Japanese in Karate 26 “kumite”

“Kumite” is sparring. It originally means grappling hands. kumi = tie up, te = hand

☆ Yakusoku kumite         

“yakusoku” = promise, appointment

It is one step, 3 step or 5 step sparring with fixed (set) movement.
(1step) ippon-kumite, (3steps) sanbon kumite, (5steps)  gohon-kumite
The defender steps back each time, blocking the attacks and performing a counter attack after the last block.

☆ Jiyu kumite

“jiyu” = free             It is a free sparring.

☆ Shiai

“shiai” is a competition.

Here are some Japanese words which are used in kumite and shiai.

☆ Shushin ni rei                    bow to the referee (shushin = chief referee, ni = to, rei = bow)

☆ Otagai ni rei                      bow to each other

☆ Kamaete                            be ready

☆ Hajime                               Start!

☆ Yame                                 Stop!

☆ Zokko/ Tsuzukete             Continue!

☆ Waza ari                             a point with good technique (but not enough to overpower the opponent)        waza = technique,  ari = there was

☆ Ippon                                  a winning point (it literally means ‘one’)

It is awarded for a technique with good form and with little opportunity for the opponent to defend against it

☆ Awasete ippon                    "awasete" means to combine together
                                 Usually two “waza ari” becomes “ippon” (waza ari is considered as half point)                                      So when a fighter gets the second “waza-ari”, the judge will say "awasete ippon”               

☆ Hikiwake                             draw

☆ Encho/encho-sen                extension/extension fight

☆ Taiju hantei                          taiju = body weight, hantei = decision  

☆ aka - shiro                      　  red - white

☆ kachi - make                        won - lost                                        

You can hear some words in this video too : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUWPvWkehlM

Japanese in Karate 25 “kata” "ibuki"

“Kata” means ‘form’

The definition of “kata” in Karate :

Assuming the fight is against various enemies, you perform the predetermined techniques in predetermined order.

 “Kata” is different in different styles of karate and there are different opinions towards “kata”.

Therefore, I just translate what I learned and what I read on the internet.

These are the points of kata:

1.“Kata” is the completion of “kihon”.

2.“Chikara no kyoujaku” :  chikara = power,  kyoujaku = strong and week

     It means that it’s important to differentiate the strength of power according to the technique.       

3.“Waza no kankyu”       :   waza = technique, kankyu = fast and slow

     It means that it’s important to differentiate the speed of techniques    

Now I don’t translate the names of “Kata” since they are not simple Japanese words and I don’t understand most of their meanings. Even Japanese people remember those names of kata just from the sound of it.

Another important thing in kata is ‘breathing’

“Kokyu hou” = breathing technique    “kokyu” is breathing and “hou” is the way

One of the “kokyu hou” in kata is “ibuki”.

 “ibuki” also means ‘breathing’

And the meanings of this breathing in karate are:

To tighten the whole body

To raise the concentration

To strengthen the internal organs

I am not a karate teacher and I cannot explain how to do “ibuki” properly but I’d like to introduce an explanation that I found on the website of a Japanese Shihan. Because his instruction really helped me understand how to do “ibuki” better.

"When you breathe in (the air goes in to the lung), instead of blowing up the stomach, you make a dent in the stomach. And when you breathe out from the mouth, you plump out the stomach and concentrate the power into lower stomach."

This is also called “tanden kokyu”.   In the picture, the red point inside the stomach is "tanden". (the red point on the surface is a belly button)

I attach here 2 videos. One is an amazing kata practice (Kankudai) by 7 year old Japanese girl and the other one is a demonstration of Tensho kata(with ibuki). The sensei who performs in the video was my own sensei in Tokyo.

Japanese in Karate 24 “other stances”

★  Neko-ashi dachi

“Niko” means ‘a cat’ and “dachi” is ‘a stance’.
Neko-ashi dachi is like “kokutsu dachi”(explained in blog no.22) but you put 90% of your weight on the back leg(knee is bent) and 10% on the front leg. The front “chusoku” is just touching the floor so that you can kick anytime, just like a cat can jumps up lightly and quickly.

