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Dojo Kun

Seek perfection of character:
one, to work toward completion/perfection of character.
Be faithful:
one, to protect the path of truth.
Endeavor:
one, to nurture a spirit of hard work.
Respect others:
one, to give weight to courtesy and respect.

one, to reign in impetuousness.

Introduction

There are three components to Shotokan karate training: kihon, kata, and kumite. Each plays a crucial role to the development of karate skills.

Kihon

Kihon is the practice of fundamental techniques: blocking, punching, striking, and kicking. These techniques are the beginning and end of karate -- a karateka (practitioner of karate) may learn them in a matter of months, yet fail to master them after a life's worth of training. Hence, basic techniques demand regular practice, applied with as much concentration and effort as possible.

PRACTICE KIHON WITH THE FOLLOWING IN MIND.

Form. Balance and stability are necessary to basic techniques. Kicking -- in which one leg supports the entire body -- is an example of technique that depends on the karateka's sense of balance. Karate movements involve shifting the body's center of gravity, which demands good balance and control of the body. In addition, the karateka requires stable joints, stances, and posture to deliver (or withstand) maximum impact in (or from) a blow.

Power and speed. Karate would be meaningless without kime, the ability to concentrate the greatest amount of force at the point of attack (or block). Those with great muscular strength do not excel at karate, if they never learn to use their muscles to the greatest effect. The karateka who excels, does so by maximizing her muscular power through kime. In addition, the karateka's power is directly related to the speed of her techniques. However, speed is ineffective without proper control.

Concentration and relaxation of power. The karateka cannot generate maximum power if her punches rely on the arm's muscles alone, or her kicks on the leg's muscles alone. The greatest level of power comes from concentrating all of the karateka's strength, from every part of the body, on the target. In addition, the karateka must generate power efficiently, using power when and where it is needed. Maximum power is required only at the point of impact. Until then, the karateka should stay relaxed and avoid generating unnecessary power. By tensing the wrong parts of the body or tensing at the wrong time, the karateka only diminishes the amount of power that goes into her block or attack. While she is relaxed, the karateka should stay mentally alert.

Strengthening muscle power. The karateka must not only understand the principles of kihon, she must give them effect with strong, elastic muscles. Strong muscles demand constant, earnest training. They also require the karateka to know which muscles to use in her techniques: well-trained muscles will lead to strong and effective karate.

Rhythm and timing. Karate has its own rhythm that karateka should come to recognize and understand. No technique takes place in isolation; in combining basic techniques, the karateka should pay attention to the timing of her techniques as well as the techniques themselves. A master karateka's movements not only contain a great deal of power but also rhythm and, in their own way, beauty. A sense of rhythm and timing will help the karateka understand the techniques and the art in general.

Hips. The hips are a crucial, yet oft-neglected component in executing karate techniques. Hip rotation adds power to the upper body, and is thus essential to strong blocks and punches. The hips' proximity to the body's center of gravity make them the foundation of strong, stable movements, good balance, and proper form. The karateka cannot move as smoothly, quickly, or powerfully if the hips are passive. For this reason, teachers often remind their students to "block with your hips," "punch with your hips," and "kick from your hips."

Breathing. The karateka should coordinate breathing with her techniques. Breathing enhances the karateka's ability to relax and concentrate maximum power in her techniques. Correct breathing -- fully exhaling when finishing a strike, for example -- is necessary to developing kime. The karateka should not breathe in a uniform manner; her breathing should change with the situation. Proper inhaling fills the lungs completely. Proper exhaling leaves the lungs about 20 percent full -- exhaling completely makes the body limp, leaving the karateka vulnerable to even a weak attack.

Kata

The kata are formal exercises which combine basic karate techniques -- blocking, punching, striking, and kicking -- into a series of predetermined movements. Kata combines offensive and defensive techniques, proper body movement, and changes in direction. The kata teach the karateka to dispose of numerous attackers from at least four directions. Although the kata do not involve visible opponents, the karateka, through serious study of the kata, learns the art of self-defense and the ability to calmly and efficiently deal with dangerous situations. For these reasons, the kata have been the core of karate training since ancient times.

1. For each kata, there are a fixed number of movements. (The basic Heian kata have 20 to 27 movements; advanced kata can have over 60.) One must perform the movements in the correct order.

2. One must begin and end the kata at the same point on the floor. Each kata has its own "shape" -- depending on the kata, the karateka may move along a straight line or a "T"- or "I"-shaped formation.

