I am not a translator, I Interpret …

Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)

Translating documents from foreign languages into English is both a skill and an art. To translate means the translator makes a diligent effort toward accuracy, precision, economy and clarity. The art of it comes from translations of a historical nature, i.e., they must have an ability to perceive the authors intent along with finding the authors context clues, understand any colloquialisms, and making perceptive artistic selections of original text when it does not or has mistakes, etc. In other words it is a discipline and an artistic talent. 

Interpretations is what I do, I take terms used in karate and martial arts used to describe principles, techniques, tactics and strategies, etc., and research the terms characters/ideograms (kanji, etc.) and then give my “Interpretations” from those definitions in an attempt to either validate the term of express broader possibilities of those terms. It is not a translation per say, of a text written by an author of another language who may or may not be alive and involves a historical view of the Asian disciplines of karate and martial arts. 

Two very well written articles on the art and discipline of translating the historical articles of martial arts is here:


The explanation of what it takes is quite good and it lets us all know that the Internet driven translations are not actually translations but more a perceptive presentation of the individuals interpretation of the text, term or characters as appropriate to their experiences, practices and studies - a ver personal view of a very convoluted subject. 

I am NOT a translator and do NOT have those skills so as I say in my caveat, take it all with a grain and seek out answers for yourself. It’s a process of personal interpretations and perceptions according to my experiences, studies, practices and training. Yes, it is all about ME, ME, ME!

Bibliography (Click the link)



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