Martial Journal

Martial Word Wednesday “Maai; 間合い” Origin: Japanese There are many Japanese words in martial arts that we try to translate into English, and don’t do justice to the term. Maai is one of those words.  It’s often translated as “distance.” In Aikido, it’s described as “finger-tip distance.” As illustrated in [Read More]

師父 (Shīfù) Origin: Chinese (Mandarin) Pause, breath, and show gratitude. You are a product of both nature and nurture, many people and many experiences have helped shape you into, well, you! Of all the things in your environment, the people often around you and the places you frequent typically wield [Read More]

Origin: Japanese Besides the words “Black Belt”, there are few words that conjure up the idea of martial arts in English speaker’s minds more than “Sensei.” So much so, that it’s essentially worked its way into the English lexicon. The same way someone would understand what a “Jedi” or a [Read More]

 步 (“Bù”) Origin: Chinese (Mandarin) Today we are changing pace and looking to China for our word of the week. In various forms of Kung Fu, it isn’t uncommon to see this character used when discussing stances such as Horse Stance or Cat Stance. If you study a traditional Chinese [Read More]

Origin: Japanese The definition of a menkyo is a license. In koryu (see previous Martial Word Wednesday), these are certificates that the soke (inheritor of the system) gave to those allowed to teach the art. In some ways, this is the equivalent of a shodan or black belt today. These [Read More]

Koryu is a Japanese word which literally translates as “old school.” Not in the modern, hip vernacular, but instead as a school that is old. It can also be translated to be “old style.” Koryu specifically refers to Japanese traditional art that developed before the Meiji restoration of 1868. In [Read More]

Ura; 裏 Ura has the general meaning of “behind” or “the other side.” However, there are several different levels of meaning and connotation occurring simultaneously in this word. Ura, in its usage in aikido and other Japanese martial arts, references a techniques that occurs after the attacker generated power or [Read More]

Omote; 表 Omote has a general meaning of “outer” or “surface.” But like many things in Japanese culture and language, it has a couple layers of understanding occurring all at the same time. The term in aikido specifically, and Japanese martial arts in general, refers to a technique that occurs [Read More]