★  Tsuru-ashi dachi  /  Sagi-ashi dachi

“Tsuru” is ‘a crane’, “sagi” is ‘a heron’, both are the name of birds which have long legs, and they both often stand on one leg. So these are the stances just like those birds, standing on one leg and the other leg is bent so that you can kick freely. In Tsuru-ashi dachi , the foot is placed on the side of the other leg. In Sagi-dachi, the foot is placed bent behind the other leg.

★  Kosa  or Kousa

“Kousa” means ‘cross’. Crisscross

★  Hanmi

“Han” means ‘half’ and “mi” means ‘body’. You don’t stand with both shoulders facing forward but rather turn slightly (half body) so only the front shoulder faces forward. It makes the opponent difficult to attack you.

★  Han kiba-dachi

“Han” means ‘half’ so this is a half “kiba-dachi”. You open the legs half wide from kiba-dachi.

 ★  Suri ashi

“Suri” means ‘to scrub’ and “ashi” is ‘foot’. It is a movement when you move the leg without lifting up from the floor, like scrubbing the floor with feet.

Japanese in Karate 23 “other punches”

★  Jun zuki
“Jun” means ‘follow, not oppose’ and “zuki” is “tsuki”= punch.
When you are standing with either side leg front, if you punch with the same side hand as the front leg it’s called “jun-zuki”. If you punch with the opposite side hand from the front leg, it’s called “gyaku-zuki”.  “Jun-zuki” and “oi-zuki”(I explained in No.22) sound the same punch, but “oi-zuki” means ‘a chasing punch’ so only when the back leg step forward and punch with the same side hand, it’s called “oi-zuki”.

In the training, we normally use it when stepping into kiba dachi. We punch jun-zuki in the direction we face (with the same side hand as the leg) and then do successive jun-zuki each time facing a different direction or in “idou geiko”,each time towards the proceeding leg.      

★  San-bon zuki / Go-hon geri
In Japanese, when we count something, we add a certain word after the number.
When we count punches or kicks, we add “hon”.
1   ippon (it should be “ichi-hon” but we say “ippon” for the convenience of pronunciation)
2   ni-hon
3   san-bon (it should be “san-hon” but we say “san-bon”)
4   yon-hon
5   go-hon
So “san-bon zuki” is ‘3 continuous punches’ and “go-hon geri” is ‘5 continuous kicks’

★  Morote zuki
“Morote” means ‘both hands’. “Morote-zuki” is ‘both hands punch’.

Japanese in Karate 22 “Idou-geiko”

In all the dojos I trained in Japan (5 dojos in 3 different styles), “idou” training always followed after “kihon” training.

“idou” means ‘to move from one place to another’. “geiko” is same as ‘keiko’, which means ‘training’

“idou geiko” is the training you step forward usually by 3 or 5 steps and then either you turn around (“mawatte”) and do another 3 steps or step backwards without turning (“sagatte” or “sagari”).

“Mawatte” means ‘Turn around!’.  “Sagatte” means ‘Step back!’

 This training is the combination of “kihon” techniques mainly with the following stances.

“Zenkutsu-dachi” : “zen” is the same kanji(Chinese character) as “mae” and it means ‘front’. And    
                              “kutsu” means ‘to bend’. “Zenkutsu-dachi” is the wide stance that your
                               front leg is deeply bent and back leg is straight. It is a front leaning stance.

“Koukutsu-dachi” : “kou” is the same kanji as “ushiro” and it means ‘back/behind’. Therefore,                                                 your back leg is bent in this stance. It is a back leaning stance.

koukutsu-dachi

The idou training I was used to starts with “zenkutsu-dachi, gedan-barai”

“Sensei” says, “Zenkutsu-dachi gedan-barai  Youi!”  (prepare for the stance) and then “kamaete!” (do the stance).
 Now the teacher would say “Chudan oi-zuki” or “Chudan gyaku-zuki”

“Oi-zuki” : “oi” means ‘chase/follow’.  You punch with the same side hand as the front leg.

