Additional karate terms
Other Terms
- Anza: sitting cross-legged (see Seiza)
- Bo: 6’ wooden staff (a weapon commonly seen in karate dojos)
- Bokken: wooden training sword
- Budo: martial ways
- Bujutsu: martial methods
- Bunkai: kata appplications
- Chudan: middle level - waistline to collarbone (see Jodan)
- Deshi: sudden; starting explosively (also - a student of a martial art)
- Do: lit. ‘way’; a way of living
- Dojo: a place where a ‘way’ is studied
- Empi: elbow
- Fumi-ashi: stepping
- Hai: yes; I understand; I agree (see Iiye)
- Hajime: begin
- Hara: the lower abdomen
- Heian: a beginning series of kata, usu. translated as “peaceful mind”, also an era of Japanese history dating 794 - 1190
- Hidari: left (see Migi)
- Hiki-te: literally means “drawing hand”, but more commonly referred to as the pulling arm
- Ippon Kumite: one-point sparring
- Iiye: no (see Hai)
- Jiyu Kumite: free sparring
- Jodan: upper level - face (see Chudan)
- Kamae: ‘guard’, ‘posture’, ‘stance’ - a ready position
- Karate: this is two words, Kara - empty, and Te - hand(s).
- Kata: form, formalized exercises symbolizing karate principles
- Kiai: an exhalation, usually accompanied by a short, sharp shout, used for unifying
- one’s mind, body and spirit in the execution of a finishing blow
- Kihon: basic training drills
- Kime: focusing all of one’s mental and physical energy at the point of impact of a technique in order to make a finishing blow
- Kizami: forward side of the body
- Kohai: a student who began training after you (see Sempai)
- Kumite: sparring or fighting practice
- Maai: roughly translated as “distance between opponents”
- Makiwara: a device for developing punching and striking technique
- Mawate: turn
- Migi: right (see Hidari)
- Mokuso: silence your thoughts (meditation)
- Nage: throw
- Nukite: spear hand
- Okuri-ashi: shifting method where the front foot moves first (see Tsugi-ashi); Also known as Yori-ashi
- Rei: bow
- Seiza: A formal sitting position
- Sempai: a student who began training before you (see Kohai)
- Sensei: teacher
- Shinai: practice sword made of split bamboo
- Shomen: front
- So: yes, do it like that
- Tate: vertical
- Todome: finishing blow
- Tsugi-ashi: shifting method where the back foot moves first (see Okuri-ashi)
- Tsuki: thrust (loosely translated to mean ‘punch’ in English)
- Uke: receive (loosely translated to mean ‘block’ in English)
- Yame: stop, finish
- Yoi: prepare
- Zanshin: two words: Zan = keep & Shin = mind; i.e. - mental follow through after
