Contents
For terminologies related to Principles go to: 原則 Gensoku (Principles)
For terminologies related to Ranking System go to: 礼式 Reishiki (Etiquette) » 段位 Dani / Ranking System
For Kata names go to: Links » Shito-ryu Kata
The Name & The Art
| Karate-dō | 空手道 | the way of the empty hand |
| Shitō-ryū | 糸東流 | ‘Shitō’ style |
| Budō | 武道 | martial arts; military arts; Japanese modern martial arts formalised during or after the Meiji period (明治時代; 1868 – 1912) |
| ryū | 流 | style/method/manner of; school (of thought) |
| ha | 派 | clique; faction; school |
| ryūha | 流派 | mainstream school (of thought) |
| karateka | 空手家 | karate practitioner |
礼式 Reishiki – Etiquette
| rei | 礼 | bow |
| ritsurei | 立礼 | standing bow |
| zarei | 座礼 | seated bow |
| shitsurei shimasu | 失礼します | excuse me (said upon entering the dōjo or when approaching the sensei to ask assistance) |
| akurei mashite sumimasen | 悪例況して 済みません | I am sorry, not to mention my bad example (said aloud on seiza by students who arrive late) |
| onegai shimasu | 御願い仕ます | please – humble language |
| yorōshiku onegai shimasu | 夜露死苦 御願い仕ます | please treat me favourably, please (said to a training partner upon commencing training with the partner) |
| arigatō gozaimasu | 有り難う 御座いました | thank you very much (present tense; used when the action your thanking for is still in action) |
| arigatō gozaimashita | 有り難う 御座いました | thank you very much (past tense; used when the action you’re thanking for is complete) |
| osu / ossu | 押忍・押っ忍 | Aye; Yes!; (to show enthusiasm, agreement and respect; In karate, “ossu” is used heavily in Shotokan, but not a tradition of Shito-ryu.) |
空手着 Karategi - karate uniform
| karategi | 空手着 | karate uniform (lit. karate wear) |
| keikōgi / dōgi | 稽古着・道着 | training uniform (lit. training wear / lit. ‘the Way’ wear) |
| uwagi | 上着 | the jacket portion of the karategi |
| zubon | ズボン | the trousers portion of the karategi (from French) |
| obi | 帯 | belt |
道場 Dōjo – martial arts training hall (lit. place of the way)
| honbu dōjo | 本部道場 | main dōjo; dōjo headquarters |
| kamiza | 上座 | chief seat; seat of honour; ‘front’ of the dōjo |
| shimoza | 下座 | lower seat; ‘rear’ of the dōjo – south of the dōjo, where the kamiza is north |
| genkan | 玄関 | entranceway; entrance of the dōjo – ideally west side of the shimoza |
| joseki | 上席 | seniority; precedence; upper seat; senior side of the dōjo – east side of dōjo |
| shimoseki | 下席 | lower seat/position; junior side of the dōjo – west side of the dōjo |
| enbujo | 演武場 | centre of the dōjo |
例式 Reishiki – regular ceremony
| seiza | 正座・正坐 | sitting correctly (Japanese-style); sitting (or squatting) straight |
| mokuso | 黙想 | meditation; silent contemplation |
| kaimoku | 開黙・開目 | open eyes |
| shomen ni rei | 正面に礼 | bow to the front |
| sensei ni rei | 先生に礼 | bow to the teacher |
| otagai ni rei | 御互いに礼 | bow to each other |
The Syllabus
| kihon | 基本 | fundamentals (lit. foundation; basis; standard) |
| kata | 型・形 | prescribe form of patterns |
| kumite | 組み手・組手 | fighting; sparring (lit. meeting of the hands) |
| waza | 技 | technique; art |
| uke | 受け・請け・承け | block |
| tsuki / -zuki (as suffix) | 突き | punch (lit. stab, thrust) |
| uchi | 打ち | strike |
