JAPANESE IN KARATE
Why Bother?
Ever been embarrassed when your instructor yells something incomprehensible in Japanese, everyone else
jumps, and you are left standing like an idiot? Or are you an instructor who has always secretly wished that you
could pronounce all this mumbo-jumbo you have so carefully learnt, a bit better? If either of these apply to you,
this article is for you.
But why bother? What difference does it make? There are lots of clubs where almost no Japanese is used, yet
where the standard of karate is very high. One thing for sure, pronouncing Japanese better will NOT make you
any better at karate. There is nothing mystical about using Japanese rather than English, really this is just part of
the tradition. This article is just for those who have a personal interest, for whatever reason, in better
understanding and pronouncing the Japanese used in karate. If this does not apply to you, no problem – stop
reading here.
Assuming you are still reading, what follows is a brief guide to Japanese pronunciation, followed by a bit of a
mish-mash really – some comments on counting, kata names, a bit of very basic grammar, bits of words to build
up your vocabulary, etc. etc. Dip in according to interest, read and memorise the lot, completely ignore,
whatever suits you best. The real aim is both to make it a bit more interesting, and also to make it all easier to
remember – personally I always find it easier to remember what I understand, rather than just rote learning.
Pronouncing Japanese
Pronouncing Japanese is easy (honest!). Like German, but unlike English for example, Japanese spelling is
entirely phonetic. This means that it is spoken exactly as it is written, which makes life a lot easier – no nonsense
like you get in English trying to remember the different pronunciations of the final syllable in the words “rough”,
“through” and “though”, even though they are spelt exactly the same. Can you imagine how hard it must be
trying to learn English as a foreign language? Japanese is much simpler (as long as you don’t try to learn the
written characters – but that’s another story).
So with Japanese pronunciation, what you see is what you get. The flip side of this is that what you DON’T see,
you DON’T get. In other words, don’t insert ANY sounds unless they are written down in black and white,
because they ain’t there. For example, you sometimes hear people put a “y” sound at the beginning of “ura” (as
in uraken, back-fist) – but this should be pronounced “OO-RA”, not “YOO-RA”. If it was supposed to be
pronounced “YOO-RA”, it would be spelt “yura”, exactly as you would expect.
Simple, eh? On the whole, it is. The main things which take a bit of practice are the vowel sounds, plus the
glottal stop.
Vowels
There are five vowels in Japanese, just like English. The difference is that the sounds are very pure in Japanese.
The vowels are apparently pronounced exactly as in Italian, but this is not much help for those like me who don’t
speak Italian, so here is a brief guide.
a - the sound “a” is ALWAYS pronounced as in “dart” or “start”, NEVER as in “rat” or “cat”. In English, we
tend to stretch out the “a” sound in “dart”, so we might think of it as a long sound. It isn’t really; it’s just
different. In Japanese, it is short.
e - the sound “e” is pronounced as in “red” or “fed”.
i - the sound “i” is pronounced as in “pin” or “thin”, NEVER as in “wine” or “fine”.
o - the sound “o” is pronounced as in “rot” or “dot”, NEVER as in “wrote” or “vote”.
u - the sound “u” is pronounced as in “put” or “soot”, NEVER as in “run” or “fun” (unless you’re a northerner!)
The most difficult one to get used to is the “o” sound. Just say the English word “no” out loud, very slowly.
What you are actually saying is two quite separate sounds, like this - “NUR-OO”. Yes, you really are – try it
again, a bit louder, a bit slower, listening carefully to what you are saying. Now explain to the guy sitting next to
you who is giving you strange looks not to worry – there, that’s better. See what I mean? You think you’re
making one sound, you’re really making two. Now try saying the English word “not”, but just leave out the final
“t”. That’s it! Congratulations – you have just mastered the “o” sound in Japanese.
As may be clear from this, the vowels are very simple in Japanese. This is why so-called upper class English
people tend to be absolutely rubbish at pronouncing Japanese – they just can’t stop themselves making the vowel
sounds too complex, they’ve been subconsciously conditioned from childhood to think of complex vowels as
more sophisticated, more upper-class. In Japanese, they’re not sophisticated, they’re just wrong, as we saw with
“o” above. Welsh people, on the other hand, tend to be good – Welsh vowel sounds are pure. In the words of the
song, keep it “pure and simple every time”.
Stress
In English, each word has the stress on a particular syllable. Take the word “particular”, for instance – the stress
comes on the second syllable, “par-TIC-u-lar”. It would sound pretty odd if it was pronounced “PAR-tic-u-lar”
or “par-tic-U-lar” etc. So people often ask, where does the stress come in the Japanese words in karate, and do I
have to remember it for every word?
