| Word |
Pronunciation / Meaning |
| Karate |
/kahrah-teh/ - Empty hand or weapon less art of defence. |
| Goju Ryu |
/goe-ju-rruu/ - “go” means hard, “ju” means soft, and “ryu” mean style or school – the hard-soft style. This is the name of our karate style. |
| Dojo |
/door-jore/ - “do” means way and “jo” means place – the place where the way is studied. This is the name of your training room (place). |
| kata |
/kar-tar/ - Prearranged fighting patterns built up from basic stances, strikes, kicks and blocks. |
| kiai |
/key-eye/ - Spirit Shout – this is the concentration and focus of mind, body, and spirit, accompanied by a loud shout. |
| budo |
/boo-dore/ - Martial way or path. In times of peace you are adopting a path (way) of spiritual development through armed and unarmed martial training. |
| karategi |
/kahrah-teh/ghee/ - Uniform used to train in, which is made up of a jacket and pants. Also referred to as dogi, cloth of the way. |
| obi |
/or-bee/ - Belt, coloured depending on your grade. |
| bunkai |
/buin-kai/ - Analysis of a kata. Often referred to as applications of a kata. This is the processing of studying the movements of a kata and extracting the fighting techniques. Bunkai is a key part to grading and provides a good insight into an individual's true understanding of a kata. |
| Sempai |
/sem-pie/ - Senior student (for example: 1st Dan or 2nd Dan). |
| Sensei |
/sen-say/ - Teacher (instructor). Endorsement to instruct. This is an ongoing title, thus 7th Dan Kyoshi could still be referred to as Sensei, in lieu of their full title. Effectively 'sir'. |
| Tanto |
/tan-tor/ - Senior in charge of Club. |
| Shihan |
/she-harn/ - Senior instructor. Leadership endorsement for those supervising other Dojos and/or instructors and/or looking after the welfare of the organization (in other words: member of the Kanbukai). |
| Shusseki Shihan |
/shu-seki-she-harn/ - Cheif Shihan and normally head executive member of the Kanbukai. |
| Renshi |
/ren-she/ - Expert level achievement endorsement - mentally, physically, and spiritually. |
| Kyoshi |
/kiyo-she/ - Expert level instructor and leadership endorsement. |
| Hanshi |
/han-she/ - Master level endorsement - mentally, physically, and spiritually. |
| Kanbukai |
/kan-bu-kai/ - Executive council of Shihans, selected by the presiding chairman and head instructor of the organization, to advise and support the active promotion and direction of the organization. Refer to our
Kanbukai.
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