I have recently been thinking too much about front and back (or ‘reverse’) punches. Japanese martial arts terminology is somewhat specialized, and might not always mean the same thing to a Japanese speaker unfamiliar with martial arts, however, I hope there is a fluent Japanese speaker out there who is also familiar with several Japanese arts and can help me understand a few pedantic linguistic questions. A straight punch with the opposite hand to the forward leg is petty universally called ‘gyakuzuki’ and is pretty consistently called a ‘reverse’ punch in karate English or (less frequently) a ‘back’ or ‘opposite’ punch. In contrast, a straight punch with the same side arm as the forward leg is known as ‘Oizuki’ in many styles of karate, but as ‘junzuki’ in Wadoryu. I read somewhere that the Japanese ‘Oi’ in Oizuki translates to something like ‘thrust’ in English, but would like to know the best literal translation of the Japanese ‘Jun’ in Junzuki into English. I have heard this punch variously referred to in English as a lunge punch, a step punch, thrust punch, a front punch, or even a jab, and I was first interested in what literally is the best translation of the word, but now begin to wonder what strictly, technically constitutes these punches at all. If you asked me to show you oizuki or junzuki from jigotai, shikodachi, heikodachi, heisokudachi, musubidachi, or any parallel stance, I would leave one foot where it was and take the other a step forward into zenkutsudachi and punch with the same arm as the forward moving leg. If you asked me to do so again, I would bring the back foot past the front foot and continue it another full step forward into the opposite zenkutsudachi and front punch. However, if you asked me to show you oizuki or junzuki from Gyakuzuki, I could just change hands, punching on the spot (I would shift my hips and front heel) without taking another step forward. This makes me think that although we normally attack with oizuki or junzuki by stepping forward with it, the defining feature of the punch is the finishing position of the arm relative to the leg rather than the step. Or should they rightly include a step? Are Oisuki / Junzuki just ‘front arm punches’ or ‘stepping front arm punches’ rather than ‘lunge’ punches or are they necessarily ‘thrust’ punches (kekomi rather than keage)? Other punches involving the same side arm and leg (Tobikomizuki, Kazamizuki, Junzuki no tsukkomi) involve more of a lunge or lean than Oisuki / Junsuki, and some a ‘snap’ or ‘jab’ rather than a ‘thrust’. How accurately do the literal meanings of the Japanese names reflect these concepts? I read elsewhere that Tsuki, or Zuki, itself literally means ‘thrust’ rather than ‘punch’ - in Aikido both a punch and a forward thrusting motion with a bokken or jo are referred to as ‘(T)ski’. So is Oi Tsuki literally a ‘Thrusting thrust’?
