Numbers

Ichi	One
Ni	Two
San	Three
Shi	Four
Go	Five
Roku	Six
Shichi	Seven
Hachi	Eight
Ku	Nine
Ju	Ten

A training session´s opening ceremony

Shugo	Line up (phonetically ‘shho-go’)
Ki o tsuke	Stand to attention (phonetically ‘kee-ut-skay’)
Seiza	Kneel (phonetically ‘say-zah’)
Mokuso	Meditate (phonetically ‘mok-so’)
Mokuso yame	Finish meditating
Shomen ni	Face the front of the dojo (phonetically ‘sho-men nee’)
Rei	Bow (phonetically ‘ray’)
Sensei ni	Face your teacher
Rei	Bow and say aloud Onegaishimasu meaning please teach me (phonetically ‘on-ee-guy-shim-ass’)
Shomen ni	Face the front of the dojo
Kiritsu	Stand up (phonetically ‘kee-ree-tsoo’)

A training session´s closing ceremony

Shugo	Line up
Ki o tsuke	Stand to attention
Seiza	Kneel
Mokuso	Meditate
Mokuso yame	Finish meditating
Shomen ni	Face the front of the dojo
Rei	Bow
Sensei ni	Face your teacher
Rei	Bow and say aloud Arigato Gozaimashita meaning thank you (phonetically ‘ary-gato goz-aye-mahsh-tah’)
Otagai ni	Face your partner
Rei	Bow and say aloud Arigato Gozaimashita
Shomen ni	Face the front of the dojo
Kiritsu	Stand up and bow.
Leaving the dojo	At the end of a lesson, it is not necessary to wait and leave the dojo in order of rank. But if you do meet at the exit, it is just a matter of courtesy to allow the senior to go first.
Japanese Grammar	You will sometimes hear people say ‘arigato gozaimashita’ (with a ‘tah’ at the end) or ‘arigato gozaimasu’ (without the ‘tah’). It is just a case of thanking someone in the future or past tense. ‘Arigato gozaimashita’ is used at the end of the lesson to thank the Sensei for the lesson just given. ‘Arigato gozaimasu’ would be used at the start of the lesson to thank the Sensei for the lesson they are about to give.

Punches (tsuki or zuki)

Jodan tsuki	Punch to the face
Chudan tsuki	Punch to the chest
Gedan tsuki	Punch to the groin
Age tsuki	Rising punch
Choku tsuki	Straight punch
Furi tsuki	Circular punch
Gyaku tsuki	Reverse punch
Kizame tsuki	Jab Punch
Oi tsuki	Lunge punch
Seiken tsuki	Forefist punch
Ura tsuki	Close range punch

Blocks (Uke)

Jodan uke	Upper level block
Age uke	Rising block
Chudan uke	Middle level block
Gedan harai-uke	Lower level sweep
Jodan uke	Upper level block
Hiji uke	Elbow block
Hiki uke	Pulling/grasping block
Hiza uke	Knee block
Ko uke	Wrist block
Shotei barai	Palm heel sweep
Shotei uke	Palm heel block
Soto uke	Forearm block (block from outside moving inward to the centre line of the body)
Sukui uke	Scooping block
Tora guchi uke	Tiger mouth block (sometimes called Mawashi Uke meaning ‘round block’)

Strikes (Uchi)

Uraken uchi	Back fist strike
Empi uchi	Elbow strike (hiji)
Haito uchi	Ridge hand strike
Hiraken uchi	Fore knuckle fist strike
Ko uchi	Wrist strike
Nukite uchi	Spear hand strike
Shuto uchi	Knife-edge hand strike
Sokuto uchi	Knife-edge foot strike
Teisho uchi	Palm heel strike (sometimes called shotei uchi)
Tetsui uchi	Bottom fist strike

Kicking (Geri)

Mae geri	Front kick
Mawashi geri	Roundhouse kick
Yoko geri	Side kick
Ushiro geri	Back kick
Hiza geri	Knee kick
Kensetsu geri	Stamping kick, joint kick
Mae ashi geri	Front leg kick
Tobi geri	Jumping kick

Stances (dachi)

Benzoku dachi	One foot crossed over diagonally in front of the other, prior to turning
Hachiji dachi	Natural stance
Han zenkutsu dachi	Half forward stance
Heiko dachi	Parallel stance
Heisoku dachi	Formal attention stance, feet together
Kokutsu dachi	Back stance
Musubi dachi	Formal attention stance, feet turned out
Neko ashi dachi	Cat stance
Reinoji dachi	tick stance
Sagiashi dachi	Crane leg stance
Sanchin dachi	Hour glass stance
Sesan dachi	Side facing straddle stance
Shiko dachi	Box stance
Zenkutsu dachi	Forward leg stance