The good news is – there is NO stress in Japanese. If you hear two Japanese talking, it doesn’t sound like “duhduh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-duh-duh-DUH-duh”, it’s just “duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh”. So, you don’t
even need to think about this question! Just pronounce everything completely flat, with identical stress on every
syllable, and you’ll be fine.
The Glottal Stop
This is the only slightly tricky bit. When you see two consonants written together in Japanese, like the two t’s in
“okutte” or “kette” or the two k’s in “tsukkomi”, then you need to put in a Cockney-style glottal stop
immediately before the consonant, pause for a tiny fraction of a second, then pronounce the consonant sound
itself a little bit harshly, with a slightly explosive sound. Don’t go over the top though, and spit in the face of the
person you’re talking to – it’s really just a very slight pause in the flow.
This is perhaps quite hard to imagine from a written description, though it’s easy to demonstrate in person. In
any case, it only really occurs in a few words you are likely to come across in karate (although they are quite
frequently used ones…), so don’t sweat it – if you really can’t get it, it’s not the end of the world.
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“Cloudy” or “Muddy” Sounds
This is what you get sometimes when you stick words together, when the second word starts with a consonant –
the consonant at the start of the second word gets “cloudy”. Ever wondered why the two words “mae” (front)
and “keri” (kick), are pronounced “maegeri” (front kick) rather than “maekeri” when they are put together? The
Japanese say that the first consonant of the second word has got “cloudy” or “muddy”, like when you get
strange-coloured bits suspended in your tapwater after the plumber’s been round (if your plumber is anything
like mine). Here are the main examples:
k goes to g
Example: mae + keri = maegeri
t goes to d
Example: shiko + tachi = shikodachi
ts goes to z
Example: gyaku + tsuki = gyakuzuki
h goes to b
Example: gedan + harai = gedanbarai
Actually, you don’t really need to know this - as long as you remember that “maegeri” means front kick, you
don’t need to know why. Personally, I just find it makes it easier to remember if you know why.
Counting
Numbers
Here are the numbers up to ten :
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
ichi
ni
san
shi
go
roku
shichi
hachi
ku
ju
If for some unaccountable reason you wanted to count higher, it is much simpler than in English. Eleven is just
“ju-ichi” (“ten-one”), twelve is “ju-ni”, and so on. Likewise, twenty is “ni-ju” (“two-tens”), thirty is “san-ju”,
and so on. And yes, you guessed it, twenty-one is “ni-ju-ichi” (“two-tens-one”), twenty-two is “ni-ju-ni” and so
on. All very logical and simple (see, it is an easy language really…)
“Sho” (as in “shodan”, first dan) means “first”. However, there is no Japanese equivalent to “second” – from
second onwards, just use the normal numbers, so “nidan” means second dan, “sandan” means third dan, and so
on.
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Pronunciation and Spirit
Actually, when you hear Japanese karateka calling out numbers as they train, they typically sound nothing like
the nice, clean, correct pronunciations above. It sounds more like this:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
ich
i
han
hi
o
hok
hich
hach
ku
ju
Don’t even bother trying to memorise these sounds, that is not the point. The point is, that the words should be
pronounced with spirit and great force, each in one syllable only. Instead of forming the words in your throat, try
to concentrate on the breathing - force the sound up from your belly as your stomach tenses strongly with each
number, and just “shape” the sound a bit with your throat as it passes through. Each count should be like a kiai.
Call out the count on impact, not before starting the technique. On ten, redouble this effect with the “ju” sound
coming out like a roar of defiance. Really focus on this one, and visualise this as the single blow that will destroy
your target. Counting should not be an exercise in correct pronunciation, it should be a form of psychological
training to teach yourself how to focus.
Kata Names
Kata names are quite difficult to translate, as the names as used in Wado, Shitoryu and Gojuryu are not really in
mainstream Japanese – they are the traditional names of the kata in Okinawan dialect. The names for the same
kata in Shotokan are “Japanified” versions made up by Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan and the man
who introduced karate to mainland Japan, to make them more acceptable to mainland Japanese. However, as far
as I know the Okinawan names should also be pronounced in line with the usual Japanese pronunciation outlined
above.
The meanings of the original Okinawa-dialect kata names used by the major styles other than Shotokan are hard
to pin down, not least because there is clearly some uncertainty about the true meanings of many of the names,
even among the experts. About the only thing that is clear is that kata names are very unusual in terms of the
Japanese used in karate, most of which is rather severely literal, as they are quite poetic and/or pretentious
(depending on how cynical you are about these things). One exception is the several kata with “number names”,
whose name is simply a number. There are a number of theories as to what the numbers mean, as they do not
seem to have a direct relationship to the number of either steps, or movements, in the kata. One theory is that
these numbers have some sort of astrological or numerological meaning, but even if this is true, exactly what the
meaning of the number is for each of these kata is lost in mysticism. The other exception is those kata named
after an individual, like Kushanku, Chinto and possibly Wanshu and some others, where the kata appear to have
been put together by the disciples of a specific famous martial artist to record his best techniques – as a sort of
mnemonic, in an age when literacy was less universal than it is now.
