Terms I'm not familiar with

[HeatherMac]

There are many things I've yet to learn in Shorinji Kempo. I would like for you to share the words that have been diffcult for learning and explain the meaning. This will be an opportunity for me to learn from my superiors. Thank you.
I will start with a word that I don't know the meaning of....Dan.. What does dan mean?

[Prince Loeffler]

What does dan mean?

Depends on the usage of the word. Literally it means - Step(s) or Grade, Order, or page.

Hope this helps !

[Tripitaka of AA]

Hi Heather. Wow, you picked a tricky one this time!

I say that, because it is one of those areas where there are just so many answers, and never enough time to do them justice. For a start, we'll all be learning different things at different times and what was difficult for one person might prove easy for the next, so sharing our personal "difficult" ones might not prove as helpful as some more general advice (but perhaps more entertaining ).

Your first example "dan" illustrates one problem quite clearly; that of the homonym, a word which sounds like an other (others), but which might carry a totally different meaning. I wonder now if you meant dan as in dan grade students (black-belt-wearing yudansha), or as you might hear it when naming techniques, eg. harai uke dan zuki...? Or perhaps that is the same dan after all

My most difficult phrase in class is the one we used to begin or end each section:- "Taiso o hajimemasu"/"taiso o owarimasu", "Kihon o hajimemasu"/"kihon o owarimasu"
As Sensei picks out a senior student to lead the line-up, that gets to call it out, the opportunity to say it is relatively rare until you've been around the class for a while, yet when it comes there is a lot of pressure to get it right. You're standing at the front of the whole class and they're all listening to hear you say it... the nerves of public speaking can kick in and you can end up sounding like a bumbling idiot.

I found that I got curious enough about the language that I decided to enroll in some Evening Classes at a local school to learn Japanese. While the classes were very much based on normal conversation (not yelling at each other and naming techniques all the time ), it really helped to make the connection between the sound of the words and their meaning. It made it easier for me to look at new words and make an accurate guess of how they might be pronounced, and sometimes it made it easier for me to recognise the technique name... Most of all, it helped me to recognise the words when spoken by different people. I had found it difficult to recognise the technique names when they were said by people other than those with whom I regularly trained, but when I grew more confident about the language it all made more sense. It also meant that I was slightly more likely to be saying it "right"... well, slightly!

Those examples above simply meant "warm-ups start"/"warm-ups finish", "basics start"/"basics finish".


Perhaps other readers might like to contribute their "heard in error" stories, or even some useful tips on how to overcome the language barriers...

[Nina]

Since a long time I am wondering whether there is an abbrevation of "arigato gozaimashita" which is regularly used, otherwise I don`t understand why some people need half of the time to say it than me...

[sheb]

I thought that you learn Japanese? Didn't you write something like that? Did you stop it?

[Ewok]

Since a long time I am wondering whether there is an abbrevation of "arigato gozaimashita" which is regularly used, otherwise I don`t understand why some people need half of the time to say it than me...

"azasu!"

[Tripitaka of AA]

As I understand it, "arigato gozaimashita" is about as polite as you'd need for any normal conversation (possibly not polite enough for talking to the Emperor, but good enough for everyone else). Anything less formal and you could run into difficulties that arise from the need to balance the role of the speaker, the level of thanks required, the relative level of the recipient and the general formality of the conversation.

In English (British) you could choose from;
"Thank you very much"
"Thank you"
"Thanks"
"Ta"
"Cheers"

And I suppose that German and every other language has a similar choice of permutations available. In Japanese, there are possibly even more variations to choose from. Always best to stick at the highest level, until you are sure of the appropriateness of any alternative that you have heard others use.

Just saying "Domo", is easy, lazy and shows a that you really don't think that the other person deserved anything more... is that the impression you intend? Or were you just hoping that by using the smallest word, you might manage to say it without falling over your tongue?

