Japanese in Karate 8 "Sensei" "Senpai"

(8)ללמוד מילים ביפנית שמשתמשים באימון קראטה

会長、 館長、    師範、先生、  先輩
Kaicho   Kancho   Shihan   Sensei   Senpai

"Kaicho" means 'a chairman'. "Kai" is the group and  "cho" is the headman/chief.  So "kaicho" is the top of the group.

If the name of the group ends with "kan" or "kaikan" like "Kyokushin-kaikan" which means 'the house of the group', then the head of the group is called "kancho"

"Shihan" means  a grandmaster. The person who guides and is a good example for the learners.

"Sensei" is a teacher. "Sen" means 'ahead/before' and "sei" means 'be born'.  Sensei is the honorific title for someone who teaches or someone you respect.

"Senpai" is a senior person.  "Sen"  means 'ahead' and "pai" means 'fellow'.  So "senpai"  means  the person who joined in the group earlier and has more experience than you.

                                            My first karate "sensei" - Jim Philips(he is "shihan" now)

I will explain about "keiko"(training) next time.

Osu

Japanese in Karate 7 "Mokuso"

(7)ללמוד מילים ביפנית שמשתמשים באימון קראטה

黙想 "Mokuso"

The first kanji  黙 "moku" means 'to be quiet/close one's mouth' and the second kanji 想 "sou" means 'to think'. "Mokuso" is 'meditation' . It's the act that you close your eyes and  breath slowly through your nose to calm yourself down. At the beginning of the training in karate, you do "seiza"(proper sitting) and do "mokuso" to disconnect yourself from outside world of the dojo and concentrate on what you are going to do. At the end of the training, you do the same to calm down and contemplate(recall what you have learned).

You do "mokuso" also before "kata" for concentration.

"Mokuso yame" -  "yame" means 'end'.  So "mokuso yame" means 'end meditation'. "Yame" also means 'stop' as you hear it in the fight when the judge tries to stop the fighting.

I will explain "sensei" and "senpai" next time.

Osu

Japanese in Karate 6 "Seiza"

(6)ללמוד מילים ביפנית שמשתמשים באימון קראטה

正座 Seiza

The first kanji  正 "sei" is the same kanji as 正"shou" of  正面"shomen" and it means  'proper, correct'    The second kanji 座 "za" means 'sitting'. So "Seiza" means  'proper sitting'

"Seiza" is a formal way of sitting on the floor in Japan. It was originally for showing the respect to Buddha and Shinto Gods and then also to the Shogun(a head of samurai). Now it's more common to sit on the chairs in Japan too but "seiza" remains as a proper etiquette in Japanese society.

How to do "seiza" differs a little among martial arts and according to occasions. Here is the regular way: First kneel down onto the floor(in karate, left knee first). Make sure the big toes are touching each other on their side(big toes can overlap too). Lower your buttocks on the heels. Straighten your back so that it is directly above the heels. It is important to keep your back straight and draw your chin a little bit. In karate, they usually have a fist or two's width between their knees. In Kyokushin, they place their fists on the upper thighs .

In martial arts, "seiza" is one of the rules of courtesy.  "Seiza"  shows respects toward other people and  is also a self discipline.  When you do "seiza" in proper posture,  you do feel that your mind calms down(as long as you don't feel pain^^). By keeping the posture for a long time, you can strengthen the abdominal and  back muscles. They say that doing "seiza" makes your body more flexible too.  So it's worth getting used to it!!

Well, it's not so difficult for Japanese people to do "seiza" since they (I mean we) have short legs…  And we grew up on "tatami" mattresses and it is common to do "seiza" in our regular life.

But it's also painful for Japanese people to do "seiza" for a long time. So believe it or not, "seiza" is one of the punishments at school in Japan. I remember I had to do "seiza" once on the hard floor of the school corridor because I ate a snack at school….^^

I will write about "mokuso" next time

Osu

Japanese in Karate 5 "Shoumen ni rei"

(5)ללמוד מילים ביפנית שמשתמשים באימון קראטה

正面 Shoumen/Shomen

First kanji  正 "shou" means  'right, correct (נכון)' or 'head (as a position), main'     

Second kanji 面 "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

To see all "Japanese in Karate"

 http://japanesemegumi.blogspot.co.il/search/label/Japanese%20in%20Karate

Japanese in Karate 4 "Shinzen" & "Rei"

(4)ללמוד מילים ביפנית שמשתמשים באימון קראטה

神前 Shinzen

The first kanji  神 "shin" means 'God' and the second  前 "zen" means 'in front of'. "Shinzen" is the place where there is a spirit of god.

God for Japanese people is from Shinto religion. Most of Japanese people belong to Shinto (and also Buddhism) but they usually call themselves 'non-religious'.

