Notes
Most of the terms that we use in class are actually composites of multiple Japanese words. Jodan tzuki for instance, uses "jodan" (upper level) and "tzuki" (punch). We interpret this (slightly inaccurately) to mean "head-level punch".
Just like English, there are lots of words that can be used to clarify the main action. We can specify the side of the body (right, left or alternating), the direction of the action (rising, falling, straight, hooking), the level (upper, middle or lower) and more besides. These words are all combined into terms that express with minimal ambiguity, the required action. Of course, you might argue that having to learn a new language to understand what is being asked of you deliberately creates maximum ambiguity, and I'd be the first to agree with you! But that's a debate for another part of this site...
Anyway, these actions and modifiers are generally just grouped together in a type of dojo abbreviation which, whilst not absolutely grammatically correct, gets the point over with the minimum number of words.
It's usual to specify the side (left, right), the level (high, low, etc), the body part (single knuckle, forefist, etc), the direction (rising, roundhouse, straight, etc), and the technique (punch, kick, block, etc) in that order. For example, migi gedan choku tzuki or jodan kizami ren tzuki. In Japan, they might add the word "no" (of) after the side command, but we tend to leave it out.
In this guide, I have not wasted time listing every single permutation of every single move. You know that a straight punch can be performed at multiple levels and you recognise the word that describes the level at which it is performed - I don't need to insult your intelligence by actually stating each variant in full.
However, I have made a slight exception in the case of moves that are usually performed in a certain way, just so that you can see how karate commands are constructed.
Incidentally, there are lots more expressions and phrases in the martial arts world in general, but I have tried to restrict myself solely to techniques that you may encounter in a GKR dojo, and phrases or commands that you might hear in one.
In constructing this guide, I've consulted numerous Japanese people and they often disagreed about the exact meaning of a word. For starters, many words only exist in a martial arts context, so if Japanese people are not familiar with martial arts, they wouldn't necessarily know the meaning of words, any more than you would know the meaning of medical terms unless you were in that field. To further complicate things, some words are not only context sensitive, but even depend upon the kanji (Japanese characters) used to write them. Take the term "uchi": it means both "inside" and "strike", and the Japanese word sounds exactly the same in both instances. Like the English words "to", "two" and "too", the context is necessary, but when even the context is not enough, you can only be certain of the exact meaning by seeing the word written.
Some words have a literal and intepreted meaning.:For instance dojo literally means "way place", but we use it to mean training hall. Where there is a literal meaning, I have included it in inverted commas "".
Pronunciation notes
Strictly speaking, virtually nobody in a European, Antipodean or American dojo pronounces Japanese words properly. We have adapted them to fit within our language patterns, just as we did with all the Latin, Greek and French words that we've assimiliated into our language over the centuries.
Originally, I started by writing the GKR way of saying the words, but to be honest, I've decided against that approach. We should make an effort to learn the proper pronunciation, or at least the accepted pronunciation outside of Japan - otherwise, we might just as well speak English.
In describing each word's pronounciation, I've tried to break it down into the component sounds, which I've written. Any word in our language can be expressed using a standard set of 41 phonemes (sound elements). Unfortunately, these phonemes require special characters to notate, and unless you know the phonemic "alphabet", the sybols would not make much sense. Therefore, whilst I have used the phonemic alphabet, I've notated it using English-sounding elements. If you encounter an element that you recognise as a word, then it is pronounced exactly as you would normally pronounce that word. For instance "dojo" can be expressed as "doe-joe". Doe, as in a female deer, and joe, as in a person's name. What could be simpler?
Unfortunately, there are a few recurring vowel sounds that can't be expressed using real words, and these are clarified below:
oe - as in toe
ee - as in tree
ah - as in car
uh - as in brush
eh - as in bet
oo - as in zoo
oh - as in lost
ay - as in hay
Alternate spellings
Many Japanese sounds cannot be precisely written in English because we have no exact equivalent sound. Thus, the spelling is down to the transcriber. Common sounds are ts as in tsuki, nm as in empi, gk as in taigyoku and kake, ry as in ryu.
I have used the most common current GKR spelling (although even we use multiple spellings for the same word sometimes.)
