Does anyone here know what is the literal meaning of the Japanese word "kote", like as in "kote gaeshi"??? Also, does anyone know where I can find other information on this word??? Thanks, -jujitsuka07
Kote in Japanese has two basic meanings, depending on the Kanji used. This kote, 小手 (こて ) means small hand and is the most common form of the word used in modern budo parlance. The basic meaning of kote is wrist. There is another meaning for kote though, which is older; 籠手 (こて ) which means gauntlet (As used with a suit of period armour). Again, the target area is the wrist. In yoroi kumi uchi (armoured grappling - A forerunner to plainclothes jujutsu), kote gaeshi would be a very effective technique, since when in armour, certain parts of the body are not as flexible. A deeper meaning of the term using these kanji 小手 can mean subtle or small technique. In Japanese, te 手 can mean hand, but it can also mean technique. Some koryu ryuha use te as a numerical counter for techniques instead of hon/pon (i.e. ippon, nihon, sanbon etc.) So therefore, small technique. For a generic version of kote gaeshi, look at the second technique on this page.
