what's in a name

As far as i know standardized naming conventions for techniques in Karate are a modern thing.

You can see it in the modern kata like Gekisai, Taikyoko etc. where they techniques are parsed in these clear pieces, but in the older kata they don't seem to be that way.

Finlay wrote:

Was there ever a time in Karate’s history that the names of the movements were not what we know that as today, and didn't support the block, kick, punch method

Hi Finley,

According to Kenwa Mabuni in “Seipai no Kenkyu Goshin Jutsu Hiden Karate Kenpo” the motions of the kata originally had no names. He also claims credit for coining many of blocking terms used today:

“From long ago, all karate styles and systems had names for their kata, however for uke-waza there were none which in fact is quite foolish. Therefore for the purpose of instruction and explanation of the various uke-waza to my students, and for convenience, I devised the following names:

Jodan uke Over-head block

Yoko uke (uchi / soto) Side block (inside / outside)

Yoko uchi (uchi / soto) Side strike (inside / outside)

Kuri uke (uchi / soto) Winding block (inside / outside)

Uchi otoshi (uchi / soto) Thrust-down (inside / outside)

Ura uke (uchi / soto) Reverse block (inside / outside)

Shuto uke (uchi / soto) Sword-hand block (inside / outside)

Harai uke(uchi / soto) Sweeping block (inside / outside)

Oura uke (uchi / soto) Large reverse block (inside / outside)

Wa uke (jodan, chudan, gedan) Circle block (over-head, middle, lower)

Kara uke Empty block

Tsuki uke Punch block

Tsuri te Pulling hand

Uke nagashi Flowing block

Sukui uke Scooping block

Hiji uke Elbow block

Ko uke Small circle block

Osae uke Pressing block

Sasae uke Supporting block

Hiji sasae uke Supporting elbow block

Kansetsu sasae uke Supporting joint block

Ryote uke Two-handed block

Furi sute uke (ashi no uke kata) Swinging block (blocking technique of the legs)

Sukui dome uke (ashi no uke kata)

Scooping stop block (blocking technique of the legs)

Harai uke (ashi no uke kata) Sweeping block (blocking technique of the legs)

Hiza kaeshi (ashi no uke kata) Returning knee block (blocking technique of the legs)

Sasumata (ashi no uke kata) Seizing block blocking technique of the legs)

Gyaku sutemi (nage kata) Reverse sacrifice (throwing method)

Gassho kaeshi (nage kata) Praying hands counter (throwing method)

Kosa uke (nage kata) Cross block (throwing method)

Ushiro nage Rear throw

Sukui nage Scooping throw

Ura nage Reverse throw”

A good translation of the book (done my Mario McKenna) can be acquired from this webpage: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-study-of-seipai-the-secrets-of-self-defense-karate-kenpo/15748210

You can also get it as download: http://www.lulu.com/product/file-download/the-study-of-seipai-the-secrets-of-self-defense-karate-kenpo/15748211

All the best,

Iain

Hi everyone,

as Iain or better Mabuni pointed out, there were not really names for the movements in Kata. The names had to be created when Karate was introduced into the okinawan school system. Before that Karate was tought individually. So there the master could tell the student to move one hand from here to there and the other hand from there to here.
You cannot do this with 30 or more people without wasting a lot of time. So names for the movements were created. Now you only had to show the movement, give it a name and now you can shout a name to the students and they (hopefully) know what movement is meant. So you can drill the students in a military way without talking you a numb tongue.

That was an advantage for the teacher.

The negative thing is, when you give a certain movement a name, than it becomes a technique with an obvious purpose. You put a stamp on the movement and one can be tricked into the assumption that there are no other applications for that move. So there is the danger to get one dimensional for the movements possible applications.

Next thing is, that this is further fuelled by the bad translation of that names. Uke doesn't mean block, Tsuki doesn't mean punch and so on.

Regards Holger

Wow thanks Iain for a very detailed response

so when looking at the application of movements do you find the names a help or a hindrance

as Holger was saying, (i think) if something i labeled as a scooping block it does produce some questions, what are you scooping? how are you scooping? why are you scooping? which may help you look further in to a application

but you can get stuck in that application if it has that label,

I think this single line from the quoted text perhaps sums up the entire issue.

"Tsuki uke = Punch block"

I once heard a quote attributed to Martin Buber that stated, "Words are prisons."  I think that this is somewhat true.  However, they can also be powerful tools.  I think the problem only arises if our minds do not have the flexibility necessary to escape from words' bonds.

Eric

Finlay wrote:

so when looking at the application of movements do you find the names a help or a hindrance

I would say a hindrance as these relatively modern terms has been taken as definitive descriptions and hence people are unwilling to look beyond the label to the actual motion.

esparsons wrote:

I once heard a quote attributed to Martin Buber that stated, "Words are prisons."  I think that this is somewhat true.  However, they can also be powerful tools.  I think the problem only arises if our minds do not have the flexibility necessary to escape from words' bonds.

I’d agree with that :-)

All the best,

Iain