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General Terms
| English | Japanese | Phonetic |
| 3-step sparring | Sanbon kumite | sun-bon koo-me-tay |
| 5 step sparring | Gohon kumite | go-hohn koo-me-tay |
| Assistant teacher ("senior") | Sempai | sem-pie |
| Association | Kai | kie |
| Begin | Hajime | ha-jim-ay |
| Bow | Rei | ray |
| Chief dojo | Hombu | hom-boo |
| Close your eyes | Mokuso | mok-sow |
| Complete | Kan | kahn |
| Distancing | Maai | mah-aye |
| Dojo ("Way place") | Dojo | doe-joe |
| Everybody ("each other") | Autagani | or-tah-gah-nee |
| Fifth level | Godan | go-dahn |
| First cause | Taigyoku | tay-eeg-yo-koo |
| First level | Shodan | shoh-dahn |
| Formal kneeling | Seiza | say-za |
| Fourth level | Yondan | yon-dahn |
| Free sparring | Jiyu kumite | gee-you koo-me-tay |
| Half | Han | hahn |
| Hard | Go | go |
| Hello | Kon ni chi wa | kohn nee chee wah |
| Junior rank below black belt | Kyu or mudansha | cue - moo-dahn-shah |
| Karate uniform | Gi | gee |
| Level | Dan | dahn |
| Martial way | Budo | boo-doh |
| Master | Shihan | she-han |
| Open your eyes | Mokuso yame | mok-sow ya-may |
| Practitioner | Ka | kah |
| Prepare | Kamae | kam-aye |
| Quiet mind | Heian | hey-un |
| Reverse or opposite | Gyaku | gee-yakoo |
| School or system | Ryu | ree-yoo |
| Second level | Nidan | nee-dahn |
| Shout of spirit or focus | Kiai | key-aye |
| Soft | Ju | joo |
| Sparring | Kumite | koo-me-tay |
| Spirit | Ki | key |
| Spiritual centre | Hara | hah-rah |
| Stop | Yame | ya-may |
| Striking post | Makiwara | mah-kay-wah-rah |
| Teacher | Sensei | sen-say |
| Techniques | Waza | wah-zuh |
| Third level | Sandan | sahn-dahn |
| Way of | Do | doe |
| Yes | Hai | hay |
Punches and strikes
| English | Japanese | Phonetic |
| Augmented strike | Morote tsuki | moh-row-teh zoo-key |
| Back-fist strike | Uraken uchi | Oo-rah oo-chee |
| Back-hand strike | Haishu uchi | hi-shoe oo-chee |
| Descending punch | Oroshi tsuki | oe-roh-shee zoo-key |
| Double punch - Hands parallel to floor | Heiko tsuki | hay-coe zoo-key |
| Double punch - One to head, one to body | Yama tsuki | yam-ah zoo-key |
| Elbow strike | Empi uchi | enm-pee oo-chee |
| Hammer-fist strike | Tetsui uchi | tet--sue-ee oo-chee |
| Hooking punch | Kake tsuki | kah-kuh zoo-key |
| Knife-hand strike | Shuto uchi | shoe-toe |
| Middle-fingered one-knuckle-fist | Nakadaka-ippon-ken | nah-kah-dah-kah ee-pon-ken |
| Palm-heel strike | Teisho uchi | tay-show oo-chee |
| Punch | Tsuki | zoo-key |
| Punch using the front of the knuckles | Seiken tsuki | say-ken zoo-key |
| Reverse back-fist strike | Furi uchi | foo-ree oo-chee |
| Reverse elbow strike | Ushiro empi uchi | oo-she-row em-pee oo-chee |
| Reverse punch | Gyaku tsuki | gee-ah-koo zoo-key |
| Ridge-hand strike | Haito uchi | hay-toe oo-chee |
| Rising elbow strike | Hiji ate | hid-jee are-teh |
| Rising punch | Age tsuki | ah-gee zoo-key |
| Round elbow strike | Mawashi empi uchi | mah-wash-ee em-pee oo-chee |
| Short punch (underneath punch) | Shita tsuki AKA Ura tsuki | she-tah zoo-key oo-rah zoo-key |
| Side elbow strike | Yoko empi uchi | yoh-koh em-pee oo-chee |
| Snapping punch | Kizami tsuki | kay-zah-me zoo-key |
| Stepping or lunging punch | Oi tsuki | oh-ee-zoo-key |
| Straight punch (this what many people mistakenly call seiken) | Choku tsuki | choh-koo zoo-key |
| Spear-hand | Nukite | noo-kay-tay |
| Strike | Uchi | oo-chee |
| Three-punch combination | Sanbon tsuki | sahn-bohn zoo-key |
Blocks
| English | Japanese | Phonetic |
| Augmented block | Morote uke | moh-row-teh oo-kay |
| Back-arm block | Haiwan uke | hi-wahn oo-kay |
| Back-hand block | Haishu uke | hi-shoe oo-kay |
| Bent-wrist block | Kakuto uke | kah-koo-toe oo-kay |
| Block | Uke | oo-kay or oo-kay |
| Blocking techniques | Uke waza | oo-kay wah-zuh |
| Descending block | Oroshi uke | oh-roe-she oo-kay |
| Double block | Chuge uke | chew-gee oo-kay |
| Elbow block | Hiji/empi uke | hid-jee/enm-pee oo-kay |
| Forearm block | Ude uke | oo-day oo-kay |
