Wednesday 26 June 2013

Japanese in Karate 5 "Shoumen ni rei"

(5)ללמוד מילים ביפנית שמשתמשים באימון קראטה

正面 Shoumen/Shomen

First kanji   "shou" means  'right, correct (נכון)' or 'head (as a position), main'     
Second kanji "men" means 'face, side'
So "Shomen" means  'Front face, head  side'

If there is a "Shinzen" in the dojo, the side of the "Shinzen" is always "Shomen".  If there is no "Shinzen", you have to look around the room and see which side is the front of the room.
Pictures of the master of the group/organization or emblem  should be on the wall of the "Shomen"

If there is a tournament out side of the dojo, there is usually no "Shinzen" in the place. So you need to decide which side will be "shomen" and the head of the organization and main judges will be sitting in the "shomen" side.
"Shomen ni rei" is just like "Shinzen ni rei". You will show the respect to the organization and  to the place where you are going to use for trainings or for competition.

And since "Shomen" means 'correct side' , by bowing to "Shomen" you also swear that you'll face your opponent in a fair manner.
There is a saying in martial arts:

礼に始まり礼に終わる  "Rei ni hajimari rei ni owaru."
= Start with a bow and end with a bow.

Courtesy  is a basic idea of martial arts. You cannot gain anything if you don't have someone to practice with. So you need to respect your teachers and anyone you train with regardless whether older or younger/more experienced or less. If there is no respect in training or competition, there will be only violence.
Osu

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