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What is the language of Karatedo?
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| gojuryu |
Posted on 22-11-2006 13:17
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Site Administrator

Posts: 862
Joined: 02.04.05
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A few new subjects come to mind when writing this months newsletter. What is the language of Karate Do? Another difficult topic to discuss however this one is easily addressed. The only question is what about your input? |
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| SyracuseJundokan |
Posted on 22-11-2006 18:12
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Yudansha

Posts: 833
Joined: 08.06.05
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Well I think that it's good to use Japanese for technique names, couting, etc. to add a cultural component to training, but that explanations should be in the native language of the people training.
As far as sport goes, I think refereeing in Japanese has held the sport back from a spectator point of view. Sport karate is hard enough to follow if you're not an active participant, so to expect lay-persons to get excited about matches that they can't make sense of is a stretch. |
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| Shidokai |
Posted on 22-11-2006 18:47
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Administrator

Posts: 666
Joined: 25.04.05
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The language of karate is movement.
I learned fastest when I didn't know a lot of Japanese and my teachers to my to stop and positioned my body how it was supposed to go. Too much stopping and explaining in Japanese or English slows things down and confuses me more often than not. |
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| cobra-kai |
Posted on 23-11-2006 09:21
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Ikkyu

Posts: 249
Joined: 01.08.05
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I agree
when I watch judo I never know what's going on but enjoy it anyway.
we have a big judo event in Mississauga this week-end.
with all martial arts events, you'll find the spectators in the stands are 99.9% parents and participants.
SyracuseJundokan wrote:
Well I think that it's good to use Japanese for technique names, couting, etc. to add a cultural component to training, but that explanations should be in the native language of the people training.
As far as sport goes, I think refereeing in Japanese has held the sport back from a spectator point of view. Sport karate is hard enough to follow if you're not an active participant, so to expect lay-persons to get excited about matches that they can't make sense of is a stretch. |
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| bushi |
Posted on 23-11-2006 10:00
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Newbie

Posts: 34
Joined: 18.04.05
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me personally i never felt the need to speak japanese in order to learn the art. i count in japanese when sensei is teaching but when i teach i always count in english and say techniques in english. i just don't see the point unless of course your in japan.
although it does help when training with people who speak different languages |
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| ae |
Posted on 23-11-2006 19:03
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Ikkyu

Posts: 269
Joined: 19.11.05
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bushi wrote:
me personally i never felt the need to speak japanese in order to learn the art. [...] although it does help when training with people who speak different languages
I think that is a good enough reason, specially for people from different countries. I strongly believe that we need a specialized language, a terminology that allows people from different linguistic backgrounds to communicate. Japanese martial arts language does that.
Of course, if we never train with foreigners, then we do not feel the necessity to learn Japanese terminology, but life is easier with a common terminology.
Alfredo |
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| ae |
Posted on 24-11-2006 13:05
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Ikkyu

Posts: 269
Joined: 19.11.05
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cobra-kai wrote:
If you teach Okinawan Karate, should you teach it in Hogan?
:-) Of course not. The language people have been using all around the world to name karate techniques is Japanese, and if you go to Azerbaijan and you say "hidari zenkutsu dachi" people are going to understand the same as in Chile. In other words, it is not about the preeminence of Hogan over Japanese, or of Japanese over English or Spanish or any other language, it is about how to communicate an especialized knowledge in a multilingual community. Having started my training in an Spanish speaking country and currently training in an English speaking country, I am very thankful to my instructors in Perú because they always used Japanese names and it helped me a lot to adapt to the USA. When we have foreign visitors, I am glad I can understand when they give commands in Japanese so I don't have to learn three or four languages. So, just practical reasons.
Edited by ae on 25-11-2006 15:55 |
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| Markaso |
Posted on 21-06-2009 14:20
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Kyu Holder

Posts: 50
Joined: 26.10.08
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Since I am in Japan ........of course Japanese is the norm. The Dojo that I go to for my practice, the teacher really doesn't speak English.
At the university, I use a mixture of Japanese and English. Japanese terms and explinations most of the time but sometimes the explinations need to be in English as some of the students who are first year students don't speak Japanese yet.
As for a dojo in the States ........or anywhere else ......I think the language of the land for the explinations and terms is fine but the terms should also be taught in Japanese. This, I think should be done just in case a student goes to Japan, a student goes to another Dojo for cross training, or you have a teacher from another dojo come to your dojo who teaches the arts' terms in Japanese. Also it is fun for kids to learn the correct terms for what they are practicing in another language. |
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| gojuryu |
Posted on 22-06-2009 21:55
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Site Administrator

Posts: 862
Joined: 02.04.05
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I love this thread - and at the same time can't believe it was resurrected |
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| Markaso |
Posted on 22-06-2009 22:32
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Kyu Holder

Posts: 50
Joined: 26.10.08
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gojuryu wrote:
I love this thread - and at the same time can't believe it was resurrected
Well I was just hunting around for something I may have an opinion on .....sorry. There may be some more oldies resurrected at some point too. Oh well. |
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