-
Karatedo wa rei ni hajimari, rei ni owaru koto wo wasuru na
karatedo - karate way
rei - courtesy, salutation, salute, bow, gratitude, return present
hajimari - beginning, start (noun)
owaru - to end (verb)
koto - thing
wasuru na - do not forget (another form of wasureru)
"Do not forget that the karate way begins with a bow and ends with a bow."
Don't forget that Karate begins with a bow and ends with a bow.
-
Karate ni sente nashi
karate - empty hand
sente - first move, initiative
nashi - to not to exist, to not to be there
"In karate the initiative does not exist."
In Karate, never attack first.
-
Karate wa gi no tasuke
karate - empty hand
gi - justice, righteousness, loyalty, meaning, significance
tasuke - rescue, help
"Karate is a helper of justice."
One who practices Karate must follow the way of justice.
-
Mazu jiko wo shire, shikashite to wo shire
mazu - first of all
jiko - one's self
shire - to know (command)
shikashite - and, also, then
ta - others
"First of all, know yourself, then know others."
First you must know yourself. Then you can know others.
-
Gijutsu yori shinjutsu
gijutsu - technique, technology, skill, art
yori - more than
shinjutsu - spirituality
"Spirituality more than technique."
Spiritual development is paramount; technical skills are merely means to the end.
-
Kokoro wa hanata n koto wo yosu
kokoro - heart, mind, core
hanata n - separate, set free, release, emit, let go
koto - thing, stuff
yosu - require, need (verb, another form of yo-suru)
"The heart/mind requires that you let go."
You must release your mind.
-
Wazawai wa ketai ni shozu
wazawai - calamity, misfortune
ketai/kaitai - lazy, negligent
shozu - produce, bring about, come about (verb, another form of shozuru)
"Misfortune is brought about by negligence."
Misfortune comes out of laziness.
-
Dojo nomi no karate to omou na
dojo - a place for the art, way place, training hall
nomi - only
karate - empty hand
omou na - do not think (command)
"Do not think karate is only for dojo."
Karate is not only dojo training.
-
Karate no jugyo wa issho de aru
karate - empty hand
jugyo - training, instruction
issho - life, lifetime
de aru - literar, very polite form of desu (to be)
"Karate training is a lifetime."
Karate is a lifelong training.
-
Arayuru mono wo karate kaseyo, soko ni myomi ari
arayuru - all, every
mono - thing(s), stuff
karate - empty hand
kaseyo - make into, transform (verb, command)
soko - there, not too far away
myomi - charm, exquisite beauty
"Change everything into karate, that is where the exquisite beauty is."
Put Karate into everything you do.
-
Karate wa yu no gotoshi taezu netsudo wo ataezareba moto no mizu ni kaeru
karate - empty hand
yu - hot water
gotoshi - like, as if
taezu - always, continually, continously, incessantly
netsudo - degree of heat, enthusiasm
ataezareba - unless given, unless you give
moto - origin, previous state
mizu - water
kaeru - return
"Karate like hot water, will return to original cool water if you dont continually give it a degree of
enthusiasm."
Karate is like hot water. If you do not give heat constantly it will again become cold.
-
Katsu kange wa motsu na makenu kangae wa hitsuyo
katsu - to win
kangae - a thought
motsu na - do not have (command)
makenu - to not lose (another form of makenai)
hitsuyo - required
"Do not have thoughts of winning, thoughts of not losing are necessary."
Do not think you have to win. Think that you do not have to lose.
-
Teki ni yotte tenka seyo
teki - enemy, rival, competitor, opponent
ni yotte - depending on
tenka seyo - change (command)
"Change depending upon your opponent."
Move according to your opponent.
-
Tatakai wa kyojutsu no soju ikan ni ari
tatakai - fighting, war
kyojutsu - truth or falsehood, clever fighting, trying every strategy
soju - control, pilot
ikan - what, how
"Fighting is in how well you control trying every strategy."
Victory depends on your ability to tell vulnerable points from invulnerable ones.
-
Hito no teashi wo ken to omou
hito - people
teashi - arms and legs
ken - sword
to omoe - think
"Think of people's arms and legs as swords."
Consider your opponent's hands and legs as you would sharp swords.
-
Danshi mon wo shuzureba hyakuman no teki aru
danshi - man, male
mon - door, gate
shuzureba - (conditional) if [someone] goes out (unusual form of derareba using the ON reading of the
kanji - shutsu
hyakuman - 100 man ( 1 man is 10,000. 100 man is 1,000,000)
teki - opponent, enemy
"If men go out a door, there are one million enemies [out there]."
When you leave home, think that millions of opponents are waiting for you.
-
Kamae wa shoshinsha ni ato wa shizentai
kamae - posture, stance, structure, appearance
shoshinsha - inexperienced person/people, novice(s)
ato - later
shizentai - natural body
"Stance is for novices, later [use a] natural body."
Ready position for beginners and natural position for advanced students.
-
Kata wa tadashiku jissen wa betsu mono
kata - shape, form, karate exercise routine
tadashiku - correctly
jissen - real fighting, real combat, real war
betsu mono - separate thing, something else
"Correctly [doing] kata [is one thing], real combat is something else."
Kata is one thing. Engaging in a real fight is another.
-
Chikara no kyojaku, tai no shinshuku, waza no kankyu wo wasaruna
chikara - power
kyojaku - strength + weakness, relative strength
tai - body
shinshuku - expansion and contraction, elastic, flexible
waza - technique
kankyu - relative speed, slow + fast
wasaru na - do not forget (form of wasureru na)
"Do not forget about relative strength of power, flexibility of the body, and the relative speed
of techniques."
Do not forget (1)strength and weakness of power, (2)expansion and contraction of the body,
(3)slowness and speed of techniques.
-
Tsune ni shinen kufu seyo
tsune ni - all of the time
shinen - thought
kufu - device, contrivance, invention, means
seyo - do it (command)
"At all times devise."
Devise at all times.
This is what the niju kun looks like written in Japanese. This is read from top to bottom, from right to
left. The first three characters on the right say Nijukun = "Twenty Teachings/Precepts". The top of each
line has a _ followed by a , This the the number one being counted at the top of each line. It
says, "Hitotsu." It indicates a "point" or "thing" (its sort of a bullet point).
The Nijukun are the 20 rules for studying Shotokan Karate left behind by Funakoshi Gichin, the founder of the
art, for his students to follow. The source of this writing is probably a wall hanging of calligraphy that he
created during his more lively years.
|