Martial Art Terminology In Class?

[ninjanurse]

I use English to describe most techniques and then add the Korean or Japanese "name" for it afterwards-as a matter of tradition. Students are not required to know them until they take their written exam for Black Belt-put I do put the pressure on them to learn them earlier by having "quizzes" that result in the whole class suffering if they dont have the answer-LOL! No one want to be "that guy/gal"!

I am a traditionalist for the most part but in the grand scheme of things we are teaching technique-yes?

[Alan Armstrong]

Terminology for martial arts is a great way to learn and remember fundamentals.

Once there is a pattern of reasoning mapped out with a single word then other words linked together, they can greatly reinforce a martial artist's skill.

I also like the uniqueness of Chinese words. For instance 'Shan' has not much significance in English other than it could be used to shorten a person's name from Shannon; that could be used as a word association asset, such as 'Shannon's Law'

'Shan' in Chinese context referring to the White Crane style of Gung Fu, means evasiveness, avoiding an attack by using defensive footwork and immediately counter attacking, without the need for blocking.

'Chaun' is another useful word, meaning penetration, the way or ability to defeat or set up an opponent by using timing skillfully. JKD intercepting skills is based on speed and timing; also on deceptive timing skills.

'Chan' as in the name of the martial artist Jackie Chan, it's meaning refers to martial art spirit of ruthlessness and determination to survive combat. In Jackie Chan's career surviving as a martial art stunt man.

So by knowing the meaning of a few Chinese words such as Shan, Chaun and Chan I have a built in strategy when fighting a strong opponent.

For me it's not just about knowing Chinese names for stances, kicks, punches and blocks, it's more about how to make everything work together the way it was synchronically intended.

[JR 137]

The teaching style just depends on the intructor and is not really tied to whether or not one uses a certain set of terminology. The instructors from my experience used Japanese and Okinawan exclusively and the atmosphere in the dojo was very informal.

The militaristic or strict style, which is often associated with martial arts is probably because a great portion of instructors have some kind of military background. They are only reproducing the way they learned.

My teacher nor his teacher have a military background that I know of. Kyokushin and its offshoots (Seido Juku falls under this) have this tradition in them. Perhaps Mas Oyama's military experience?

[Alan Armstrong]

All Asian martial art words have there equivalents in English but are not literally the same due to cultural differences.

Chop Chop in Chinese, it's meaning is when someone is going to be beheaded while in English the meaning is to hurry up at what you are doing; perhaps leading up to being Chopped or fired if not working fast enough.

[strangepair03]

In our dojo we use the Japanese terms for the techniques and for counting. I think it helps the student feel more connected(if thats the right word) to the homeland of Karate. I don't think it is a necessary thing to do, but I do prefer it.

[bushido_man96]

Ours is interesting. We use Korean terminology during basics (followed by a translation, usually), but the terms we use are different from any I've seen for equivalent techniques in books I have on TKD.

When we discuss the techniques otherwise, we typically use English.

[DWx]

Ours is interesting. We use Korean terminology during basics (followed by a translation, usually), but the terms we use are different from any I've seen for equivalent techniques in books I have on TKD.

When we discuss the techniques otherwise, we typically use English.

Different from both WTF and ITF? That's interesting. Do you have an example?

[bushido_man96]

Ours is interesting. We use Korean terminology during basics (followed by a translation, usually), but the terms we use are different from any I've seen for equivalent techniques in books I have on TKD.

When we discuss the techniques otherwise, we typically use English.

Different from both WTF and ITF? That's interesting. Do you have an example?

down block = han dan maki

high block = san dan maki

knife hand strike = sudo tiergi

knife hand guarding blocks = sudo maki

upset (reverse) knife hand strike = han sudo

This is just a few. We don't name off any stance by Korean, though. Spellings here are likely off, too.

[Alan Armstrong]

Spelling isn't a problem due to Korean words becoming Romanized in to English.

Chinese only has about 1000 words when Romanized but it is the tonal accents that regenerates each word differently in to other meanings, depending on the accent placements.

Spanish also use different accents on the same word to change it's meaning.

Cantonese is the oldest Chinese dialect compared to Mandarin, with alot less people that speak it.

As Cantonese is the spoken language of many Southern martial art styles, it does keep things continually interesting deciphering Romanized interpretations, as many techniques sound very similar yet have very different meanings.

It is possible to develope an ear to differentiate Cantonese and Mandarin but learning one and talk to someone the speaks the other is another story.