Karate terms Here are some terms used in our practice. Even though they may seem overwhelming at first, over time they will become second nature.

Pronunciation

A very brief guide to Japanese pronunciations.

Vowel/Consonant	Sounds Like	Notes
a	Rhymes with the 'a' in "father".	This is a short vowel.
i	Rhymes with the [i] in "it", as opposed to the long vowel [i:] in "eat".	This is a short vowel.
u	Rhymes with the [u] in "food" but shorter.	This is a short vowel.
e	Rhymes with the 'e' in "net".	This is why the "te" in karate is not pronounced [ti]. This is a short vowel.
o	Kind of rhymes with "awe", but shorter.	This is a short vowel. Note this is different from the [o] sound in the English word "go". Therefore yodan and godan do not rhyme with "go".
ou	The long form of 'o'. Long and rhymes with "awe".	Other Romanticized spellings include "oo" and the letter 'o' with a dash over it, as seen on the cover of Karate-Do Kyohan, which, using "ou", would be Karate-Dou Kyouhan.
r	Neither 'R' nor 'L'.	One of the most misunderstood Japanese sounds, this is neither the 'R' nor 'L' consonant in English. For example, karate sounds closer to [kaLate] than [kaRate] in English, but the 'r' is often mispronounced.
fu	Neither [fu] nor [hu].	Also often misunderstood, this is neither [fu] nor [hu] in English. For example, fumikomi and fudo dachi do not start with either the [f] or [h] sound in English.

Counting

Term	Meaning	Notes
ichi	1	.
ni	2	.
san	3	.
shi	4	yo is another form for 4, as in yodan. When counting out techniques, use shi.
go	5	This does not rhyme with the English word "go". See pronunciation note.
roku	6	.
shichi	7	.
hachi	8	.
ku	9	.
ju	10	.
kamaete	get into stance	.
kaete	turn around	.

Kihon (Basics)

Term	Meaning	Notes
kihon	basic techniques	.
uke	block	.
gedan barai	down block	gedan means lower level, as opposed to chudan or jodan.
age uke	up block	age means up.
ude uke	inside forearm block	.
tetsui uke	hammer block	tetsui means hammer.
shuto uke	sword-hand block	shu means hand, to means sword.
tsuki	punch	Depending on the preceding vowel, it sometimes becomes zuki, as in oi-zuki and gyaku-zuki.
oi-zuki	front punch	.
gyaku-zuki	reverse punch	.
mae te	jab	te is hand.
geri	kick	.
mae geri	front snap kick	mae means front.
mawashi geri	roundhouse kick	mawashi means turning or rotating.
yoko geri keage	side up kick	.
yoko geri kekomi	side thrust kick	yoko means side.
mikkazuki geri	crescent kick	mikkazuki means shaped like a crescent moon.
fumikomi	side stumping kick	.

Kumite (Sparring)

Term	Meaning	Notes
kumite	sparring	.
ippon kumite	basic one-time engagement	Attack is live. Counter-attack completely controlled.
sanbon gumite	three-time engagement	The 3 attacks are live. Counter-attack completely controlled.
jiyu ippon kumite	free style one-time engagement	Attack is live. Counter-attack completely controlled.
jiyu kumite	free style engagement	All attacks and counter-attacks completely controlled.
chudan	middle level	Generally, this means the trunk of the body. However, against a woman opponent, never attack the breast areas; instead aim for the abdomen.
jodan	upper level	This means the head.

Miscellaneous

Term	Meaning	Notes
doujou	place where we practice	Usually this is spelled dojo in English, but actually it is two long ou vowels.
karate	(no direct translation)	kara is empty. te is hand.
karate-dou	the way of karate	This may look odd, but this is the correct pronunciation, because it's a long "ou" in "dou".
mokusou	meditate	.
yoi	be ready	.
hajime	begin	.
yame	finish (verb)	.
yasume	at ease	.
rei	bow (verb)	.
kiai	(no direct translation)	kiai is more than just a grunt or a scream. Customarily, a kata has two kiai's. ki-ai is the same first two characters in Aikido, transposed. It's been said that Aikido founder Master Ueshiba Morihei's kiai could be heard from over a mile away.
kata	(no direct translation)	Pronunciation: the [ka] and the [ta] share equal stress. If anything, the [ta] is stressed more. Therefore it's [ka-TA] as opposed to [KA-ta].
kime	(no direct translation)	Come to practice.
irimi	(no direct translation)	iri is to enter. mi is body, but it really means the mind. Therefore, "entering the mind". This is the essence of budo.
sensei	teacher	.