The first Japanese that you may encounter when entering the dojo is the bow, so that would be a good place to start. In Okinawa - and when using the Japanese language, bowing is a very important part of proceedings. Slight alterations of bowing depth and the amount of time you hold the bow for have deep and subtle meanings that can take a very long time to fully understand. In this country and amongst other western countries, we typically shake hands to greet, and to show our appreciation and sincerity. In the East, in this case Okinawa Japan they prefer to bow.

Just like a handshake, the bow can convey a greeting, a farewell, or an expression of appreciation and thanks. The bow in Japanese is ‘REI’ and can be seen in the figure below

Kanji for bow and pronunciation.

Below are a few guidelines as to when to bow:

§ Bow when you enter the dojo, and when you leave.

§ Bow before you begin training with a partner.

§ Bow when requesting something from a student who has been training longer than you have, and to thank them when you have your answer.

You have every right to ask questions of higher grades, and every right to receive an answer, but remember they are sharing their wisdom with you and you can show your gratitude through bowing. Also, remember that class time is precious - if your question can wait until the end of class, save it until then. As a point of reference do not bow every time you see a senior rank, it can be very tiresome for the teacher as every time a student bows the teacher has to bow back (remember there are lots of students which in turn means lots of bowing).

Your bow should not be a nod, but a respectful, dignified bow performed slowly with both hands placed on the side of your legs. Do not slap your legs as you bow, and do not look into the eyes of the teacher or fellow student as this is disrespectful.

As part of the ritual which precedes every class, three bows are performed. Unless time is an issue, there will be an instruction given before the bows. The instruction (“Seiza”). Seiza is the formal seating position place left knee down first then right knee down then kneel placing both hands on the lap facing inwards slightly.

This seated posture should occur quickly from the higher grades down. A general rule of thumb is that women should sit with their knees together, and men with them slightly apart. Tucking one big toe over the other may make this position more comfortable.

Kanji and pronunciation for Sei-Za

Once sitting in Seiza, the three bows are called. These are:

Kanji / Hiragana and pronunciation for Shomen Ni Rei.

The U after the O in the above capital script indicates that you hold the ‘o’ for twice as long as you normally would, lengthening it slightly. There is no real equivalent in English, but it is a small enough difference that you don’t need to worry too much about it. You may also notice that the kanji shown here as “SHO-U” is the same as the one shown earlier as “SE-I”.

The meaning of this bow is manifold. The literal translation is ‘bow to the front’, but as with much of the language used in the martial arts this literal translation is perhaps the least important meaning attached to the action. Ask about the other meanings. Think on them.

The second bow is called out as:

Kanji / Hirigana for Sensei-Ni-Rei and pronunciation.

It may also be useful to note that all students who hold a higher belt and have trained longer than yourself are - strictly speaking - sempai to you. It is not incorrect to address a Yudansha rank as Sempai, only if they are the highest ranking student in the dojo. If there is another more senior black belt of lower rank than the Sensei, then strictly speaking the second black belt would be referred to as “‘Name’ San “(e.g. Sensei Nathaniel, Sempai Jit, Andy San, Tayeba San.). Given that this may sometimes prove to be difficult depending on who is at the dojo, we relax this rule and call all black belts as Sempai.

The highest ranking black belt student (like wise the Sensei) should be addressed as ‘Sempai’ when in dogi (the white karate suit, more commonly referred to simply as ‘gi’) whether inside or outside the Dojo. This last is not a hard and fast rule, and no-one should need to enforce it specifically, but rather lead by example. It is your choice on how you want to show your respect and willingness to learn.

All teachers, be they from another dojo, or our own Sensei, are addressed as such. There are also a number of masters in the YKKF. The masters must be referred to as Shihan (‘She han’), though Sensei is acceptable if they are taking a class.

The final bow is called as:

Kanji / Hirigana for Otagi-Ni-Rei and pronunciation.

Once again, the meaning is slightly more complex than the literal translation but feel free to ask about it if you wish.

After the third bow, students say:

Kanji / Hirigana for Onega I shima su and pronunciation.

The translation in this case is very difficult. Speak to another student of Japanese and they may well give you a different answer, but I feel the important thing is to understand that you are humbly making a request from your teacher. You will often hear this translated as “please teach me”. This is correct. The reason the above translation is given as such is that often with Japanese the meaning of a given word is very context sensitive. You may, in a purely technical sense be asking a vague ‘favour’ - but in the context of the dojo coming from a student to their teacher, what else could it be that is truly being asked?

This word in Japanese has the same basic use as “please” in English. When you put up a hand to ask a question, or require the attention of one of your Sempai, you should always precede your request with “onegaishimasu”. When you bow to a partner before training with them, you should also say onegaishimasu. This is how we show respect to those we train with, and how we ourselves earn that same respect.

Hirigana for Domo Arigato Gosai Mas and pronunciation.

At the end of the class, the same three bows are repeated. On the final bow, however, instead of Onegaishimasu, we say ‘thank-you’:

The important thing is simply to know that this is the most important phrase here. This is your direct way of thanking someone for what they have done, be it shown you a technique, helped you stretch, trained with you or answered a question. Show gratitude and respect by bowing and thanking them.

Translation and kanji / hirigana courtesy of Jim Griffiths (2003) revised by N. Peat (2004).