tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7380831531289624078.post7724751844046760092..comments2024-02-12T08:46:26.595+00:00Comments on Shugyo: The Appropriation of Japanese Language in Japanese Budo (Outside of Japan)Andy Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487592175723217904noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7380831531289624078.post-69904059137647246392021-12-30T09:03:48.395+00:002021-12-30T09:03:48.395+00:00Thank you very much for sharing those thoughts and...Thank you very much for sharing those thoughts and the Paul's video. Very inspiring!michael wagnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13366940613578864868noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7380831531289624078.post-59929354335733225442021-07-23T09:42:39.392+01:002021-07-23T09:42:39.392+01:00Reading this article has made me a better iaidoka,...Reading this article has made me a better iaidoka, and without a doubt, a better human being. Thank you for this!Mohammad Nasereddinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02118010610610524983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7380831531289624078.post-77341884578327936192021-07-09T16:02:31.965+01:002021-07-09T16:02:31.965+01:00So this is almost exactly why I started learning J...So this is almost exactly why I started learning Japanese (and thanks for all the hardwork, mine is vastly improved). A realisation that the 'mythical' Japanese term didn't mean what I thought it meant, its just meant something like 'return'Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07734659681207342512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7380831531289624078.post-56073773872742262322021-07-08T21:16:10.148+01:002021-07-08T21:16:10.148+01:00I'll take a slightly contrary position. I agre...I'll take a slightly contrary position. I agree that imbuing Japanese words with deep mystical meanings is a pitfall that many of us have fallen into at one time or another. I'm an advocate of using a lot of Japanese vocabulary in my budo practice and teaching though.<br />When I started judo (many, many eons ago) the rank tests included a demonstration portion and a written portion. Much of the written portion was Japanese judo vocabulary. Not to make it magical or to create a special jargon separating those who could parse "de ashi barai" and those who couldn't. It was to create a shared vocabulary among all those who train in judo all over the world.<br />The usefulness of having a shared vocabulary started to become clear when I trained at a dojo that had the occasional international visitor. Even if we didn't share a common language, we shared a common judo vocabulary. We could communicate tremendous amounts of information about each other's judo with our shared vocabulary of Japanese judo terms.<br />The value of this was driven home when I moved to Japan prior to learning Japanese. I was lost in almost every situation i found myself in if I didn't have a translator. Until they took me to a dojo so I could do some judo. Bowing into that room felt like coming home. I knew the social rules, and I knew the language. I could keep up with all the warm-ups because we used the same terms in the US that are used in Japan. Teachers were able to easily communicate corrections to my lousy technique quickly and clearly because I had learned that required vocabulary as a beginning judo student. I still had trouble asking where the bathroom was, or ordering a post-keiko beer, but I could ask some fairly subtle questions about judo and understand the answers because we all shared the same vocabulary.<br />Look at any global activity and there will be a shared vocabulary. I think the bigger problem is that we in the budo world beyond judo don't take the time to learn the fundamental vocabulary of our arts. I encourage my students to learn a little basic Japanese. Not so much to demystify the Japanese vocabulary, but so they can communicate with anyone they encounter in the budo world. Especially the teachers from Japan who are kind enough to sit on a trans-Pacific flight just for the privilege of helping us improve our budo.<br />It doesn't take a lot of vocabulary. I doubt I knew more than 200 Japanese terms from my judo training, and I don't think it would take that many for any other art.The Budo Bumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17829768452637120001noreply@blogger.com