Nevertheless, I have had a stab at translating them, though this comes with a severe health warning, in that my
research has been sketchy to say the least, and may be wrong in several cases. Apologies for any errors in
advance. The meanings, in so far as I have been able to research them for at least most of the major kata, are as
follows:
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Pinan
“peace and tranquillity”
Kushanku / Kosokun
(name of a Chinese official who is said to have travelled to Okinawa in 1762)
Naihanchi
“fighting on the dyke between rice paddies” (probably in reference to being performed
in one straight line)
Chinto
(name of a Chinese sailor who travelled to Okinawa, whose name literally means
“Eastern battle” or “fighting towards the East”)
Passai / Bassai
“entering the fortress” OR “rescuing from a fortress” (uncertain)
Wanshu
“flying swallow” OR named after a famous Okinawan karateka called Suppashi Wanshu
(uncertain)
Jion
(unknown, possibly named after a Buddhist monk who invented the kata, or a common
Buddhist temple name)
Jitte
“ten hands” OR “hand technique” (uncertain)
Rohai
“symbol of the heron” OR “clear mirror” (uncertain)
Wankan
“king’s crown”
Unsu
“cloud hands”
Shisochin
“battle in four directions”
Sanchin
“three battles”
Tensho
“revolving hands”
Saifa
“extreme destruction”
Seienchin
“subdue the rebellious outpost”
Kururunfa
“holding your ground” (very uncertain)
Seishan / Seisan
“thirteen” (see comments on numbers above)
Seipai
“eighteen” (see comments on numbers above)
Niseishi
“twenty-four” (see comments on numbers above)
Sanseru
“thirty-six” (see comments on numbers above)
Gojushiho
“fifty-four directions” (see comments on numbers above)
Suparimpei
“one hundred and eight” (see comments on numbers above)
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Basic Grammar
Really just a couple of very basic points, don’t worry. Apologies to any Japanese speakers who read this – yes I
know I am simplifying things quite a bit, but if you already speak Japanese then why are you reading this
anyway? Just to pick holes?
Verbs and Nouns
First, a word or two about verb forms. All Japanese verbs end in “-u”. Thus, the verb “to kick” is “keru”, or the
verb “to punch” is “tsuku”. OK so far?
To turn any verb into a noun (more or less), just knock off the final “-u” and replace it with “-i”. Thus, “keri”
means “a kick”, and “tsuki” means “a punch”. Simple, isn’t it?
One final step. To get the “-ing” ending in English, as in “kicking”, take off the whole final syllable from the
Japanese verb, and replace it with “-tte”. Thus, “kette” means “kicking”. Similarly, “mawatte” means “turning”,
from the verb “mawaru”, to turn, and “okutte” literally means “sending”, from the verb “okuru”, to send.
All I am really trying to achieve by this explanation is some basic understanding of the link between the two
often-heard words “keri” and “kette”, for instance – I repeat, personally I always find it easier to remember what
I understand, rather than just rote learning.
Postpositions
In English, we have prepositions, words like “in”, “to” or “for” etc. These are called PREpositions because their
position is BEFORE the word they apply to, as in sentences like “I was born in London” (where the word “in”
applies to “London”) or “Bow to the Sensei” (where the word “to” applies to “the Sensei”). Japanese has very
similar words, the only difference being that they are called POSTpositions because they come AFTER the word
they apply to. Thus, translating “Bow to the Sensei” into Japanese, we get “Sensei ni rei”. The word “rei” means
“bow”, and the word “ni” means “to”, and applies to the word it comes AFTER – in this case, Sensei. Seems
weird, back-to-front? That’s exactly what the Japanese say about the English language… Actually, there are
some parallels in English, like the use of the s-apostrophe, as in the phrase “Tom’s pen”, which of course means
the same as “the pen of Tom”. In Japanese, the word for “of” is “no”, so translating this phrase into Japanese we
would get “Tom no pen” – exactly the same word order as “Tom’s pen”. Here is a list of some major Japanese
postpositions, though to be honest the only ones you are likely to need to know are “ni”, “no” and “de”:
Japanese word
ni
no
de
e
kara
Meaning
to, for
of
at, in
to, towards
from
Plurals
One final grammar thing – there are no plurals in Japanese whatsoever. Thus, we speak of one kata, two kata,
three kata… Don’t put an “s” on the end. Just think of it like the English word “sheep”. You wouldn’t say one
sheep, two sheeps, three sheeps, would you? (At least I hope not). Same in Japanese.