| keri / -geri (as suffix) | 蹴り | kick |
| tachi / -dachi (as suffix) | 立ち | stance |
| nage | 投げ | throw; takedown |
Titles & Honorifics
| ryūso | 流祖 | bud. founder |
| sōke | 宗家 | bud. grandmaster (originator; head of family) |
| shihan | 師範 | bud. master level instructor |
| kanchō | 館長 | director |
| menkyo | 免許 | bud. teaching licence (lit. licence; permit; certificate) |
| sensei | 先生 | teacher |
| deshi / teishi | 弟子 | student |
| sempai | 先輩 | senior |
| dohai | 奴輩 | bud. peer of equal level |
| kōhai | 後輩 | junior |
指揮 Shiki – Command; Direction
| keikō | 稽古 | practice; practise; training; study |
| keikōdai | 稽古台 | training partner |
| kiwotsuke | 気を付け | (stand to) attention! |
| yōi / kamaete | 用意・構えて | ready!; attention / posture! |
| tate / kiritsu | 立て・起立 | stand up; rise |
| narande | 並らんで | line up! |
| seiretsu | 整列 | line up (by rank) |
| kyukei | 休憩 | rest; break; recess; intermission |
| hajime | 初め・始め | begin; start |
| yame | 止め・留め | stop; halt; end |
| naote | 治て | at ease; relax |
| mate | 待て・俟て | wait |
| hantei | 判定 | judgment; decision; award; verdict |
| susunde | 進んで | advance (step forward) |
| sagatte | 下がって | retreat (step backward) |
| hantai mawate | 反対回て | turn around to the opposite direction |
| ashi hantai | 足反対 | switch legs (on stance) |
基本 Kihon - Fundamentals
| ido shiki | 移動指揮 | movement commands |
| renzoku kihon | 連続基本 | fundamental combinations |
| shihō uke | 四方受け | every direction defence |
型・形 Kata - kar. prescribe form of patterns
| enbusen | 演武線 | kar. the kata’s path of movement (lit. martial (arts) performance line) |
| tai sabaki | 体捌き | body shifting |
| bunkai | 分解 | kar. the process of analysing and extracting fighting techniques from the movements of a kata (lit. analysis) |
| ōyō | 応用 | kar. the fighting techniques from or application of from the movements of a kata (lit. application; put to practical use) |
| kokyū | 呼吸 | breath |
| ritsudō | 律動 | rhythm |
| nagare | 流れ | flow |
| chakugan | 着眼 | kar. gaze (lit. notice; attention; viewpoint; observation; aiming at; having an eye to |
組み手・組手 Kumite – Sparring (lit. meeting of the hands)
| kumite gamae | 組み手構え | sparring posture/stance |
| ippon kumite | 一本組手 | one step sparring |
| jiyu kumite | 自由組手 | free sparring |
| randori | 乱取り・乱捕り | free-style practice (uninterrupted sparring) |
| bōgu | 防具 | protective equipment; armour |
| maai | 間合い | distancing |
| tsukuri | 作り | kar. setting-up |
| hyōshi | 拍子 | kar. timing |
| engo waza | 援護技 | kar. follow-up techniques |
| kōgeki | 攻撃 | lit. attack; strike; offensive; criticism; censure |
| bōgeki | 防撃 | kar. defence |
| kawashi | 躱し | dodge |
Positioning and Movements
| chūdan | 中段 | middle level |
| jōdan | 上段 | upper level |
| gedan | 下段 | lower level |
| seichūsen | 正中線 | kar. centre line - vertical line passing through the centre of the person’s body (lit. median line) |
| yoko | 横 | side |
| uchi | 内・中 | inner |
| soto | 外 | outer |
| age | 上げ | rising |
| otoshi | 落とし | dropping |
| ryote | 両手 | (with) both hands |
| morote | 諸手・双手 | (with) both hands (synonymous to ryote) |
| niren | 二連 | double |
| sanren | 三連 | triple |
Eight Directional Movements
| hidari | 左 | left |
| migi | 右 | right |
| mae | 前 | front |
