Terms or Characters, Oh My!

Terms, in my analysis, can help practitioners imagine, or put themselves into, a view of that person's belief, custom and perspective as to their practice and training. Tatsuo Sensei expressed to some of his early students the importance of learning the customs of the Okinawan peoples when learning Isshinryu karate. This follows the beliefs of many Okinawan Karate Sensei.

In my studies I have found that what I thought meant one thing turned out different when I realized a bit more about who the person was, the time in which he practiced and taught as well as the customs and courtesies along with societal influences that governed the way  the think, act and believe. This seems critical to create an environment to understand the history and meaning behind our martial arts.

Now, if all you want to do is kick someone's ass and feel the elation of a crowd cheering you when presented the trophy then by all means have fun. If you wish to truly understand and learn your "art" be it karate, kung fu, aikido then it means you have to learn about those who went before us, the Sensei who are Okinawan with that culture and beliefs.

Terms when defined can open a door that opens the mind to perceive a different perspective of how our art form came into being and what it did and can do for its practitioners both past and present. It was once said that those who ignore the past tend to relive it. I would prefer to know of the past, learn from the past and then create a new future - not just keep repeating the same routine time and time again; over and over again.

The next time you encounter a term. Take the time and effort to find its meaning. Don't assume the presenter is accurate. See if there is a difference and find the best definition and you may be surprised what it tells you. Semantics is an American term and view of words. The characters speak symbolically of the culture, customs and beliefs of another peoples. It is worth the effort.

The question that often comes up in discussions of this type is, "Do you use Japanese karate language in the dojo?" Other than a few terms such as dojo, Sensei, Sempai, Kohai, etc. I don't use terms. I don't use them for techniques, stances, etc. I do use the terms for the kata simply because that is the name of the kata and is easier then saying this is the "13 steps" kata although that would not be bad. In general don't use them because being Americans we tend to butcher the pronunciation making it unintelligible. I sometimes listen to the Japanese in a place I frequent and when I hear a familiar term or phrase I can tell from the sound and body language that what I would have said is just plane wrong.

Terms, phrases and references from Japanese/Chinese characters as related to English/Japanese words help to understand the many meanings that can relate to us in understanding context and intent - hopefully.