“Gyaku-zuki” : “gyaku” means ‘reverse/opposite’. You punch with the opposite side hand from the
                        front leg.

zenkutsu-dachi, oi-zuki

Japanese in Karate 21 “Keri” (2)

Continued from the last blog

★   Yoko ke age :
“yoko” = side, “ke” = kick, “age” = lift up. You lift up your leg high to the side with “soku-to”.

★   Kansetsu-geri :
 “kansetsu” means ‘joint’. This is the kick to the opponent’s knee joint with “soku-to”.

★   Yoko-geri : “yoko” is ‘side’. This is a side kick with “soku-to”.

                              

★   Ushiro-geri : “ushiro” is ‘behind/back side’. This is a back kick.

★   Uchi mawashi geri : “uchi” means ‘inside’ and “mawashi” is to make a circular movement.   “uchi mawashi geri” is therefore a circular kick coming from the inside.

★   Soto mawashi geri :
 “soto” means ‘ourside’. “soto mawashi geri” is a circular kick coming from the outside.

★   Ushiro mawashi geri : It is a circular kick coming from behind.

★   Kake-geri : “kake” means ‘to hook’ therefore “kake geri” is a hook kick.

★   Kakato-geri : “kakato” is ‘a heel’. It is a kick with the heel.

★   Kakato otoshi geri : “otoshi” means ‘to drop’. You do “mae-keage” and drop the heel straight down on the opponent. It is also called ‘ax - kick’.

When we do ‘kin-geri’, ‘mae-geri’, ‘mawashi-geri’, and also ‘kansetsu-geri’, ‘yoko-geri’, ‘ushiro-geri’, I was always taught the importance of “hiki ashi”.

“hiki” means ‘to pull’ and "ashi" means 'a leg'. “Hiki-ashi” is about pulling back the leg after kicking in the same track and to the same position before you kick.

Japanese in Karate 20 “Keri” (1)

 “Keri” is ‘kicking’ in Japanese but when you say the name of a certain kick, ‘keri’ changes to ‘… geri’ just for the convenience of pronunciation.

First, I explain some words for direction and parts of a foot.

mae =  ‘front’       yoko = ‘side’    ushiro =  ‘backward’        

Chu-soku / chuusoku : “chu” is ‘middle’ and “soku” is ‘foot’. “chusoku” is the part under the toes.  

Hai-soku : “hai” is ‘back’ like ‘back of the body’  and “soku” is ‘foot’.  Same “hai” as in “hai-to”.

     
Tei-soku : “tei” is ‘bottom’ and “soku” is ‘foot’. It’s the bottom of the foot.

Soku-to / sokutou : “soku” is ‘foot’ and “tou” is ‘sword’ 

kakato :  ‘heel’   

★   Mae ke age : “mae” is ‘front’, “ke” is from the word “keri” and “a-ge” is ‘to raise/lift something up’.  As “maekeage” means to kick your leg to the front and high above.

★   Hiza-geri : “Hiza” is ‘knee’.  It’s a knee kick.

★   Kin-geri : It means ‘kick to the groin’. A man’s groin is called “Kin-tama” in Japanese, which means ‘Golden balls’!  You kick with “hai-soku”. (please don't use the word "kin-tama" in public..)

★   Mae-geri  (Chudan mae-geri/ Jodan mae-geri) 
: ‘Front kick’ (to the middle level/ to the higher level). You kick with “chu-soku”.

★   Mawashi-geri : “mawashi” is to turn something around/make a circular movement. “mawashi-geri” is ‘round kick’.

mawashi-geri

Will be continued in the next blog