3. There are kata that all karateka must learn, and kata that are optional. The former consist of the five Heian kata and three Tekki kata. (Today, Tekki 2 and Tekki 3 are usually optional.) The optional kata are Bassai-dai (although most brown belts practice this for their black belt exam) and Bassai-sho , Kanku-dai and Kanku-sho, Empi, Hangetsu, Jitte, Gankaku, Jion. Other kata include Meikyo, Chinte, Nijushiho, Gojushiho-dai and Gojushiho-sho, Hyakuhachiho, Sanchin, Tensho, Unsu, Sochin, Seienchin, Ji'in, and Wankan.

4. There are three aspects to performing a dynamic kata: (1) correct use of power; (2) correct speed of movement, be it fast or slow; (3) expansion and contraction of the body. The kata's beauty, power, and rhythm depend on these aspects.

5. One bows at the beginning and end of the kata. Bowing is part of the kata, too.

Kumite

Kata and kumite are complementary training methods. In kata, one learns basic techniques; in kumite, one applies them with a sparring partner. The principles of kihon (see above) still apply to kumite: the karateka must apply proper karate techniques, demonstrate correct power and speed, and, above all, exercise good control -- contact is prohibited. One must remember that, while kumite is a useful application of the fundamentals learned through kata, it is not a substitute for kata.

There are three types of kumite: basic kumite, ippon (one-step) kumite, and jiyu (free) kumite.

Basic kumite, consisting of five- or three-step sparring, permits the karateka to cultivate basic blocking and attacking through prearranged techniques. It is a useful introduction to sparring for beginning students.

Ippon kumite also involves basic, prearranged techniques, but adds emphasis on body movements and proper distancing from the opponent.

In jiyu kumite, techniques are not prearranged. The karateka may freely engage her physical and mental powers, but must strictly control her attacks -- contact is prohibited. The karateka must be well-trained and disciplined enough to make a powerful blow that stops just before it reaches its target. For these reasons, only advanced students may practice jiyu kumite.

(Note: Most karateka learn jiyu ippon kumite -- a combination of one-step and free sparring -- as brown belts. In this semi-free form of sparring, both sides must use basic, prearranged techniques, but may act according to their own rhythm and timing. Jiyu ippon kumite often serves as a bridge between ippon and jiyu kumite.)

Dojo Etiquette

Standing bow

Stand with your heels together, feet pointing slightly outward (like a "V"). Keep your knees straight, elbows straight and relaxed, hands open and at the seams of your pants (the outside of your legs), and fingers together. Bend at the waist, about 20 degrees forward. Unbend. The whole bow takes about a breath's length.

Kneeling (seiza)

Place your left knee on the floor, then right knee. Sit down on your feet. The big toes of your left and right feet should overlap (either one on top). Keep your back straight and shoulders relaxed. Rest your left hand (hand open, fingers together) on your left thigh and your right hand on your right thigh, so that your fingers point inward. For anatomical reasons, men should have about a fist or two's width between their knees, and women should have their knees together.

Bowing in seiza

Slide your left hand from the thigh to the floor immediately in front of the left knee (not too far in front, i.e., your left elbow shouldn't touch the floor). Do the same with your right hand, so that the right hand motion is slightly behind (in time) the left hand motion. Your palms should touch the floor to show deep respect. Bow at the waist, taking a little longer than for a standing bow (forehead comes close to the floor, but does not touch it). Slide your hands back up to their initial position on the thighs, this time with your left hand slightly behind the right hand.

Entering and exiting the dojo

Bow, standing at the entrance, facing the dojo or towards the front of the dojo, whenever you are entering or exiting the dojo.

Lateness: First of all, try not to be late. But if you are late, bow in, then quietly kneel near the entrance. Wait until the instructor acknowledges you. Then bow while kneeling, get up, and quickly join the group. If you arrive just as everyone is kneeling during the opening sequence (see below), don't move or make any noise -- just wait until class begins warming up, and bow in as when the instructor acknowledges you, in the manner described above.

Opening sequence

When you hear "Line up!" or "One line!" (or however many lines is necessary for everyone to line up), stand shoulder to shoulder facing the front of the dojo, in rank order. Try to line up so that the instructor, standing before your line, is right in the middle of the line. If class is so big that the senior student says to form more than one line, try to line up so that the lines are approximately the same length.

