Basically what is the point of putting it there? Even if my browser did have the charset, I still wouldn't understand it. Nor would a lot of people who visit this area of the forum. Especially not the contributors to this thread who were suggesting we even name the moves in English! So why have it? Is it to show some kind of expert knowledge, one-upmanship, or what? I always think it is a bit weird when the signature to a posting is longer than the post itself!
I think I can answer part of your questions. The usefulliness of showing the Kanji or Japanese characters when possible is to actually help some of us with translations when we have questions for a native Japanese speaker. There has been dozens of times, just in my limited experiences where I will know the "sounds" for something but I won't be able to get a good translation because I don't know the Kanji. I would go to Japanese speaking folks and ask them but they would simply say they could not help me unless I could show them the Kanji for it. It turned out after exhaustively searching to find the Kanji, after showing them the Kanji they then understood exactly what I meant... the fact of the matter is that I was mispronouncing and taking what I was saying out of context, which was completely confusing to them UNTIL they saw the Kanji, then they knew exactly what I meant. Funny story related to this. When I started Goju-Ryu Karate, my mother asked why the school was called "fifty". Go Ju is the number fifty in Japanese I guess. Anyway, had I just had the kanji, then the translation of Go = "hard" and Ju = "soft" would have been understood immediately. (Although what the Hard and Soft actually mean in Goju-ryu is different amongst karateka...lol). If the Kanji is provided (not necessary IMO), but if it is, it is a great bonus. I think it would even be worth some money to someone as a reference. I would like to point out, however, not to only include the Japanese usage but also the Western usage of Japanese terms where they might differ. For instance how Sensei is used in the West to describe blackbelts in some schools verses the way that Koyo and Dave use it in a more orthodox Japanese manner.
Well let that be a lesson to us all! Bokkuto also come fitted with HSGT "Head Seeking Guidance Technology". They should always be handled with care. Especially when in close proxcimity to highly sensative and volatile explosive heads of the RSTB "Rageing Sensei Time Bomb". DISCLAIMER aikiwolfie is not responsible for any Bokkuto, Bokken or Jo HSGT or RSTB related incidents that may happen directly after reading this post.
Thank you Kogusoku, much appreciated! Aikiwolf - I was kindly invited to train a few nights with some aikidoka (after they caught me watching while I waited for my kendo class to start). I had the best time doing my jujutsu techniques on them, they were poetry in motion.
Sensei Kogusoku? <Writes down new nickname for Steve....>....Sweeeeet... Hope all is well mate..Got back late last night..And I have a LOT to tell you about a certain female that went back to her country..She kept me up until 2am last night.. Regards.. (Oh, and this thread is interesting..Japanese should be used as an when it's possible to use it..These arts come from Japan and it should be a part of the learning of the school to pick them up...If you don't want to learn Japanese well then, great...But there's a good chance you'll miss some of the finer points if you only use English..).
Thanks Koyo - like most things, it was in my brain somewhere, in my....what's it called? Ah yes, 'memory'! Suburito is the word I meant for the heavy and long wooden practice sword, not bokkuto. Ta ! EDIT: Looks like he had a sword made to measure and got it back in inches instead of centimetres! Where's the saya - poking through the wall? Now THAT ONE would be seriously heavy!
Human nature such that it is, inevitably means that twisted knickers are seen from time to time, the key however is not to take those virtual wedgies personally. Some do, some don't c'est la vie . Regards and thanks for your recent PM BTW
Though our common decency and the need to reload eventually win through Did you know you have some funny squiggles on the bottom of your sig? Dunno where they come from but they look kinda cool so I might tattoo them onto myself without knowing what they mean. The Bear.
I can lay claIm to the stupidest tatoo ever. When I was younger (shut up kiaiki!!) I got the caligraphy for karate tatooed on my arm. THEN SPENT THE NEXT FORTY YEARS STICKING IT IN THE FACES OF AIKIDO SHIHAN!!!! kOYO
Hmmmmmm. Wonder how many of us have such calligraphy? I got 'ai ki' on one arm and 'ki ai' on the other. That way I only had to be nice with one arm and could smack em with the other! Since then lots of weird and wonderful stuff - even Tibetan....not to mention the nice young pagan goth tattooist I met who persuaded me to........
Bringing this discussion back on topic for a moment, here's a quote from a well respected Aikikai rokudan George S. Ledyard Aikido 6th Dan Aikikai Primary Teacher Mitsugi Saotome Chief Instructor Aikido Eastside Bellevue, WA. Here is a well respected deshi of the founder of Aikido, now resident in the USA, apprently very proud of his English speeking skills, still using Japanese terms to make a particular point. Regards
So how important are the spiritual and philisophical areas of Aikido study? The general opinion on the forum in the past seems to have been that these areas of Aikido study weren't all that important. So what degree of experience did the folks have that missed the point? Where they also 6th Dan? Or maybe they were lower grades. 2nd Dan or 1st Dan? Maybe even lower. Kyu grades perhaps. At what grade is it a requirment to have grasped an understanding of the Japanese language? How long was Saotome Sensei explaining what Makoto meant for? It could be argued if he had cut to the chase useing a uke to demonstraight, those that missed the point might have gotten it.