| Hooking block | Kake uke | kah-kuh uke |
| Inside block | Uchi uke | oo-chee-o-kay |
| Knee block | Hiza uke | hit-zah oo-kay |
| Knife-hand block | Shuto uke | shoe-to oo-kay |
| Low-level block | Gedan uke | Geh-dahn oo-key |
| Low level sweeping block | Gedan barai | geh-dahn bar-eye |
| Open-hand hooking block - see hooking block | ||
| Outside block | Soto uke | sot-oh oo-kay |
| Palm-heel block | Teisho uke | tay-show oo-kay |
| Ridge-hand block | Haito uke | hi-toe oo-kay |
| Rising block | Age uke | ah-gee oo-kay |
| Round block | Mawashi uke | mah-wash-ee oo-kay |
| Upper level rising block | Jodan age uke | joe-dahn ag-aye oo-kay |
| Vertical block | Tate uke | tah-teh oo-kay |
| Vertical knife-hand block | Tate shuto uke | tah-the shoe-toe oo-kay |
| X block AKA Cross block | Juji uke | joo-jee oo-kay |
Kicks
| English | Japanese | Phonetic |
| Back kick | Ushiro geri | oo-she-roe geh-ree |
| Crescent kick | Mika tsuki geri | mee-kah zoo-key geh-ree |
| Cutting kick | Fumi geri | foo-me-geh-ree |
| Double kick | Nidan geri | nee-dahn geh-ree |
| Foot sweep | Ashi barai | ash-ee bar-eye |
| Front foot kick | Mae ashi geri | mah-ee ash-ee geh-ree |
| Front kick | Mae geri | mah-eh geh-ree |
| Groin kick | Kin geri | kin geh-ree |
| Inside round kick | Uchi mawashi geri | oo-chee mah-wash-ee geh-ree |
| Jumping front kick | Mae tobi geri | mah-ee toh-be geh-ree |
| Jumping kick | Tobi geri | toe-be geh-ree |
| Kick | Geri | geh-ree |
| Kicking techniques | Geri waza | geh-ree wah-zuh |
| Knee kick | Hiza geri | Hitza geh-ree |
| Reverse kick | Gyaku geri | gyah-koo geh-ree |
| Reverse round kick | Gyaku/ura mawashi geri | gyah-koo/oo-rah mah-wash-ee geh-ree |
| Round kick | Mawashi geri | mah-wash-ee geh-ree |
| Side kick | Yoko geri | yoh-coe geh-ree |
| Stamping kick | Fumi komi geri | foo-me-koh-me geh-ree |
Stances
| English | Japanese | Phonetic |
| Adopt ready stance - When standing in musubi dachi after bowing | Yoi | Yooy |
| Back stance | Kokutsu dachi | koh-koot-sue datch-ee |
| Body movement | Tai sabaki | tie sah-bah-key |
| Cat stance | Nekoashi dachi | neck-oh-ash-ee datch-ee |
| Foot movement | Ashi sabaki | ash-ee sah-bah-key |
| Forward stance | Zenkutsu dachi | zen-coot-soo datch-ee |
| Half forward stance AKA short stance AKA Fighting stance | Han zenkutsu dachi | hahn zen-coot-soo datch-ee |
| Horse-riding/straddle stance | Kiba dachi | kay-bah datch-ee |
| Informal attention stance - Toes together | Heisoku dachi | hay-sock-oo datch-ee |
| Informal attention stance - Toes apart | Musubi dachi | moo-soo-bee datch-ee |
| Parallel stance | Heiko dachi | hay-coe datch-ee |
| Pigeon-toed stance AKA hourglass stance | Sanchin dachi | sahn-chin datch-ee |
| Stance | Dachi | datch-ee |
| Sumo stance | Shiko dachi | she-coe datch-ee |
Kata
| English | Japanese | Phonetic |
| Pre-arranged pattern of techniques against imaginary opponents | Kata | kah-tah |
| 1st kata | Taigyoku shodan | tie-kyo-koo show-dahn |
| 2nd kata | Taigyoku nidan | tie-kyo-coo nee-dahn |
Counting
| English | Japanese | Phonetic |
| 1 | Ichi | itch |
| 2 | Ni | nee |
| 3 | San | sahn |
| 4 | Shi | she |
| 4 - This is the preferred version of 4 | Yon | yon |
| 5 | Go | go |
| 6 | Roku | rook |
| 7 | Shichi | shitch |
| 8 | Hachi | hutch |
| 9 | Ku | koo |
| 10 | Jyu | joo |
| 20 | Nijyu | nee-joo |
| 30 | Sanjyu | sahn-joo |
| 40 | Yonjyu | yon-joo |
| 50 | Gojyu | go-joo |
| 60 | Rokujyu | rook-joo |
| 70 | Shichijyu | shitch-joo |
| 80 | Hachijyu | hatch-joo |
| 90 | Kujyu | koo-joo |
| 100 | Hyaku | he-ah-koo |
Japanese numbers are structured even more logically than English numbers. In English, we have unique words for 20, 30, 40, etc. In Japanese, they simply prefix the number 10 by the number of single units to get the right value - ie, 60 = 6 x 10 rokujyu (sixten). To get additional single units, you add the appropriate word for the single unit required. For example to make thirteen 13. you simply add 10+3 to come up with jyu san, 77 would be 7x10+8 or shichijyu hachi (seventen eight in English).