"Seiza!": Sit down in seiza, so that knees are aligned with the person on your left. "Mokusoh!": Quiet meditation -- just lower your gaze, relax, and breathe. "Mokusoh yame!": End meditation. "Shomen ni rei!": Bow to the front of the room (which shows respect for your training space, to the institution of karate, and to the line of instructors who brought it to your instructor). "Sensei ni rei!": Bow to the instructor. When you're bowing, you can say "onegaishimas," which, roughly translated, means "Please," i.e., please teach me, please help me, please hold class, etc. (You may also say "oss," the ubiquitous sign of respect in karate.) At the signal of the instructor, get up quickly, without necessarily waiting for the person on your left to rise.

Closing sequence

Same as the opening sequence, except that after the meditation ends ("mokusoh yame!"), the class recites
the dojo kun. (Click here to see the dojo kun.) Repeat what the senior student says, loudly -- but not so
loudly that your voice stands out -- and in unison. During the bow to the instructor ("sensei ni rei!"), you
may say "arigatoh gozaimashita," which means "Thank you." "Thank you" in English is fine, too. At the end,
the instructor will get up. Wait until the person on your left bows and gets up before you do the same.

Clean-up

Before class starts, there is usually some sort of dojo-cleaning process. During this time, actively participate to the extent you can. Don't sit back and stretch when others are still cleaning.

Kiai

Don't say any words when you kiai. "Kiai" itself, being a Japanese word should NOT be a kiai. Common kiai include "Ya!" and "Ei!"

Don't be afraid to kiai! In general, people tend to kiai too softly rather than too loudly. If you have a strong kiai, it will often spur others to work harder, as well. The overall tone of a class is set by the level of spirit of the class, which can be raised with better kiai. On the other hand, if your spirit is poor or your kiai weak, you might bring down the class spirit.

General etiquette during training

• The moment class starts, your mind should be on karate and on trying to improve your own technique. Concentrate, give spirited kiai, don't talk unnecessarily, and practice hard! (This is under "etiquette" because doing otherwise would be disrespectful to the instructor, as well as to yourself.)
• Don't wear jewelry, watches, etc. Don't chew gum.
• Whenever you're told to move from one part of the room to another, do it quickly (i.e., run or trot, at least). Also, don't pass in front of anyone -- go behind and around.
• Whenever you're asked to stand back or sit back and watch, do so in a normal standing or kneeling position, silently, without leaning on walls or distracting others.
• If you're ever in a kneeling position and you're uncomfortable, it's generally okay to bow and then switch to sitting cross-legged.
• Whenever you stand from a sitting position, switch to kneeling, bow, then stand.
• If you ever need to leave a class early, let the instructor know beforehand.
• Every time you get a new partner for any exercise, bow. Every time you're about to switch partners, bow to your old partner before moving on to the next.
• Don't make overt displays of how tired you are, no matter how tired you are.
• If you're ever asked to count, count in whatever language you feel comfortable with, but make the counts short, sharp, and spirited.
• Do not hesitate to ask senior students and instructors for help before or after class. Time permitting, you should try to learn kata outside of class so that during class, the instructor can spend more time making comments about your technique rather than what move comes next.
• Follow the normal rules of etiquette that apply.
• Finally, these aren't strict rules followed by every dojo. Some don't follow them exactly, in which case, you should start off erring on the side of being overly courteous but avoid doing anything to stand out, since that in itself can be interpreted as rudeness.

Pronunciation

All vowels are short and pronounced as follows:

"a" as in "father"
"i" as in "teen" except shorter
"u" as in "boot" except shorter
"e" as in "bet"
"o" as in "boat" except shorter and without the off-glide

"aa," a longer "a"
"ii," a longer "i"
"uu," a longer "u"
"ei," a longer "e"
"oh," a longer "o"

Numbers

1 ichi
2 ni
3 san
4 shi
5 go
6 roku
7 shichi
8 hachi
9 ku (kyuu)
10 juu

When counting for class, just pronounce the first syllable of bisyllabic numbers (i.e., ich, rok, shich, hach), for shorter, sharper counting.