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Words and Bits of Words
I am NOT going to put down a glossary of all Japanese karate terms here – that would be reinventing the wheel,
there are lots of versions of this available. Instead, let’s look at the bits that make up words.
Japanese is what is technically called an “agglutinative” language, like German, which simply means that you
can stick words together to make up longer words. Thus, in English we have “front kick” as two separate words,
but in Japanese the two words “mae” and “keri” get stuck together to make ONE word, “maegeri”. Most of the
words you encounter in the Japanese used in karate, the names of techniques etc., are like this.
What follows is a list of the most frequently appearing “building blocks”, each of them a word in its own right,
which go towards making up the terms you are likely to encounter. I include the “cloudy” pronunciation of the
word as well as the original pronunciation (see Part 1 in the last issue), and also some comments on the literal
meaning of the word where appropriate, as this can be quite enlightening as to how you should approach
techniques psychologically. For instance, formal stances used in basic training are often called “tachi”, from the
verb “to stand”, whereas fighting stances are often called “kamae”, from the verb “to be prepared”.
One further point to note is that unlike the kata names above, almost all the Japanese used in karate is very literal
and everyday. The image of using Japanese in karate can often be that you are being pretentious and showing off
using ostentatious terms for things – actually you are being very down-to-earth, just in a different language!
Once again, I repeat – you don’t NEED to know any of this, you can just learn all the long words by rote, but
personally I always find it easier to remember what I understand.
Japanese word
tsuki, zuki
keri, geri
uchi
uke
harai, barai
Meaning
a punch
a kick
a strike
a block (literally “receiving” something)
a sweep (literally “brushing something away”)
tachi, dachi
kamae, gamae
tai
a stance (from the verb meaning “to stand”)
a stance (from the verb meaning “to be prepared”)
a stance (literally “body”)
kette
okutte
mawatte
age
kizami
kicking
advancing (from the verb meaning “to send”)
turning
rising
cutting
komi, -kkomi
penetrating, fully committing, with intent, thrusting
(this is a really hard word to translate. It comes from the verb “komu”, which has
several meanings, including “to be crowded”, “to be full of something”. In karate, it is
usually taken to mean just “with force”, but I think the true meaning involves two
concepts. One is the idea of “filling up” the technique with total commitment, the other
is the concept of “penetrating”, so that your blow does not end at your opponent’s skin
but well inside his body. Thinking of it like this probably helps your subconscious
understanding of how to perform such techniques)
mae
ushiro
ura
front
rear
back (of something, not the bit above your bottom)
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hai
yoko
hidari
migi
back of something (as in haishu, “back of hand”)
side
left
right
tate
gyaku
jun
upright, vertical (as in tateken, “upright fist”)
reverse
direct (literally “standard”, “regular”)
enpi
elbow strike (interestingly, enpi is not the usual Japanese word for elbow, which is
“hiji”)
knee
fist
sword (as in sokuto, “foot sword”, or shuto, “hand sword”)
hand
hand
(you may ask, why have two words for hand? The answer is, these are not two words,
they are simply two different ways of pronouncing the same character, so they are
actually the same word. This is where it all starts getting a bit technical – I suggest if
you want a further explanation give me a ring, otherwise don’t worry about it)
hiza
ken
to
te
shu
ashi
soku
foot
foot
(you guessed it, two different pronunciations of the same character)
ma
han
mi
true
half
body (as in mahanmi, literally “true half body” i.e. “body fully turned halfway away
from your opponent”, or hanmi, literally “half body”, “body turned partway away from
your opponent”)
kyu
dan
class (as in “first class”)
level (as you know, this comes after the word it applies to, so “jodan” is “upper level”,
“nidan” is “second level” or “two levels”, and so on)
uchi
soto
ge
jo
chu
naka
inner
outer
lower
upper
middle
middle (again, two different pronunciations of the same character)
hon, bon, -ppon
(a bit difficult to explain – this is a “counter” for abstract things, just as we say “a
SLICE of toast” or “a SHEET of paper”. “Hon” could best perhaps be translated as “a
unit”. So “ippon kumite” means “single unit kumite”, with the unit in this case being
one full point score)
neko
cat (as in nekoashidachi, “cat foot stance”)
kata
form, shape
sono ba
literally “that place (where you are)”, so “sono ba de” means “staying where you are”
This is not by any means an exhaustive list, but should cover the most commonly used compound words.
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