Leon could expound further on this , as simply by being an Australian, he has probably had a huge hill to climb when it comes to learning etiquette

[Nadine]

Don't know how its spelled, it sounds like "kokahite", I sometimes hear it when Japanese people explain a technique?
What does it mean?

[Ewok]

As I understand it, "arigato gozaimashita" is about as polite as you'd need for any normal conversation (possibly not polite enough for talking to the Emperor, but good enough for everyone else).

Correct. What I wrote isn't very polite, technically, its what "young men" say. Its a really, really short (or fast) version of arigatogozaimashita.

Leon could expound further on this , as simply by being an Australian, he has probably had a huge hill to climb when it comes to learning etiquette

I'll bite you

Don't know how its spelled, it sounds like "kokahite", I sometimes hear it when Japanese people explain a technique?
What does it mean?

"koko hitte" - pull here (koko= here, hiku is the verb for pull, which as a command is hitte)

Also used is "hipatte", same thing - pull.

Push is "osu", which as a command is "oshi-te" - pronounced more like "oshh-teh"

[Luar]

"koko hitte" - pull here (koko= here, hiku is the verb for pull, which as a command is hitte)

Koko hitte my finger.... go ahead

[Nadine]

"koko hitte" - pull here (koko= here, hiku is the verb for pull, which as a command is hitte)

Also used is "hipatte", same thing - pull.

Push is "osu", which as a command is "oshi-te" - pronounced more like "oshh-teh"

Thank you for the explanation.
Now everything makes sense...

[Tripitaka of AA]

Thank you for the explanation.
Now everything makes sense...

how can anyone ever doubt the value of a forum like this?!

but are you sure that it is everything?

[Ewok]

Keep an eye on this page: http://www.leonjp.com/wiki/Shorinji_Kempo_Terminology

I've got a few hundred words in an excel document on my computer that I'm sorting out, and I'll put them up later today if I get time. It should help out a bit

[Luar]

Keep an eye on this page: http://www.leonjp.com/wiki/Shorinji_Kempo_Terminology

I've got a few hundred words in an excel document on my computer that I'm sorting out, and I'll put them up later today if I get time. It should help out a bit

You are spelling "Thank You" as one word. Outside of that it looks great.

[Tripitaka of AA]

Ettiquitte = etiquette


I like it so far. Desu/des is a non-standard way to write it but I can see the logic behind that, as it is much easier for a non-Japanese to see how it will sound, without the "u" (although in Japanese itself there is no "s", only sa, shi, su, se or so).

[Ewok]

'Thank you' is one word for coding reasons. And yeah, spelling has been fixed

I'm going with pronunciation over correct romanisation, but if its too distracting, click edit at the top and feel free to change it

[Nina]

Is `Me Uchi` still `Me Uchi` if you don`t target at the eyes?

[Anders Pettersson]

Is `Me Uchi` still `Me Uchi` if you don`t target at the eyes?

NO.

If you look in the Kyouhan, or the Tokuhon, you can see that the different types of strikes that we have in Shorinjikempo listed.

Me uchi is not listed there, because the "proper" name would be urate uchi [裏手打], which is one of six different types of kaishu uchi [開手打] (open hand strikes).

I hope sthis helps.

/Anders

[Tripitaka of AA]

Is `Me Uchi` still `Me Uchi` if you don`t target at the eyes?

Great question Nina! One I've been meaning to ask (... for twenty years).

What do they call it in the kamokyuho when it is used for Tsuki Nuki?



Oops! Anders answered before I noticed... Thanks Sensei. So what does that make the Tsuki Nuki version?... kinteki uchi?

[Anders Pettersson]

Oops! Anders answered before I noticed... Thanks Sensei. So what does that make the Tsuki Nuki version?... kinteki uchi?

Well it isn't written in the kamokuhyo. For tsuki nuki the only notes for shusha (the defender) in the kamoku is that one should use tsuitate shuho.

But is should be just urate uchi, or kinteki uchi as you suggest would be understandable.

/Anders