Stances

hachinoji-dachi -- ready stance
zenkutsu-dachi -- front stance
koh-kutsu-dachi -- back stance
kiba-dachi -- horse stance / saddle stance
neko-dachi -- cat stance
sochin-dachi / fudoh-dachi -- sochin stance / "immovable" stance
sanchin-dachi -- "hourglass" stance
hangetsu-dachi -- "half moon" stance

Arm Attacks

tsuki -- punch
oi-zuki -- lunge punch
gyaku-zuki -- reverse punch
kizami-zuki -- jab punch
nukite -- spear-hand (thrust)
ura-ken -- back hand (strike)
empi -- elbow (strike)

Leg Attacks

keri -- kick
mae-geri -- front (snap) kick
mawashi-geri -- round house kick
(yoko-geri) kekomi -- side thrust kick
(yoko-geri) keage -- side snap kick
ushiro-geri -- back (thrust) kick

Levels of Attack

joh-dan -- "upper level" / face
chuudan -- "middle level" / stomach / solar plexus
gedan -- "lower level" / groin

Blocks

age-uke -- rising block
ude-uke -- "arm block", often used to mean outside block
soto-uke -- outside block (see above)
uchi-uke -- inside block
gedan barai -- down block / "lower level sweep"
shuto-uke -- knife-hand block
nagashi-uke -- "flushing block" / deflecting block
kakiwake-uke -- two-handed "separating" block
juuji-uke -- two-handed "cross" block

Kata

Translations are approximate transliterations of the Chinese characters used to "spell" the kata names.

Kata with "lesser" or "greater" attached ("sho" or "dai") don't really mean "lesser" or "greater" in any sense. It's just a way of distinguishing two different kata.

Kumite

Other Terms

ORIGANS OF KARATE

Karate is an ancient martial art whose origins date back over one thousand years. Karate can trace its roots to the Chinese Shao Lin fighting art. The Shao Lin style arose from the training methods introduced by Dharma at the Shao Lin monastery. Designed to build strength and endurance, these methods helped the Shao Lin monks carry out their religion’s strict discipline. The Shao Lin style migrated to Okinawa, where the authorities forbade the use of weapons. The Okinawan style of "empty-hand" fighting and self-defense soon arose, combining Shao Lin with indigenous fighting techniques. This martial art was called karate in recognition of its Chinese origin. ("Kara" means "Chinese"; "te" means "hand".)

BELT RANKING AND TESTING

The following list contains the belt rankings -- and the kata and type of kumite (sparring) required to earn each one -- under the JKA at Columbia. These rankings and testing requirements follow Sensei Mori's (Shotokan Karate-do America) system. There are four belt colors: white, green, brown, and black. Each color has several degrees, so that a student will wear the same color belt for several examinations before moving to the next level. Each level leading up to black belt is a "kyu"; each black belt level is a "dan".

Note that some JKA instructors provide different systems of belt rankings -- for example, from white to orange, to green, then purple, and then brown and black belts. However, the system of numbered ranks and testing requirements is universal.

White belt:

10 k.: (beginner -- no testing needed to be one!) 8 kyu: (Level skips) Heian 1 (or Heian shodan). Three-step basic kumite. 7 kyu: Heian 2 (Heian nidan). Same sparring.

Green belt:

6 kyu: Heian 3 (Heian sandan). One-step sparring (ippon kumite). 5 kyu: Heian 4 (Heian yondan). Same sparring. 4 kyu: Heian 5 (Heian godan). Same sparring.

Brown belt:

3 kyu: Tekki 1 (Tekki shodan). Semi-free sparring (jiyu ippon kumite). 2 kyu: Choose one from four brown-belt level kata (Bassai-dai, Kanku-dai, Empi, or Jion). Same sparring. 1 kyu: Same as 2 kyu exam.

Black belt:

1 dan: Same as above. Also, perform a kata randomly selected from the Heian kata and Tekki shodan.
2 dan: Choose one kata from all of the advanced kata (with a few excluded). Also, perform a randomly selected brown-belt level kata. Free sparring (jiyu kumite).
3 dan: Choose any kata. Also, perform a kata randomly selected from the four brown-belt level kata and the 2 dan kata. Demonstrate self-defense techniques against a randomly chosen attack (grabbing or a weapon). Same sparring.
4 dan: Choose any kata. Also, perform any randomly selected kata. Same self-defense demonstration. Same sparring.
5 dan: Same as 4 dan exam. Also, present a paper on an aspect of karate technique.
6 dan: Test requirements are at the discretion of a board of high-level instructors.
7 dan: Election by the senior members of the JKA.
8 dan: Election by the senior members of the JKA.
9 dan: Same as above. Usually this rank belongs to the chief instructor only.
10 dan: Posthumous rank, elected by the senior members of the JKA. Awarded only twice, to Gichin Funakoshi (founder of Shotokan karate) and Masatoshi Nakayama (Chief Instructor of the JKA, 1955-87).

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