Shinto is very different from other religions. The Shinto's belief is that (simply put) there are gods in everything in the nature(like in the sun, the woods, fire, etc..) and we cannot live without the blessings of those gods. So Japanese people pray to the gods when they appreciate the benefits in life or when they beg for better situations. But other than that, they are not obliged to do anything.  Samurai warriors used to pray to the gods for safety and triumph.

The gods represented by Shinzen in the dojo are 2 gods of martial arts.                                   
 鹿島大明神(Kashima daimyojin)　香取大明神(Katori daimyojin)

You might see these 2 names (written vertically) hanging on the wall in "Shinzen"
These gods/spirits will protect you from danger through the training and help you improve your skills.

This is called "Kamidana" (shelf of God) . This is smaller and the shelf is attached to the wall but this is also "Shinzen"

"Rei" is 'a bow'.  Japanese people bow when they appreciate and when they apologize and also when they ask someone a favour. Bowing is the courtesy in Japanese society. "Rei" is also for showing respect. You do "rei" before and after the fight to the opponent to show respect even if he is your enemy.

You do "Shinzen ni rei!"  at the beginning of the training.  "ni" in the middle means 'to' but the order of words is opposite from English. So here it means 'Bow to Shinzen'. It actually means that you bow to show your courtesy to the gods and pray for safety in the training and for improvement of your karate skills. Bowing to the gods also means the respect to parents and to ancestors.

<Japanese expressions>
Thank you                      = Arigato gozaimas/ Arigato gozaimashita(past tense)
I am sorry                       = Sumimasen
Please do me a favour = Onegaishimas


I will explain "shoumen" and "seiza" next time.

Osu

Japanese in Karate 3 "Dojo"

(3)ללמוד מילים ביפנית שמשתמשים באימון קראטה

What is "dojo"?    

First of all, in Japanese letters it's written "dou jou". You don't need to pronounce "u" but make both "o" sound longer. "do-jo-"

道場  These are the kanji letters for "dojo". First letter 道 (dou) means 'the way' (like my own way, the way of living..) and the second letter 場 (jou) means 'place for something'

Karate is also called "karate-do" 空手道 with 道(dou) at the end which means 'the way of karate'. "Judo" also has 道(dou) and so as "kendo"(Japanese fencing) and "aikido" (weaponless self-defense). And all the martial arts are called "budo" 武道. "Bu" of "budo" means 'samurai warriors' so "budo" literally means the way of Samurai!

Now I suppose you understood that the "dojo" is the place for training "budo".

 You have to take off the shoes when you go into the dojo. Why?

Well, in Japan nobody goes into the house with shoes on to keep the house clean. We have "sitting on the floor" culture so we don't want to sit on the dirty floor. People will get shocked if they see someone going into the house with shoes on in Japan. It's almost a criminal behavior... There is an expression in Japanese "go into a Japanese house with one's shoes on" which means 'dishonor' and "rudeness'.
Dojo is also a sacred place so it is unacceptable that you dishonor the place with your dirty shoes!

The floor of karate dojo in Japan is usually wooden floor. And everyone wipes the floor with a rag like in the picture after every training. It's also an exercise! And it teaches you "Polishing the dojo means polishing oneself" (I never thought that way when I used to do it in Japan though....^^)

I will explain about "shinzen" next time.

Osu

Japanese in Karate 2 "Osu"

If you ask Japanese people what "Osu" means, there is not much chance to get a clear answer. "Osu" is used only between martial arts practitioners or in male cheering groups(for university sport's teams). "Osu" is a greeting word for them. So if you are doing karate, you say "Osu" instead of "hello". And you say "Osu" instead of "Good morning". You say "Osu" instead of "Good night". You also say "Osu" instead of "Good bye". You also say "Osu" for "Thank you" and also for "I'm sorry".

"Osu" also means "Yes". When your SENSEI(teachers) or SENPAI(the one who has higher belt/degree than you) tells you something, you usually answer with "Osu" regardless "Yes" or "No". If  SENSEI or SENPAI asks you to do something, you have to say "Osu" even if you wish to say "No".

So what does "Osu" really mean?

押忍 This is the kanji for "Osu". The first kanji means to push and the second kanji means to endure/tolerate. Together it means "to push through one's tolerance" or "I won't give up even if I suffer". 

That's why  you have to say "Osu" when SENSEI tells you to do 100 push ups and you actually don't want to do it ...

I will explain about "dojo" and "shinzen" next time.

Osu(here it means "See you"!)

image is from;

http://cuttingbrothers.shop-pro.jp/?pid=33016120

If you want to see all "Japanese in Karate"
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