- 1 – Ichi (eech)
- 2 – Ni (nee)
- 3 – San (san)
- 4 – Shi (she)
- 5 – Go (goh)
- 6 – Roku (rockoo)
- 7 – Shichi (seech)
- 8 – Hachi (hach)
- 9 – Ku (koo)
- 10 – Ju (joo)
- 11 – Ju Ichi
- 12 – Ju Ni
- 13 – Ju San
- 14 – Ju Shi
- 15 – Ju Go
- 16 – Ju Roku
- 17 – Ju Shichi
- 18 – Ju Hachi
- 19 – Ju ku
- 20 – Ni Ju
Term – meaning
- Dojo – place of training
- Kihon – basic techniques
- Kata – Forms
- Kumite – sparring
- Rei – bow
- Muwatte – Turn around
- Sempai – Mentor / instructor
- Sensei – Learned person who has walked the path before you
- Sensei ni rei – bow to the sensei
- Shomen ni rei – bow to the front
- Otagai ni rei – bow to the dojo and all those assembled
- Kiai – to shout (improve focus/effectiveness of punch/kick)
- Gi – karate uniform
- Yoi – ready
- Hajime – begin/start
- Matte – wait
- Yame – stop
- Seiza – kneeling
- Mokuso – close eyes/meditate
- Naotte – command to rest/relax
- Domo arigato gozaimasu – thank you very much
- Onegai Shimasu – please teach me
Term – meaning
- Gedan – lower body level (below belt)
- Chudan – middle body level
- Jodan – head level
- Dan – rank (black belt)
- Shodan-ho – probationary 1st dan
- Shodan – 1st dan
- Nidan – 2nd dan
- Sandan – 3rd dan
- Ippon kumite – one step sparring
- Sanbon kumite – three step sparring
- Gohon kumite – five step sparring
- Jiyu kumite – free sparring
- Randori kumite – slow, free sparring- emphasis on technique
- Kyu – lower ranks (white to brown belt)
- Shomen ni Rei – bow to the front
- Sensei ni Rei – bow to the Sensei
- Otagai ni Rei – bow to each other
- Shomen ni Taishi – face the front
- Sensei ni Taishi – face the Sensei
- Otagai ni Taishi – face each other
Stances commonly used in Funakoshi Ryu
Tachikata – stances (lit. Standing Methods)
- Kamae – Basic fighting stance. It contains accurate head, body, arms, hands, leg and foot positioning. It is both aggressive and defensive in its posture. Funakushi Ryu has it’s own specialist kamae.
- Zenkutsu-dachi – (deep stance) -One of the most common stances in kata. This is a long frontal stance where the weight is mostly on the front leg. The rear leg is completely straight at the knee and extended back. The front foot is placed frontal (toes facing forward), the rear foot is never 90 degrees as seems natural to new practitioners because this precludes any forward motion. The heel of the rear foot rests on the ground.
- Kiba-dachi – (horse riding stance) – Feet are parallel and wide, weight is central and low, with the back straight and the knees and feet pointing slightly inwards.
- Kokutsu-dachi (back stance) – The rear leg is bent strongly at the knee and the front leg is slightly bent. The rear foot is turned 90 degrees to the side. The body is turned 90 degrees or more away, except for the head which looks to the front. Kokutsu-dachi is a great defensive stance because of the amount of energy stored in the rear leg, ready for a counter-attack.
- Nekoashi-dachi (cat foot stance) – All weight rests on the back leg, which is bent at the knee. The rear foot is turned at about 30 degrees out and the knee sits at the same angle. Only the toes of the front foot rest on the ground, positioned in front of the back heel at about the same distance as the front foot. There is no weight on the front foot, and there is no bend in the ankle joint – front knee, front shin, and the rise of the foot (but not the toes) form a single line.
- Musubi-dachi (Joining stance) – Heels together, toes open at about 45 degrees. This stance is used to perform the formal respectful bow, rei.
- Heisoku-dachi (feet together stance) – Feet together. This is usually a transitional stance, although it is used as the ready stance in some kata.
Attacking Methods (Semekata)
Fist techniques (Seikan-waza)
Punch (lit. Thrust) – Tsuki (-zuki when at end of word)
- Choku-zuki – straight punch
- Oi-zuki – lunge/chasing punch
- Kizami-zuki – jab punch with leading hand
- Gyaku-zuki – reverse punch
- Nihon-zuki – double punch
- Sanbon-zuki – triple punch
Striking Techniques (Uchi-waza)
- Uraken-uchi – back fist strike
- Empi-uchi – elbow strike
- Shuto-uchi – knife hand strike
- Haito-uchi – reverse knife hand strike
- Teisho-uchi – palm heel strike
- Tetsui-uchi – hammer fist strike
Smashing techniques (Ate-waza)
- Hiji-ate – elbow smash
- Sasae-hiji-ate – supported elbow smash
- Tate-hiji-ate – upward elbow smash
- Ushiro-hiji-ate – backward elbow smash
- Yoko-hiji-ate – side elbow smash
- Hiza-ate – knee smash
Kicking methods (Kerikata)
Basic kicks
Kick – Keri (-geri when at end of word)
-Keage – snap kick
-Kekomi – thrust kick
- Ushiro-geri – back kick
- Ashi-barai – foot sweep
- Hiza-geri – knee kick
- Mawashi-geri – roundhouse kick
- Mae-geri – front kick
- Mae-geri-kegae – front snap kick
- Mae-geri-kekomi – front thrust kick
- Tobi – jumping
- Mae-tobi-geri – jumping front kick
- Yoko-geri – side kick
- Yoko-geri-keage – side snap kick
- Yoko-geri-kekomi – side thrust kick
Blocking Methods (Ukekata – lit. to receive)
- Age-uke – rising block
- Ude-uke – forearm block
- Uchi-uke – inside (moving out) forearm block
- Soto-uke – outside (moving in) forearm block
- Shuto-uke – knife hand block
- Tetsui-uke – hammer block
- Gedan-barai – downward sweeping block
These terms are by no means exhaustive, and are presented as a guide for terms used in class.