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Old 09-02-2004, 04:04 PM   #1
bennettdjr
Dojo: Aberdare Aikido Club
Location: Aberdare
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 29
Wales
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Help for a begginer

Hi
Ive been doing Aikido for just about a month now and am enjoying every minute of it. However I dont understand alot of the Japanese words that they use. Ive tried to learn them from other sites words like "migi" and "hindari" and am ok on the numbers but i dont understand what word like "uke" and "kyu" and things like that. Can somebody please tell me what some of the words mean. In my club at the beggining and end of trainning they say something what is this. At the end as well apart from bowing to O Sensei's picture (from Seiza) they also bow at the instructor and then it seems as if its just who ever is near them. Could some one please explain this.
Thanks
Dave
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Old 09-02-2004, 04:21 PM   #2
akiy
 
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Re: Help for a begginer

Try reading the articles here:

http://www.aikiweb.com/language/

and here:

http://www.aikidofaq.com

Hope that helps,

-- Jun

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Old 09-03-2004, 10:06 PM   #3
Lan Powers
Dojo: Aikido of Midland, Midland TX
Location: Midland Tx
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 660
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Re: Help for a begginer

A month, and nobody has explained ANY of the terms to you?!
Wow
Jun has the info in the links, so I won't boringly repeat them. shrug
(mutterings heard as I shake my head)
Lan

Play nice, practice hard, but remember, this is a MARTIAL art!
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Old 09-04-2004, 12:51 PM   #4
senseimike
 
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Dojo: Rising Star Aikido
Location: South Bend, Nebraska
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Re: Help for a begginer

As far as the bowing, bowing to your instructor thanks him or her for teaching you and also shows respect for the senior instructor. Bowing to everyone around you is sometimes done to thank your practice partners for letting you use their bodies to train and for not injuring you. In my dojo we eliminate a bunch of individual bowing to everyone by forming a circle and bowing to everyone at once and saying thank you (domo).

Mike Taylor
Godan
Chief Instructor, Rising Star Aikido
South Bend, Nebraska, USA
www.risingstaraikido.com
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Old 09-04-2004, 12:55 PM   #5
senseimike
 
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Re: Help for a begginer

This might help you understand what the folks are saying when they bow at the beginning of class.
http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6175
Most likely they are saying onegaishimasu. I think it's pretty well covered in this post.

I am suprised that no one has taken the time to explain some of the basic terms to you. You should ask a senior student(sempai) to explain what is going on in the dojo. Remember the dumbest question is the one that is never asked. If no one helps you out, there are many helpful folks on here, don't be afraid to ask.

Last edited by senseimike : 09-04-2004 at 01:01 PM.

Mike Taylor
Godan
Chief Instructor, Rising Star Aikido
South Bend, Nebraska, USA
www.risingstaraikido.com
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Old 09-05-2004, 08:43 PM   #6
Thomas Ambrose
 
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Re: Help for a begginer

Quote:
David Bennett wrote:
In my club at the beggining and end of trainning they say something what is this. At the end as well apart from bowing to O Sensei's picture (from Seiza) they also bow at the instructor and then it seems as if its just who ever is near them. Could some one please explain this.
Thanks
Dave
Dave,
I am pretty new to this too (three months) and here is what I have figured out thus far. Anybody, feel free to correct me if my pronounciations, spellings, or translations are incorrect!

At my dojo, at the beginning, we bow towards Sensei and say "Onegaishimasu." We also bow and say that when we find our partners. Various people at the dojo told me how to say it several times, but it took me a while to memorize it. (I still have to look it up to spell it!) I pronounce it something like "Oan-uh-gesh-mas." I think it means "Please train with me," but I am not certain.

At the end of practice, we bow to Sensei and say " Arigato-gozaimashita (I hope spelling doesn't count! ) ." We pronounce it "Ah-ree-got-oh-go-zie-mishe-tah." which I think means "Thank you for training with me." or something to that effect. I am not sure why, but at my dojo, they leave out the "Domo..." that is often at the beginning of of "Domo-arigato-gozaimashita" which is good, because being all tired, I might mess up and say "Domo-Arigato Mr. Roboto" I used to have an obsession with that Styx song.

I think I got a hold of doing the pronounciations by kind-of listening and quietly muttering along something that sounded sorta right while everyone else said the correct phrase, and eventually it sounded better and better. Just like practicing a technique !