| ato | 後 | back |
| ushiro | 後ろ | back; behind; rear |
| hidari mae naname | 左前斜め | diagonal left-front |
| migi mae naname | 右前斜め | diagonal right-front |
| hidari ushiro naname | 左後ろ斜め | diagonal left-back |
| migi ushiro naname | 右後ろ斜め | diagonal right-back |
Japanese Numbers
| ichi | 一 | one |
| ni | 二 | two |
| san | 三 | three |
| shi | 四 | four |
| go | 五 | five |
| roku | 六 | six |
| shichi | 七 | seven |
| hachi | 八 | eight |
| kyū | 九 | nine |
| jū | 十 | ten |
| jūichi | 十一 | eleven |
| jūni | 十二 | twelve |
| jūsan | 十三 | thirteen |
| nijū | 二十 | twenty |
| nijūichi | 十一 | twenty-one |
| nijūni | 十二 | twenty-two |
| nijūsan | 十三 | twenty-three |
| sanjū | 三十 | three |
| shijū/yonjū | 四十 | four |
| hyaku | 百 | one hundred |
Basic Techniques
| yoko uke | 横受け | side block |
| gedan barai (uke) | 下段払い（受け） | lower sweep/parry (block) |
| hara uke | 腹受け | abdomen block |
| age uke | 上げ受け | rising block |
| yoko uchi (uke) | 横打ち（受け） | side strike (block) |
| shutō uke | 手刀受け | knife-hand block |
| shutō barai (uke) | 手刀払い（受け） | knife-hand sweep/parry (block) |
| chūdan zuki | 中段突き | middle-level punch |
| jōdan zuki | 上段突き | upper-level punch |
| gedan zuki | 下段突き | lower-level punch |
| kizami zuki | 刻み突き | chop punch (jab) |
| gyaku zuki | 逆突き | reverse punch |
| oi zuki | 追い突き | lunge punch |
| (all the punches can be preceded with chūdan (中段), jōdan (上段) or gedan (下段) to indicate middle, upper and lower levels.) | ||
| ura zuki | 裏突き | inverted punch |
| tateken zuki | 縦て拳突き | vertical-fist punch |
| age zuki | 上げ突き | rising punch |
| furi zuki | 振り突き | swing punch |
| kagi zuki | 鉤突き・鈎突き | hook punch |
| uraken uchi / ura uchi | 裏拳打ち・裏打ち | inverted-fist strike / inverted strike |
| hiji ate | 肘当て | elbow hit |
| hiza ate | 膝当て | knee hit |
| mae geri | 前蹴り | front kick |
| mawashi geri | 回し蹴り | round(house) kick |
| yoko geri | 横蹴り | side kick |
| sokutō geri | 足刀蹴り | knife-foot kick (interchangeable with yoko geri but emphasising on the point of contact; a yoko geri that doesn’t use the knife of the foot shouldn’t be called sokutō geri) |
| heisoku dachi | 閉足立ち | closed-feet stance |
| musubi dachi | 結び立ち | ending/conclusion/union stance |
| heikō dachi | 併行立ち | parallel stance |
| soto hachiji dachi | 外八字立ち | outer eight(八)-character stance |
| shizentai | 自然体 | natural posture (Interchangeable with soto hachiji dachi) |
| uchi hachiji dachi | 内八字立ち | inner eight(八)-character stance |
| naihanchi dachi Uchinaaguchi: naifanchi dachi Also: naihanchin dachi Uchinaaguchi: naifanchin dachi Also: naihanchen dachi Uchinaaguchi: naifanchendachi dachi |
内歩進・内步進立ち 内畔戦立ち 内範置立ち |
inner-step-advanced stance (ii) inner-levee-battle stance (iii) inner-patter-placement stance (interchangeable with uchi hachiji dachi) |
| shiko dachi | 四股立ち | square/rectangle stance |
| moto dachi | 基立ち | foundation stance |
| zenkutsu dachi | 前屈立ち | front-bent stance |
| hanzenkutsu dachi | 半前屈立ち | half-front-bent stance |
| nekoashi dachi | 猫足立ち | cat-feet stance |
| kōkutsu dachi | 後屈立ち | back-bent stance |
Note:
| lit. | - | literal translation |
| col. | - | colloquialism |
| kar. | - | Karate-dō terminology definition |
| bud. | - | Budō (modern Japanese martial arts) terminology definition |
