Authenticity

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

We use the concept to establish, validate and prove ourselves and what we do ergo why using the karate uniform, the language of Japanese and the Japanese written language in our dojo and on our uniforms, etc. because we assume that using such trappings is validation of the art or disciplines validity, especially to others. Others, because we want to develop and hold status especially among our peers. 

Status is Survival in a group dynamic and a group dynamic is about survival at its basest state. Our status is used to build on who we are and what we perceive as to our beliefs and reality through the status we attain, maintain and are perceived to have by others especially in our group or clan or tribe. Think of "Teams" such as our high school football teams, those teams such as "fireteams" in our military careers and those management teams that drive our businesses!

Our dojo's and dojo-mates are a team as well that is why we give such significance to the fact we "belong" to a dojo; we "belong" to a style or system; we "belong" to our team and our team is felt to be everything so status is about demonstrating our authenticity to those as peers and who we want respect and acceptance from. 

This is a good thing!

So, we use such trappings as a dojo made similar to that which is a dojo in the culture of the art or disciplines origins. We use the belt system, we use the so called traditional white karate-gi, and we want our certifications to have a connection to the culture and origins of the discipline or art. 

For instance we want to adorn our obi with characters/ideograms/ideographs that say our style or rank or grade or level so we have it stitched on them. We feel a greater acceptance and authenticity if that is so or so we believe. It "shows our status" and our acceptance and our authenticity.

Often, as Americans in this instance, we rely on others to create, stitch and translate the English to the Japanese or Korean or Chinese, etc., and we assume those in charge of that work are authorized and experts in the language and the writing but are they? 

In most cases, the work done is pretty good and close to what it is meant to mean but for us, as Americans who are not of the culture nor raised in it so that the language and its characters in written form are fluent, correct and translated to mean what we hope it means. 

Let me demonstrate, the term, "authenticity." I use several translations sites including both Tangorin and Google for Japanese. There are no Okinawan dialect translators and if you want to use that language you will have to go to Okinawa and find someone who is fluent because that dialect is close to gone except for a very few dedicated Okinawan researchers who want to keep their heritage in language alive. 

I will use the Tangorin site to create this example.

信憑性 shinpyousei to translate to English as, "authenticity; credibility." 

信頼性 shinraisei to translate to English as, "credibility; authenticity; confidence; reliability."

真偽 shingi to translate to English as, "truth or error; authenticity; veracity." 

AND

真贋 shingan to translate to English as, "genuineness or spuriousness; authenticity; the genuine and the spurious." 

As you can see, what you get in English is not specific to any one English but several indicating from one professional expert source as due to how it is used or in short, "it depends." One professional English or American expert source wrote that even after thirty years living, breathing and working in the culture, in Japan, that when using terms and characters/ideographs that seeking answers in various factions or separate cultural peoples in separate area's or groups would be shown and given the spoken term would not be able to understand unless more was provided such as in what context was one using it. 

I know a few folks who were born, raised and educated in Japan as Japanese who when shown some of our certificates and terms and those associated characters would scrunch up their faces and provide translations that just didn't fit because of the misuse. It's just the way it is.

That professional after thirty years living there would say that with all that time, effort and experience he was still considered a novice and an outsider who had to provide his works to the Japanese just to edit and validate what he wrote and needless to say he said with all his efforts it was still an effort to get it right so how can we as Americans using such tools and dictionaries ever expect to get it right regardless. 

Back to my example. I use the characters/ideograms and language and translations not as a tool to use to learn and use Japanese but as a tool to teach the concepts of the discipline. I use my interpretation of the English words provided to build a term or phrase that "gets their attention" because of its perceived status and authenticity not because it is accurate or correct - although in some cases it ends up acceptable. I would not use this methodology for teaching to write a book in the language or to "translate" a book in Japanese to English, no way!

I do not use this tool to actually talk or write in Japan in a Japanese dojo, that is what they have translators for don't you know. 

Who? Who does the translation? Is he or she Japanese? Is he or she well versed on the subject being translated? Is he or she an accepted authority on the language, the culture and its use? Even English has its difficulties because one word here in Cali of the Bay Area may mean something different to someone from the inner city of a culture and belief system far different. 

When I use a term, see my terminology blog to see how I use it, I provide the Japanese word written in English then I provide in brackets the kanji characters I used followed by the translation of each in English from the Tangorin site (I will use my Kodansha Japanese Dictionary sometimes to make sure it is sufficient for my methods). Then I put the English terms together along with the philosophy and its relationship to the subject of self-protection for self-defense using Okinawan karate. 

Because of its perceived authenticity and status in the martial disciplines it gains one's attention and curiosity. When the read the entire effort what comes from the connections and influences are the reality of what I am trying to pass down to those who would follow my efforts to learn. In the end, if the lesson is successfully conveyed for their analysis and creativity to adding it to their studies then it was a success because in most cases what was being taught stuck while the actual term used such as "shingi" is forgotten, it is and always will be the lesson rather than the term even if the translation turns our wrong, not in the translation provided but the actual use in Japan might be misinterpreted requiring correction because it is the lesson that drives that over just asking one to translate shingi for you. 

Anyway, when it comes to certificates or kanji on the obi there are enough proven valid end services who can do that correctly and authentically but when an American says they can provide the same, especially on certificates of rank, etc., I have my doubts because "it depends" on far more than simply using google to find a term in Japanese. 

Try this to close out this post, take a kanji character that you think is correct in English and put it into a translator then see the results. It is a bit like using google, in general, that when said and done provides you thousands of links and answers where some are the same but many are divergent. Take another look above at my example, this one term provided four different yet same where the only real vast difference are the kanji used, or so we think!

For reference and sources and professionals go here: Bibliography (Click the link)