Karate Terminology and Club Etiquette
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"Karate begins and ends with a bow. Without respect there would be no Karate"
Gichin Funakoshi
The Standing Bow
Stand with your heels together, feet pointing outward like a "V" (Musubi Dachi). Keep your knees straight and relaxed; hands open at the outside of your legs, and fingers together. Bend at the waist, about 20 degress forward. Unben.
Kneeling (Seiza)
Place your left knee on the floor, then your right knee. Sit down on your feet. The big toes of your left foot and right foot should overlap. Keep your back straight and your shoulders relaxed. Rest your lefthand on your left thigh and your right hand on your right thigh (palms down), so that your fingers point inward.
Bowing in Seiza
Slide your left hand from the thigh to the floor immediatley in front of the left knee. Do the same with your right hand, so that the right hand motion is slightly behind (in time to) the left hand motion. Your palms should touch the floor to show deep respect, bow at the waist, taking a little longer than a standing bow (forehead comes close to the floor but does not touch it). Slide back to their initial position on the thighs, this time with your left hand slightly behind your right hand (in time).
Starting the class
When you hear the words "line up" or "in line", students should stand shoulder to shoulder facing the fromt of the Dojo, in rank order. Try to line up so that the instructor standing before your line is right in the middle of the line. If the class is so big, a senior student will request that you make more than one line, try to line up so the lines are approximatley the same length.
"Seiza": Sit down in Seiza, so your knees are aligned with the person on your left.
"Mokuso": (Quiet meditation) just lower your gaze, relax and breathe.
"Mokuso yame": (End meditation).
"Shomen ni rei": (Bow to the front) this is to show respect for your training space, to the institution of Karate and to the instructors brought it to your instructor.
"Sensei ni rei": Bow to the Chief Instructor. When you are bowing you can say "onegaishimas" which roughly translated means "please" (i.e "please help me", "please show me", "please teach me" etc). At the signal of the instructor, get up quickly, but wait for the person on your left to begin to rise.
Karate Terminology
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Counting
Japanese Number Pronunciation
Ich One Itch
Ni Two Knee
San Three San
Shi Four Shi
Go Five Go
Roku Six Rokk
Shichi Seven Sheesh
Hachi Eight Hatch
Ku Nine Koo
Ju Ten Ju
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Japanese Number
Ju Ten
Niju Twenty
Sanju Thirty
Yonju Forty
Goju Fifty
Rokuju Sixty
Nanju Seventy
Haciju Eighty
Kuju Ninety
Hyaku One Hundred
Techniques
Basic Stances
Yoi - Ready stance
Zenkutsu Dachi - Front stance
Fudo Dachi - free stance
Neko Ashi Dachi - cat stance
Kiba Dachi - horse riding stance
Kokutsu Dachi - back stance
Musubi Dachi - formal attention stance
Blocks
Gedan Barai - downward block
Uchi Uke - inside forearm block
Soto Uki - outside forearm block
Chudan Uki - inside circular block
Jodan Uke - upward block
Age Uki - rising block
Shuto Uki - knife hand block
Shotei Uke - Palm heel block
Shotei Otoshi Uke - Open hand dropping block
Yoko Uke - circular block
Hiki Uki - pulling/grabbing block
Ko Uke - wrist block
Gedan Uchi Barai - outside downward blcok (open hand)
Ura Uki - back hand block
Mawashi Uki - elbow block
Morote Uki - roundhouse block
Sukui Uke - augumented block
Nagashi Uki - sweeping block
Kosa Uke - cross block
Hiza Uke - knee block
Sokutei Uke - pressong block with sole of the foot
Sokutei Harai Uke - sole of the foot block
Haisoku Barai - instep block
Foot Techniques
Mae Geri Keage - front snap kick
Mae Geri Kekomi - front thrust kick
Yoko Geri Keage - side snap kick
Yoko Geri Kekomi - side thrust kick
Mawashi Geri - round house kick
Ushiro Mawashi Geri - round house to the rear kick
Gyaku Mawashi Geri - round house reverse kick
Ushiro Geri - back kick thrust
Kanketsu Geri - stamping kick
Hiza Geri - knee kick
Nidan Geri - double front snap kick (back leg first)
Ren Geri - double front snap kick (front leg fiirst)
Ashi Geri - foot sweel
Mai Tobi Geri - jumping front kick
Tobi Nidan Geri - jumping double kick
Yoko Tobi Geri - jumping side thrust kick
Kakato Geri - heel kick
Fumikomi Geri - stamping kick
Tsumasaki Geri - kicking with the tips of the toes
Haisoku Geri - kicking with the instep
Sokuto Geri - kicking with the foot edge
Foot Techniques
Mae Geri Keage - front snap kick
Mae Geri Kekomi - front thrust kick
Yoko Geri Keage - side snap kick
Yoko Geri Kekomi - side thrust kick
Mawashi Geri - round house kick
Ushiro Mawashi Geri - round house to the rear kick
Gyaku Mawashi Geri - round house reverse kick
Ushiro Geri - back kick thrust
Kanketsu Geri - stamping kick
Hiza Geri - knee kick
Nidan Geri - double front snap kick (back leg first)
Ren Geri - double front snap kick (front leg fiirst)
Ashi Geri - foot sweel
Mai Tobi Geri - jumping front kick
Tobi Nidan Geri - jumping double kick
Yoko Tobi Geri - jumping side thrust kick
Kakato Geri - heel kick
Fumikomi Geri - stamping kick
Tsumasaki Geri - kicking with the tips of the toes
Haisoku Geri - kicking with the instep
Sokuto Geri - kicking with the foot edge