Sparring

Kumite	sparring
Ippon kumite	one step sparring (block and counter)
San dan gi	Basic three step sparring
Randori kumite	Slow and soft free style sparring with emphasis on technique
Yakusoku kumite	Prearranged sparring
Iri kumite	Hard, fast but controlled continuous free style sparring
Go kumite	Full contact sparring

Training Equipment

Chi ishi	Lever weighted stone
Ishi sashi	Stone padlocks
Kongo ken	Iron ring
Makiwara	Striking board
Nigiri game	Gripping jars
Tan	Barbells

Karate uniform (Gi)

Obi	Belt
Uwagi	Top half of Gi
Zubon	Bottom half of Gi

Kyu Grade Belt Colours

10th Kyu	White Belt
9th Kyu	Yellow Belt
8th Kyu	Orange Belt
7th Kyu	Green Belt
6th Kyu	Blue Belt
5th Kyu	Purple Belt
4th Kyu	Purple with White Stripe Belt
3rd Kyu	Brown Belt
2nd Kyu	Brown with black tag (or one white stripe) Belt
1st Kyu	Brown with two tags (or two white stripes) Belt

Grades

Shodan	1st Dan
Nidan	2nd Dan
Sandan	3rd Dan
Yondan	4th Dan
Godan	5th Dan
Rokudan	6th Dan
Nanadan	7th Dan
Hachidan	8th Dan

Parts of the Body (Tai)

Ashinoyubi	Toes (Tsumasaki)
Danchin	Sternum
Ganchu	Below the nipples
Gansei	Eyeballs
Hiza	Knee
Jinchu	Region below the nose
Kinteki	Testicles
Kindama	Groin
Kote	Wrist
Miken	Bridge of nose
Mimi	Ears
Mikazuki	Jaw
Nodo	Throat
Onaka	Stomach
Seiken	Fist
Shuko	Back of hand
Suige tsu	Solar-plexus
Ude	Forearm
Yubi	Fingers

General Terms

Ashi barai	Foot sweep
Budo	Martial Way; Martial arts
Bunkai	Study of kata applications and techniques
Chudan	Middle level
Dan	Level
Do	Way; Path
Dojo	Training place
Dojo kun	Dojo rules
Gasshuku	Special karate training camp
Gedan	Lower level
Geri	Kick
Gi	Dojo uniform (Do-gi)
Go	Hard, unyielding
Go kumite	Hard sparring
Goju-Ryu Karate Do	Hard/Soft style, empty handed way
Hai	Yes
Hajime	Begin
Hara	Stomach
Heishugata	‘Closed Fist’ kata (Sanchin and Tensho)
Hidari	Left
Hiji	Elbow
Hiza	Knee
Hojo undo	Supplementary exercises
Honbu dojo	Head dojo of an organisation
Ippon kumite	One step (prearranged) sparring
Jodan	Upper level
Ju	Soft, flexible
Junbi undo	Warm up exercises
Kaishugata	‘Open fist’ kata (Gekisai, Saifa, etc.)
Kakie	Push hands
Kamae	Combative posture
Kamae te	Assume stance
Kanji	Chinese characters
Karate	Empty hand
Karate-do	The way of Karate
Kata	Forms
Keage	Snap action
Ken	Fist
Kenkon	The symbol of the IOGKF – Literally ‘Heaven and Earth’
Ki o tsuke	Attention (phonetically ‘kee-ut-ski’)
Kiai	Focusing shout
Kihon	Basic techniques
Kokomi	Thrust action
Koshi	Ball of the foot (or Josokutei)
Kumite	Sparring
Mae	Front
Mawatte	Turn around
Migi	Right
Mokuso	Silent contemplation, meditation
Muchimi	Heavy, sticky action
Obi	Training uniform belt
Oyo bunkai	Study of techniques in kata (similar to Bunkai but including follow-up techniques not shown in kata)
Otagai	Training partner
Randori	Free sparring, relaxed sparring (sometimes called jiyu kumite)
Rei	Bow
Sandan gi	Three level sparring
Seiken	Fore fist
Seiza	Formal sitting position (kneeling on your haunches, feet crossed)
Semete	Attacking partner
Shime	Sanchin testing
Shomen	The front
Shugo	Line up
Soto	Outwards
Suri ashi	Sliding step
Tai	Body
Tai sabaki	Moving the body to avoid contact
Tanden	The body´s power centre
Te	Hand
Tsuki	Punch
Uchi	Strike
Ude	Forearm
Ude tanren	Forearm conditioning
Uke	Block
Uke harai	Blocking exercises
Uraken	Back fist
Ushiro	Back, rear
Waza	Techniques
Yakusoku kumite	Pre-arranged sparring
Yame	Stop
Yoi	Ready
Yoko	Side
Zanshin	Awareness