Karate Home	Japanese terms

The following vocabulary covers the japanese names used within class to describe various techniques. In many cases these names are abbreviations or the vernacular equivalent of the full japanese descriptions in print. Vowel Pronunciation Japanese words are easily broken into syllables and pronounced without the various intonations present in some other asian languages. These syllables are discernable in the romanised (westernised) writing of japanese words as either 2 or 3 letters in length ending in a vowel or the letter n. For example Zen-kutsu dachi is syllabically zen/ ku/ tsu/ da/ chi Chudan seiken is syllabically chu/ dan/ sei/ ken The vowels in japanese are pronounced a as in palm but short e as in met i as in tea but short o as in saw but short u as in noon but short (note: the 'u' occasionally weakened or omitted when at end of words) Counting Within class techniques and kata are counted in japanese

1 2 3 4 5

Ichi Ni San Shi Go

6 7 8 9 10

Roku Shichi Hachi Ku Ju

Stances (dachi) Zen-kutsu dachi Shizen dachi Neko-ashi dachi Kiba dachi Shika dachi Hachi dachi Kosa dachi

Front leg bent stance Front leg natural stance Cat stance Horse riding stance Hour glass stance Natural stance Crossed leg stance

Kicks (keri) Mae-geri Maewashi-geri Yoko-geri

Front kick Round-house kick Side kick

Blocks (uke) Jodan uke Yoko uke Gaden barai

Upper block Middle (literally side) block Low block

Strikes Chudan seiken Jodan seiken Oi-tsuki Shuto Uchi Uraken

Middle punch High punch Lunge punch Knife hand Back-fist

Other Sensei Kihon Kata Kumite Zazen Kiai

Teacher Basics Form Fighting Zen meditation Focussed shout

Tsuki Yoi Hajime Yame Dojo Gi

Prepare Ready Start Stop Training Hall Training Outfit