As far as the bowing, others have mentioned this already, but they are probably bowing to whomever they were partners with that day and saying "Thank you!" At my dojo, we do that, but we do it in English! Something else that comes up at my dojo, is whenever Sensei steps in and gives me personal instruction like "Try to keep your hips pointed forward," I bow and say "Hai" which I think means "OK, Yes, etc." I may have it spelled wrong again.

As far as words like "uke" and "kyu" are concerned, I have no idea what they translate into in English (I could always look them up I suppose) but I do have a generally idea of what they tend to mean just by watching and participating.

These are just my current thoughts and interpretations as someone who is going through this at the same time you are. Keep at it!

Last edited by Thomas Ambrose : 09-05-2004 at 08:45 PM. Reason: fix quote
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Old 09-05-2004, 09:55 PM   #7
MaryKaye
Dojo: Seattle Ki Society
Location: Seattle
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Re: Help for a begginer

One thing that struck me when I was in Japan is that not only does it take a while to learn to understand any Japanese words, it takes a while to even start *hearing* them in a useful way--at first it's all a blur. Hang in there and it will get easier.

(My problem now is that when sushi chefs say "Onegashimaesu" I inevitably say it back--but they're not talking to me, they're talking to the waiter! I also find myself shifting my weight, in case I'm about to be attacked....)

Mary Kaye
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Old 09-05-2004, 10:41 PM   #8
david evans
Dojo: Newcastle Iwama Aikido
Location: Newcastle
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Australia
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Re: Help for a begginer

G'day Dave,

Enquire about a training syllabus, as these usually contain a glossary of terms. Also there is some variation in terms, so the syllabus will employ the language relevant to your particular style.

Good luck.
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Old 09-06-2004, 09:37 AM   #9
akiy
 
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Re: Help for a begginer

Quote:
Thomas Ambrose wrote:
I think I got a hold of doing the pronounciations by kind-of listening and quietly muttering along something that sounded sorta right while everyone else said the correct phrase, and eventually it sounded better and better. Just like practicing a technique !
There are audio clips of pronunciation of Japanese aikido terms here:

http://www.aikiweb.com/language/audio.html

-- Jun

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Old 09-06-2004, 01:01 PM   #10
Disciples
Join Date: Jul 2004
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Re: Help for a begginer

Im not sure what kyu is, but I know uke is the attacker...I think. Yeah, when Sensei says, don't apply force on the uke, blend with them, I think he means dont push on the attacker. Thats how I inturpreted it anyways.
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Old 09-06-2004, 04:05 PM   #11
bennettdjr
Dojo: Aberdare Aikido Club
Location: Aberdare
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: Help for a begginer

Thanks everyone. I am very slowly learning some of the words i need, a few people i go to school with also do or have studied Aikido so we are always talking about the different words. Thank You very much to Jun Akiyama that link is invaluable.How many words should be learnt. There seem to be alot of phrases.

Though there are many paths
At the foot of the mountain
All those who reach the top
See the same moon.
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Old 09-06-2004, 09:53 PM   #12
MaryKaye
Dojo: Seattle Ki Society
Location: Seattle
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Re: Help for a begginer

My tactic is, if I hear an unfamiliar word once or twice, I don't sweat it. If I hear it three times, I ask about it and it goes into my notebook so I can learn it.

The exception is names for throws--if I know a throw well enough to do it consistently, I make sure I know its name. For the first half a year I was treating the throw names as if they were an interesting cultural detail which I might learn someday or other. Then I hit my first test, which immediately convinced me this was the wrong attitude! One of my teachers took pity on me and shuffled my application to the bottom of the stack, and I got through the test by virtue of "Do what Randy just did" but I can't recommend it. For fourth kyu I knew the names backwards and forwards, and it left me a lot more brainpower to think about aikido.

Japanese gets a lot easier once you've been listening to it for a while. Don't worry if it's slow at first.

Mary Kaye
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Old 11-01-2004, 08:09 AM   #13
Chad Scott
Dojo: Hombu Aikikai
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 41
Japan
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Re: Help for a begginer

'Kyu' is the degree ranking system for white belts (at least at the dojo where I train). 5th kyu is the lowest rank at my dojo, and 1st kyu is the highest -- just below black belt.
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