In a previous post, I explained that we use a lot of Japanese in our classes – and why. It can be a little intimidating though, so I gave some words you’ll encounter a lot.
In that post, we covered class admin (start, stop, please, thank you, and so on), directions, and parts of the body.
This time, some more violent things that you will find in names of techniques. Some of them have two spellings/pronunciations, depending on context (sorry!).
Just like I said last time, don’t try to memorise them all at once, just use this list as a helpful reminder.
Pronunciation (spelling) – Meaning
Goho
Go-ho (goho) – the hard way (all the punches and kicks and blocks)
Zoo-key, or t-skii (zuki, or tsuki) – punch.
Ke-ree, or ge-ree (keri, or geri) – kick
Ooo-kay (uke) – block
Gi-ya-ku (gyaku) – literally reverse, but in context it usually means punch/kick/block with your back hand.
Jun (jun) – literally order (as in doing things in the right order), but in context it usually means punch/kick/block with your front hand.
So, you might have jun zuki jodan, a front punch to the head, or gyaku geri chudan, a back kick to the stomach.
Juho
Jew-ho (juho) – the soft way (all the eludes, throws, and pins)
Nu-key (nuki) – elude
Ki-ree (kiri) – cut
Ko-tey, or Go-tey (kote, or gote) – wrist
Ooo-day (ude) – arm
Ka-ta-may, or ga-ta-may (katame, or gatame) – pin
So, you could have kote nuki, a wrist elude, or kiri gote, a technique involving a cutting motion to the wrist.
Goho and Juho
Oo-chi (uchi) – inside (as in uchi uke zuki, or uchi kiri nuki)
So-toe (soto) – outside (as in soto uke zuki, or soto kiri nuki)
Oo-ra (ura) – backside (generally, a technique where you end up behind your partner)
O-mot-ey (omote) – front side (generally, a technique where you end up in front of your partner)
Oo-chi (uchi) – strike (as in uchi age zuki). Yes, I know that uchi appears twice in my list. I’m sorry. They are different words, they just look the same when you write them in roman lettering. Context is important!
Found any words you don’t understand? Let me know in the comments.
Bristol Shorinji Kempo 