Japense Symbol for "Te"

[Diamond Snake]

I see two symbols and am wondering which is which:

テ and 手

What's the difference and how do you use it?

When writing in English, for example, would it be:

Goju Ryu-Te or Goju Ryu Te or Goju RyuTe

OkinwaTe or Okinawa-Te or OkinawaTe

and which symbol is to be used? テ or 手?

[likeke34]

the 1st one is katakana for "te." Katakana is used typically for non japanese words... the 2nd one is the kanji for te, that's the one used for kara te... i hope that made sense

[honoluludesktop]

.........Katakana is used typically for non Japanese words...

Didn't know that. Are you sure? I thought that katakana was just the Japanese alphabet, and kanji Chinese ideograms a alternate way of writing.

[likeke34]

yah, i'm sure... but there are those who use it just cuz they think it looks cooler... say if you're writing a word like orenji (means orange), notice how it's similar, orenji/orange, you'd use katakana, not hiragana or kanji... same for names that aren't japanese... for example, richard is pronounced richaado, it's written in katakana not hiragana or kanji... but a japanese word like te (hand), can be written in kanji or hiragana, not typically katakana but there are those who will do it just because... haha i really hope that makes sense because i'm not good at explaining these things... but i'm japanese/english speaking

[likeke34]

oh and to better answer your question, in the japanese alphabet there is katakana, and hiragana... katakana is for non-japanese words/names, and hiragana is for japanese words/names

[ps1]

This is a truly enlightening post. Thanks for sharing that information likeke34

[isshinryu5toforever]

To answer the second half of the question, you wouldn't use it in that manner Goju-ryu te. You would say Goju-ryu Karate. Kara meaning empty, te meaning hand.

The Kanji used in Karate used to translate to China Hand, but they changed the Kanji to mean empty to make a fuller connection to Japan. The pronunciation is the same, but changing the Kanji changes the entire meaning. That's a whole other history lesson.

[Diamond Snake]

To answer the second half of the question, you wouldn't use it in that manner Goju-ryu te. You would say Goju-ryu Karate. Kara meaning empty, te meaning hand.

The Kanji used in Karate used to translate to China Hand, but they changed the Kanji to mean empty to make a fuller connection to Japan. The pronunciation is the same, but changing the Kanji changes the entire meaning. That's a whole other history lesson.

Thanks for insight. Very good stuff.

But regards to second question - why then is it called OknawaTe not Okinawa karate?

And what symbols would you use?

[isshinryu5toforever]

I'm only aware of one organization that does Okinawa-te. It's not so much of an established Okinawan system as what someone learned, put together, and named themselves. Okinawa-te just means Okinawa Hand. I would say that you would be talking about an Okinawan Kempo Jutsu at that point, if you wanted to give it that designation as Karate-do is a Japanese term for Japanese Karate Budo. There is a lot of history at work here that you would be better off reading in a book. I can suggest Patrick McCarthy's translation of the Bubishi. He goes through the name changes. It's not that I think it's the be-all end-all of books on Okinawan Karate, because I have suggested it many times, but it is a quick, concise, and well-researched guide on the history of Okinawan Karate.

If you were to give this system, Okinawa-te, characters, they would be Kanji. Most official names are made of Kanji, and they have a specific meaning. I'm not positive what the Kanji for Okinawa translate to, that would be better left to someone who speaks Japanese at more than a dojo level. Again, for te, you would use the Kanji.