AMERICA’S FINEST SHOTOKAN KARATE
Glossary
Pronunciation for Romanized Japanese (Romaji) is very simple. All syllables receive equal stress
unless a vowel is doubled, in which case that vowel will be stressed. Vowel sounds are very
similar to English as listed below and do not change based on surrounding characters. In all cases
"O" is the same, even if followed by a second vowel. The second vowel will be pronounced as
well. As an example, in Romaji the word "Mae" is pronounced Mah-eh, or close to "Maya,"
rather than with a short, hard "A." An exception to this rule is that often a trailing vowel will be
so abbreviated as to be almost inaudible. In the karate term "Osu," the trailing "u" is essentially
left out, and "Osu" is pronounced "Oss." There is no hard and fast rule for this, but these words
are more often heard than seen, and it's not difficult to pick up during training.
A = "ah"
E = "eh"
I = "ee"
O = "oh"
U = "oo"
Consonants are generally the same as English, again they are pronounced consistently across all
words without changing based on surrounding characters. "G" is always hard, unlike in English
where hard "G" is used for "garden" and soft "G" for "generate."
Phonetic Japanese
Numbers
ichi
ni
san
shi
go
roku
shichi
hachi
ku
ju
juichi
juni
jusan
jushi
jugo
juroku
junana (jusichi)
juhachi
jukyu
niju
English Translation
ee-chee or eech, often "Itch!"
nee
sahn
shee
goh
rohk (the R is rolled)
sheech
hahch
kuh
ju
juichi
juni
jusan
jushi
jugo
juroku
junana (jusichi)
juhachi
jukyu
niju
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
AMERICA’S FINEST SHOTOKAN KARATE
sanju
yonju
goju
sanju
nanaju
hachiju
kyuju
hyaku
sanju
yonju
goju
sanju
nanaju
hachiju
kyuju
hyaku
Stances (dachi)
zen kutsu dachi
ko kutsu dachi
kiba dachi
sochin dachi / fudo
dachi
neko ashi dachi
shizen tai
hangetsu dachi
heiko dachi
kosa dachi
front stance
back stance
horse stance
immovable stance
cat stance
ready stance
half moon stance
parallel stance
crossing stance
Blocking Techniques (uke-waza)
age uke
ude uke
gedan barai
uchi uke
shuto uke
kakiwake uke
rising block
middle block
down block
inside-ouside block
knife-hand block
two-handed separating block
Arm Techniques
zuki (tsuki)
oi zuki
gyaku zuki
kizami zuki
nukite
ura-ken
punch
step-in punch
reverse punch
jab punch
spear hand
backfist
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AMERICA’S FINEST SHOTOKAN KARATE
empi
elbow
Leg Techniques
geri
maeh geri
mawashi geri
yoko geri kekomi
yoko geri keage
ushiro geri
kick
front (snap) kick
roundhouse kick
side thrust kick
side snap kick
back kick
Sparring (kumite)
jo dan
chu dan
ge dan
sanban kumite
ippon kumite
jiyu ippon kumite / jiyu
kumite
head level
stomach level
lower level
three-step sparring
one-step sparring
semi-free sparring
Other Terms
kihon
kiai
kime
rei
yoi
yame
mawatte
hajime
mokuso
seiza
sensei
sempai
ko-hai
basic training
"spirit focus," a focusing yell
"decision," focus
bow
"get ready," a comman to take natural/ready stance
stop
turn
begin
quiet personal meditation
proper kneeling position
instructor
senior student
junior student