12 Japanese Words You Need To Know For Karate

My good friend and full-contact karate fighter Norihiro Yoshida was visiting recently from Japan. It had been a year since he visited before and trained at Contact Kicks Dojo for a few months and competed. This visit however was very brief.

While he was here he only had the opportunity to train one day. Afterwards we spent a lot of time catching and chatting. As part of that he was commenting on the way people pronounce Osu outside of Japan. He was saying that many people don’t pronounce it correctly, not enough emphasis on the “O”, and was impressed with how Fogarasi Sensei pronounced it. This then led into a discussion about other words used in the dojo. I touched on some of this in a previous blog post on Reishiki – Japanese Etiquette in Kyokushin Karate.

So, based on that discussion and some research, here are 12 Japanese Words You Need To Know For Karate!

kyokushinkai-ritsurei1. Osu! (pronounced Oh’ss with the stress on the O), Osu is a word that you will hear in all Kyokushin dojos, and has been adopted by some other martial arts, such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and other full-contact styles. When you enter or leave the dojo, you bow and say “Osu”. When you greet a fellow student, you use “Osu” instead of “hello”. When you respond to your teacher for anything, you say Osu! It is used as a sign of respect towards fighters at tournaments. It’s generally a word that can be used in many situations.

Osu is a contraction of two words:

押し Oshi meaning “Push”
忍ぶ Shinobu meaning “to Endure”

Thus, Osu can mean patience, determination and perseverance. When you are pushing yourself beyond your limits, you use Osu!

To learn about the history of Osu, click here =>>>

2. Sensei – [sen say] In spite of many North American martial arts schools using it as “master”, it does not mean this. Sensei (先生) is literally translated as “person born before another” or “one who comes before”.

In general usage within Japan, it is used after a person’s name, and means “teacher”. It is used in all schools to address teachers and professors, as well as professionals such as lawyers, doctors, politicians, and other figures of authority. The word is also used to show respect to someone who has achieved a certain level of mastery in an art form or some other skill: accomplished novelists, musicians, artists and martial artists.

3. Seiza (正座 or 正坐) – [say za]  literally means “proper sitting” and is the Japanese term for one of the masoyamatraditional formal ways of kneeling in Japan. To sit seiza-style in Kyokushin, one must first be kneeling on the floor, folding one’s legs underneath one’s thighs, while resting the buttocks on the heels. The ankles are turned outward as the tops of the feet are lowered so that, in a slight “V” shape, the tops of the feet are flat on the floor and big toes sometimes are overlapped, and the buttocks are finally lowered all the way down. Within Kyokushin the fists are placed on the upper thigh. The back is kept straight, though not unnaturally stiff. Traditionally, women sit with the knees together while men separate them slightly, roughly two fist widths of distance between the knees.

4. Shomen ni rei – [show men nee ray] literally means “bow to the front”, and denotes respect to all the practitioners that came before us (our instructor’s instructor and so forth)  which is usually followed by, “Sensei ni rei” (bow to the teacher), this is followed by “Otagai ni rei” (bow to others), to show respect to all of your training partners. If there is a Shihan present, you will say Shihan ni rei (bow to the master instructor).

From seiza (kneeling), facing the front of the dojo, bow (rei) at the waist kyokushinkai-zareiplacing first your left fist and then your right fist on the floor in front of you. Keep your back straight and avoid raising your hips. Do not duck your head; keep your neck in alignment with your back. After a short pause, and Sensei has completed his/her bow, you raise yourself back to the seiza position, retracting first your right hand and then your left. Place your fists comfortably on your thighs.

At the end of class, the procedure is repeats, however, this time “thank you” is added, to thank for the training. Eg. Sensei ni, arigatou gozaimasu, rei (thank you and bow to the teacher).

5. Mokusō (黙想 pronounced “moh-kso”) is a Japanese term for meditation, especially when practiced in the traditional Japanese martial arts. Mokuso is performed before beginning a training session in order to “clear one’s mind”, very similar to the zen concept of mushin, or “no mind”. The term Mokusō is more formally known to mean, “Warming up the mind for training hard.”

6. Arigatou gozaimasu – [ah-ree-gah-toh goh-zah-ee-mas] means ‘thank you’, and is used for either something that will be done or something that has been done. In Japan, one can never say, “Thank you” or be thanked enough when expressing appreciation and gratitude in any number of situations, especially within the dojo to someone of higher rank.

7. Dōitashimashite – [doe-ee-tah-she-mahssh-tay] means you’re welcome in Japanese. However, it is not recommend to use this phrase in Japanese or martial arts dojos. This is because it doesn’t sound humble, but instead it could sound like you think you deserve some appreciation. It isn’t used the same way as it is in English. In Japanese it can be taken as arrogant. If you actually do think you deserve some appreciation, you’re suppose to hide it in Japanese!

