee) | 下段 |
| Hiza-Shita | knee and below (sic!) | 膝下 |
| Hikite | pulling hand (drawing the fist back to the hip) | 引手 |
| Gedan-Barai | lower-level sweeping | 下段 払い |
| Uke | receiver, accepting | 受け |
| Age-Uke | rising receiver (upper block) | 上げ 受け |
| Soto-Ude-Uke | (from) outside (to inside) arm receiver - in many other styles than Shotokan this is called Uchi-Uke | 外腕 受け |
| Uchi-Ude-Uke | (from) inside (to outside) arm receiver - in many other styles that Shotokan this is called Soto-Uke | 内腕 受け |
| Shuto-Uke | hand (like a) sword receiver | 手刀 受け |
| Morote-Uchi-Ude-Uke | paired hands (from) inside (to outside) arm receiver | 双手 内腕 受け |
| Manji-Gamae | swastika posture | 卍構え |
| Koshi-Gamae | hip posture (both hands at he hip like cup and saucer) | 腰構え |
| Tsuki | thrust, lunge, stab - a straight punch | 突き |
| Oi-Zuki | straight lunge punch (literally like "pursuit thrust" or "chasing lunge") | 追い突き |
| Kizami-Zuki | straight punch with the leading hand (literally like "mincing thrust" or "chopping stab"), also called a jab | 刻み突き |
| Gyaku-Zuki | straight punch with the rear hand - reverse punch (literally like "opposite thrust") | 逆突き |
| Ura-Ken | backside (of the) fist | 裏拳 |
| Tettsui-Uchi | iron hammer strike | 鉄槌打 |
| Nukite | piercing hand | 貫手 |
| Gaiwan | outside-arm, the ulna side/little-finger side of the lower arm (could also be pronounced "Soto-Ude") | 外腕 |
| Haiwan | backside-arm, the back-of-the-hand side of the lower arm | 背腕 |
| Naiwan | inside-arm, the radius side/thumb side of the lower arm (could also be pronounced "Uchi-Ude") | 内腕 |
| Shuwan | hand-arm, the palm side of the lower arm | 手腕 |
| Empi / Hiji | monkey-elbow / elbow/arm | 猿臂 bzw. 肘 |
| Mae-Geri | forward kick | 前蹴り |
| Yoko-Kekomi | side kick thrust (literally like "crowded", "in bulk", "including", "all-in") | 横蹴込み |
| Yoko-Keage | side kick raising (and snapping back like a whip) | 横蹴上げ |
| Mawashi-Geri | roundhouse kick | 回し蹴り |
| Ushiro-Geri | backwards kick | 後ろ蹴り |
| Hiza-Geri | kneeing, knee strike (literally "knee kick") | 膝蹴り |
| Kin-Geri | gold kick, testicles kick - a kick in the crown jewels | 金 蹴り |
Types of stepping
| Japanese Expression | Explanation | Kanji |
|---|---|---|
| Tai-Sabaki | to position oneself (literally: bodywork, body handling) | 体-さばき |
| Suri-Ashi | sliding step without leaving the ground (literally: sliding feet) | 摺足 |
| Yori-Ashi | closing-in step (literally: to draw the feet near, to send the feet forward) | 寄り足 |
| Kae-Ashi | full step (literally: to exchange the feet) - with one foot passing the other | 替え足 |
| Ashi-Fumi-Kae | switch step (literally: feet-step-exchange) - pull one foot in to the other foot, then set the other foot out in reverse direction | 足踏み替え |
| Okuri-Ashi | stretching step (literally: to send a foot) - step out with one foot, then pull the other foot in to maintain the distance between them | 送足 |
| Tsugi-Ashi | transmitting step (literally: sequential feet, next foot) - pull one foot in, then step out with the other foot to maintain the distance between them | 次足 or 継足 |
| Sashi-Ashi | stealthy steps - lift foot when stepping and set down with the ball of the foot, often passing the other foot, then again with the next foot, without changing the lead hand side | 差し足 |
| Ayumi-Ashi | (normal) (literally: walking feet) - usually setting the foot down with the heel first and then rolling the foot from heel to toe | 歩み足 |
Weapons and other parts of the body
A nice overview of weapons in karate and other parts of the human body in Japanese has been compiled by Christian Sroka on his Website www.karate-do.de. (The page is in German but the terms are in Japanese and the parts of the body are illustrated.)
Pronuncing Japanese transcriptions
For English speakers there is a quick guide to pronouncing Romaji by Dizzy H. Muffin or you could turn to the more in-depth description on Wikipedia.
For German speakers Christian Sroka briefly describes rules for pronouncing Japanese transcriptions on his Website www.karate-do.de.