Body parts
| English | Japanese | Phonetic |
| Augmented/double | Morote | moh-row-teh |
| Back fist | Uraken | oo-rah-ken |
| Back of the [fore] arm - see also Heiwan | Haiwan | ha-ee-wahn |
| Ball of the foot | Koshi | ko-she |
| Bear hand | Kumade | koo-mah-deh |
| Double/augmented | Morote | moh-row-teh |
| Eagle beak hand | Washide | wah-she-deh |
| Elbow | Empi | enm-pee |
| Foot edge | Sokuto | soh-koo-toe |
| Foot or leg | Ashi | ash-ee |
| Forearm | Ude | oo-day |
| Forefist | Seiken | say-ken |
| Fore-knuckle fist | Hiraken | he-rah-ken |
| Hammer-fist | Tetsui | tet-sue-ee |
| Hand | Te | teh |
| Heel | Kakato | kah-kah-toe |
| Hooking | Kake | kak-ay |
| Knee | Hiza | he-zah |
| Kneecap | Hizagashira | he-zah-gah-she-rah |
| Knife hand | Shuto | shoe-toe |
| One-finger spear-hand | Ippon nukite | ee-pon noo-kay-the |
| One-knuckle fist | Ippon-ken | ee-pon-ken |
| Palm-heel | Teisho | tay-show |
| Ridge-hand | Haito | hi-toe |
Positions/Movements
| English | Japanese | Phonetic |
| Downward | Oroshi | oe-roh-shee |
| Fast | Ima | ee-mah |
| Front | Mae | may-ee |
| Inner/inside (also means strike) | Uchi | oo-chee |
| Jump | Tobi | toe-be |
| Left | Hidari | he-dah-ree |
| Lower level | Gedan | geh-dahn |
| Middle level | Chudan | chew-dahn |
| Outer/outside | Soto | soh-toe |
| Punching with alternate hands | Ren tsuki | ren zoo-key |
| Right | Migi | me-gee |
| Rising | Age | ah-gee |
| Side | Yoko | yoh-koh |
| Snap | Keage | kay-ah-geh |
| Thrust | Kekomi | kay-koh-me |
| Turn | Mawate/mawatte | mah-what-eh |
| Upper level | Jodan | joe-dahn |
| Vertical | Tate | tah-teh |
Tournament
| English | Japanese | Phonetic |
| Competitors move to starting position | Autagani moto no ichi | or-tah-gah-nee moe-toe noh itch |
| Competitors turn to face the audience/front | Shomuni | show-moo-nee |
| Conduct that puts the competitor/s at risk of injury | Mubobi | moo-bow-bee |
| Disqualification | Shikkaku | she-car-koo |
| Draw | Hikiwake | he-kay-wah-kay |
| Fight on | Tsuzukete | tsue-zoo-ket-ay |
| Half a point | Waza-ari | wuz-ah-ree |
| Judge called | Shugo | shoe-goh |
| Judgement | Hantei | hahn-tey |
| One full point | Ippon | ee-pon |
| Red side wins | Aka no kachi | ah-kuh noh catch |
| Resume fighting | Tsuzukete hajime | tsue-zoo-ket-ay ha-jim-ay |
| Simultaneous scoring techniques | Aiuchi | eye-oo-chee |
| Single point, tournament sparring | Ippon kumite | ee-pon koo-me-tay |
| Start the bout (first time only) | Shobu sanbon hajime | show-boo sahn-bon ha-jim-ay |
| Start the extended bout (if match is drawn) | Shobu hajime | show-boo ha-jim-ay |
| The competitor to the referee's left (wearing a red belt) | Aka | ah-kuh |
| The competitor to the referee's right (wearing a white belt) | Shiro | she-row |
| Unacceptable as a scoring technique | Torimasen | toh-ree-mah-sen |
| Warning with a full point penalty | Hansoku chui | hahn-sock-oo chew-ee |
| Warning with a half point penalty | Keikoku | kay-koe-koo |
| When a competitor steps out of the ring during a fight | Jogai | joe-guy |
| White | Shiro | she-row |
| White side wins | Shiro no kachi | she-row noh catch |