8. Onegaishimasu – [oh-nay-guy-she-mus] translates roughly as “please take care of me” or “I am in your care” or “please have patience with me”. It is a word that isn’t used too much within North American dojos, and when it is it is sometimes misused, but should be used more often to show respect. It is very important within dojos of Japan, when asking of instruction or help from a senior student or teacher. It is essentially a polite way of saying ‘please.’ It isn’t a word used exclusively for martial arts.

Onegaishimasu is a sign of “humbleness”. In north American dojos you might hear it screamed out, like you would Osu!, but this isn’t correct and can be considered rude. Onegaishimasu should always be said with gratitude in a humble way.

9. Senpai (先輩) – [sem pie] is someone who is of a higher social standard, such as an upperclassman or upperclasswoman, someone of a higher age, or senior in rank. Sen or先means early, in advance, first or prior. Hai, 輩 means fellow, person, colleague, or people.

The mentor system is found at all levels of education, and in sports clubs, businesses, and informal or social organizations within Japan. The relationship is an essential element of Japanese seniority-based status relationships, similar to the way that family and other relationships are decided based on age, in which even twins may be divided into elder and younger siblings. And the dojo is a family after all.

There is debate on the spelling of Senpai. I cover this in another article. However, it is spelled seNpai, but pronounced seMpai.

10. kōhai (後輩)- [koe hi] is a protégé, one’s junior or underclassman. Ko, 後means later, afterwards, rear or aback. So Kohai is someone that started later than another person.

11. Kata (型 or 形) literally means “form”, the detailed choreographed patterns of movements practised either solo or in pairs. Kata are used in many traditional Japanese arts such as theater forms like kabuki and schools of tea ceremony (chado), but are most commonly known for the presence in the martial arts. Kata are used by most Japanese and Okinawan martial arts, such as aikido, judo, kendo and karate.

For a full breakdown and history of Kata, I have covered it in another article.

12. Kihon (基本, きほん ) – [key hone] is a Japanese term meaning “basics” or “fundamentals.” The term is used to refer to the basic techniques that are taught and practiced as the foundation of most Japanese martial arts.

OSU!

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I'm Sensei Gakuba
5 months ago

That’s the best more information about salutation of karate 🥋 thank you so much

Rushikesh shriram bhagat
Rushikesh shriram bhagat
4 years ago

What’s about preyar of karate

anna
4 years ago

A very inspiring article, defining the main Japanese words in martial arts and how or when to use them. Thanks for sharing such informative article regarding martial arts. Please keep posting such nice and amazing articles.

Tom
Tom
5 years ago

Yasume?

Haytham
Haytham
5 years ago

OSU!!!

A.Rajalingam
A.Rajalingam
5 years ago

Osu sensei,
It gives me very clear idea.
Thank you
Osu

free iptv
5 years ago

Hello,nice share.

Mizzima
Mizzima
5 years ago

It’s quite true when you say: “Osu can mean patience, determination and perseverance. When you are pushing yourself beyond your limits, you use Osu!”, nothing more nor nothing less. The reason behind this is that one must attain him or herself before the fight for releasing his or her soul. Because of that, moral uplifting is needed. Therefore we say: Osu.
Osu!

Thabo Moji
Thabo Moji
5 years ago

Osu! Arigatou gozaimasu!

Sensei Mark Webster
Sensei Mark Webster
6 years ago

Osu Scott. Nice job. I would probably suggest a little more information on Kohai because it’s not really a word someone would use to another person as it’s impolite to do so. I’d almost be tempted not to include it to avoid confusion about it’s use.
I would however include the word Budo as this is an important term to understand. But moreover well done.

lelethu
lelethu
6 years ago

Osu

trackback

[…]  The third theory, similar to the first, is that it is a shortened version of Onegaishimasu [oh-nay-guy-she-mus] translates roughly as “please take care of me” or “I am in your care” […]

Krishna
7 years ago

Really appreciate your work, Scott. Loved it. thanks a lot for the wonderful article.

ALONSO MARTIN
ALONSO MARTIN
7 years ago

OSU

GRASIAS POR COMPARTIR

Sanchu raj
Sanchu raj
7 years ago

Osu… Thanks for your knowledge… Ate there any japane martial art book…

fazal gharib dos
fazal gharib dos
8 years ago

Thank you so much for such a nice information of the words
Osu

Njabulo khathi
Njabulo khathi
8 years ago

Thank you for this enlightenment. Really appreciated

Thuthukani
Thuthukani
8 years ago

Thanks for this enlightenment again

Ray neville
Ray neville
8 years ago

Awesome can’t wait to get started

Steve A
Steve A
8 years ago

OSU, Arigatou gozaimasu

Adam Johnson
8 years ago

Very insightful, and well written. Thank you for sharing. I have been training for 25 years and it helps to know that using certain words could offend, especially when dealing with a Japanese dojo, or teacher. I am so glad I found your website.

Rex Roman
Rex Roman
8 years ago

Excellent, well described.

Glendon Mullings
8 years ago

Thank you for this enlightenment

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