What the KA? Understanding the KA!

[sensei8]

We've got Judoka and we've got Karateka. This has a nice little ring to it for those who are wowed by the Japanese language; to these people, Japanese language is poetry to their ears. But, just what does the "Ka" really mean to a Judo or Karate practitioner.

Surely, there's more to the suffix than just poetry.

A Judoka/Karateka is a person who practices Judo/Karate. It's origin is from Japan, therefore, Karate+Ka is saying Karate=Karate + Ka=person. Having said that, Karateka, for example, is the Japanese word for a practitioner of Karate. By definition, Karate is a Martial Art and a Karateka is an artist, put these two together, a Martial Artist.

Therefore, as great as Judo and Karate are, they're just things; nothing by itself. The Judo/Karate is dependant of a person/artist to complete it. Although the person/artist is complete without having the Judo/Karate, the Judo/Karate is incomplete without the person/artist. No person/artist; means there is nothing to formulate or to birth.

This can be for ANY Martial Art! How so? Tae Kwon Doist, Aikidoist, Hapkidoist, Kung-Fu stylist, Capoeiraist, and Jeet Kune Doist to name just a few. Without the suffix of 'ist', there's nothing more than just an empty word; lifeless, an inanimate object at best, void, not endowed with life or spirit.

Add the 'ist' or the 'ka' or the 'Do' to the word, life is the giving energy that makes the word come alive and vibrant; pulsating with life, vigor, or activity, therefore, a creative soul that empowers the thing into being SOMETHING!

We, the 'IST' as well as the 'KA' that are being guided by the 'Do' are important to what it is that we love as well as to what it is that we are...MARTIAL ARTISTS!

[bushido_man96]

Very nicely put, Bob.

I think Aikido practitioners are called Aikidoka, aren't they?

[Shizentai]

I think it might also be "aikika" (or at least that's what the people I know call themselves).

Granted, the people I know (including my boyfriend) all train in the USA so there's no telling what aikido practitioners call themselves in Japan.

[bushido_man96]

I think it might also be "aikika" (or at least that's what the people I know call themselves).

Granted, the people I know (including my boyfriend) all train in the USA so there's no telling what aikido practitioners call themselves in Japan.

It might have to do with whether one studies Aikido or Aikijitsu....just a thought.

[The BB of C]

That's pretty awesome. I was wondering about other martial arts where it didn't sound right to say do or ka as the suffix.

[bushido_man96]

Yeah...Taekwondo-ka just doesn't really roll off the tongue, does it?

[furry_Homeboy]

It's amazing to think that without the many practitioners throughout the world, a martial art cannot exist. The people are the martial art and the martial art makes the people as well. The two fuse into one. Both separate and one.

[Kempohands]

As someone who is greatly interested in discussions of language I found this topic extremely insightful and profound. Thank you for bringing this to my attention!

One thing I will slightly disagree with, though, is the statement that "as great as Judo and Karate are, they're just things; nothing by itself." I have to say that the art itself is very much something in itself, independent from the artists. The martial art is a set of concepts, principles, techniques, and philosophies which exist in a unified system, a system which can outlive any of its practitioners and evolve with time to survive. It is a relationship of reciprocal dependency, where both the art and the artist are incomplete without the other, as furry_Homeboy alluded to. The art needs the artists in order to propagate itself and in order to literally survive, and the artists need the art in order to define their identities as martial artists.

I like to think of the arts themselves almost as Platonic "forms" -- thereby giving them a great importance in and of themselves. Of course, unlike Plato's forms, they depend on people to remain accessible and are not simply there to be learned, thus the reciprocal relationship I mentioned.

Wow, a truly enlightening point. Thank you sensei8, osu! I'll continue to contemplate this idea.

[Kempohands]

Ah! So minutes after I posted my reply I began to think about it and started to question my own thinking. Not only has your post made me think about the relationship between a martial art and a martial artist, but it awakened a discussion of the very nature of concepts and abstract systems of thought. I think my above simplification of the forms was wrong now, and my mind is going 100 mph trying to make sense of this stuff now.

Thank you again for making me think!

[bushido_man96]

One thing I will slightly disagree with, though, is the statement that "as great as Judo and Karate are, they're just things; nothing by itself." I have to say that the art itself is very much something in itself, independent from the artists. The martial art is a set of concepts, principles, techniques, and philosophies which exist in a unified system, a system which can outlive any of its practitioners and evolve with time to survive. It is a relationship of reciprocal dependency, where both the art and the artist are incomplete without the other, as furry_Homeboy alluded to. The art needs the artists in order to propagate itself and in order to literally survive, and the artists need the art in order to define their identities as martial artists.

I see what you are saying here, and it is a valid point, but I do feel that the art does need the person more than the person needs the art. All of the philosophies, concepts, and techniques that you mention are layed out by those who practice the art; Kano laid his foundations, and then passed them on, as did Funakoshi, as did Choi, and the list goes on. Even people today continue to leave their marks from their own beliefs. The arts tend to evolve as we do, and I think the practitioners are the heart and soul of it.