Japanese names for moves.

[Tribalweapon]

Can anyone point me in the direction of a good book or website that shows the Japanese names for the basic moves (reverse punch, front kick, knife hand, etc). I did a quick search on here but couldn't find anything and my karate experience consists of about 3 classes.

Thanks in advance

Chris Robert

[RickMatz]

I would advise you to take lots of notes.

[Bengel]

http://www.lyon-karate.com/karate_terminology.php

Try this for starters.

[De_Franza]

This might help.
One caviat (sp?): some schools use different terms, but this should be a good basic intro.

[Kimpatsu]

This might help.
One caviat (sp?): some schools use different terms, but this should be a good basic intro.

Bill, having looked over your list, I can comment on two general entries (after all, the Karate entries mean nothing to me); but:
(1) There is no Japanese word "gi". There may be some Anglicised nonsense to that effect, but "gi" is impossible in Japanese, as the character is pronounced "ki", as in "kimono". The "k" only hardens to a "g" if there is a preceding syllable, so whilt "dogi" is acceptable, "gi" alone is not.
(2) A senior student is called "seMpai" (with an "m"). Whilst "senpai" may appear technically correct, as with words like "shimbun" (newspaper) and "kempo", there is a Japanese convention to use "m". No one says "shinbun" or "senpai".
HTH.

[Tribalweapon]

Thanks for your help guys

[Gene Williams]

I have always liked the book, "Karate Do: The Art of Empty Hand Fighting," by Nishiyama and Brown. It is a Shotokan book, and a damned good one. The lists of terms and the names of stances and techniques are very good. Also, you won't find better demonstrations of the stances and techniques than those that Nishiyama demonstrates in the book. I'm Shito ryu, but I tell my students if they want to know what a cat stance and a sanchin stance should look like, copy Nishiyama's in that book. I think it is a must have book for anyone.

[Bugeisha]

(1) There is no Japanese word "gi". There may be some Anglicised nonsense to that effect, but "gi" is impossible in Japanese, as the character is pronounced "ki", as in "kimono". The "k" only hardens to a "g" if there is a preceding syllable, so whilt "dogi" is acceptable, "gi" alone is not.

Thanks, Tony! I've been trying to remember why keikogi and dogi are acceptable and "gi" is not. I feel like an idiot for not realizing the reason earlier.

[Kimpatsu]

No problem, Dillon.
Next up, why Westerners mispronounce "karate" as "kuhrotty"...

[Gene Williams]

No problem, Dillon.
Next up, why Westerners mispronounce "karate" as "kuhrotty"...

"Gi" is fine...even Japanese and Okinawans say it. Call it slang, as in "jeans" for blue jeans, or "tux" for tuxedo. Tony is what we call an obsessional personality type. Either that or he is substituting unrelenting argument for quality budo. Either way, he may safely be ignored

[De_Franza]

Bill, having looked over your list, I can comment on two general entries (after all, the Karate entries mean nothing to me); but:
(1) There is no Japanese word "gi". There may be some Anglicised nonsense to that effect, but "gi" is impossible in Japanese, as the character is pronounced "ki", as in "kimono". The "k" only hardens to a "g" if there is a preceding syllable, so whilt "dogi" is acceptable, "gi" alone is not.
(2) A senior student is called "seMpai" (with an "m"). Whilst "senpai" may appear technically correct, as with words like "shimbun" (newspaper) and "kempo", there is a Japanese convention to use "m". No one says "shinbun" or "senpai".
HTH.

Yeah, at all schools I've trained at previously it was seMpai... good to know about "gi". Thanks!

[Kimpatsu]

"Gi" is fine...even Japanese and Okinawans say it.

No, they bloody well do not, Gene. Find me any native speaker who says "gi" in conversation. Just one.
Where on earth did you learn your Japanese?

[Gene Williams]

Kota Higioshi, Shogo Kuniba, Morio Higaonna, Ryuto Takizawa, Fumio Demura, and Jiro Otsuka.

[Kimpatsu]

Kota Higioshi, Shogo Kuniba, Morio Higaonna, Ryuto Takizawa, Fumio Demura, and Jiro Otsuka.

So, when you were speaking to them in Japanese, they said "gi" instead of "dogi", did they?
I don't believe you.

[Gene Williams]

Nope, they said it in English. They aren't as obsessional as you, nor are they so insecure that they must condescend to others through such bizarre pedantry and phony hauteur.

[Kimpatsu]

Nope, they said it in English. They aren't as obsessional as you, nor are they so insecure that they must condescend to others through such bizarre pedantry and phony hauteur.

Actually, Gene, what they're doing is insulting you.
One Shorinji Kempo master with a good command of English switched from using "dogi" to "gi" when talking to certain Western Kesnhi who couldn't pick up the subtle hint of his constant use of "dogi". When I asked him why he was pandering to their incorrect terminology, he waved his hand vaguely in their direction and said, "Because they're too stupid to get it".
When a Japanese master uses "gi" (and note, he would only ever do so in English, NOT Japanese, which is the lingua franca of MA), he's condescending to you.
Do you really want to be thought of as stupid, Gene?

[Gene Williams]

The people I named are not condescending. They are simply adjusting to English speaking people and students. If they had wanted us to use "dogi" or "keikogi," they would have insisted on it, just like they insisted upon proper kata names, proper names of technique, and proper etiquette. Do you want to be thought of as a butthole?

[Kimpatsu]

The people I named are not condescending. They are simply adjusting to English speaking people and students. If they had wanted us to use "dogi" or "keikogi," they would have insisted on it, just like they insisted upon proper kata names, proper names of technique, and proper etiquette. Do you want to be thought of as a butthole?

How would you know? You don't speak Japanese.
But in your second sentence, you blow the gaff. If they're goign to use proper kata names, technical names, etc., why this one exception, unless they're dumbing down, for you? The truth is that the rot is too widespread, so they've given up trying to do anythign about it. Ask them next time you get the chance what the Japanese word is, and they'll tell you "dogi/keikogi". Not "gi". So, they clearly are dumbing down for all of you.

[Gene Williams]

How do you know they aren't "dumbing up" for you so they don't have to listen to you piss and whine?

[Eldritch Knight]

I'm gonna have to agree with Tony here. When I moved to Japan and had my first kendo lesson, I asked my fellow kendoka how to wear the gi (in my broken Japanese at the time). They just stood there for a few seconds, wondering what I meant by "gi", until one finally realized that I meant "dougi", and immediately corrected me. Not once have I heard a Japanese speaker refer to it as a "gi", not only in speaking to me, but also amongst each other. Tony isn't exaggerating when he says that the Japanese were dumbing down the language when using "gi" over in the West. A very similar thing happens when you see them do nothing about correcting the superfluous "ossu" in American karate classes, keeping in mind that the word has a very specific usage and place in Japanese.