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J. A. Crippen
22nd March 2003, 03:49
I'm trying to learn kanji and vocabulary related to martial arts themes. Of course much of this boils down to 'right', 'left', 'backward', 'forward', 'sweep', 'throw', etc.

So what's the Japanese term for 'pivot'? And '180 degrees'? How about '270 degrees', or ' 90 degrees'? Is there a handy kanji counter meaning 'degree'?

I tried hunting this up on WWWJDIC but 'pivot' turned up a lot of nouns like 'center' and 'swivel', and 'turn around' got me a number of hits that didn't sound right.

So any suggestions?

And on a side topic, has anyone ever considered making a short online or EDICT-style dictionary of martial arts terms in Japanese? Stuff like 'shomen' and 'aiuchi' and the like that aren't always easy to find in JE dictionaries, and of course all the words for directions, levels, spaces, parts of the body, parts of weapons, etc.

J. A. Crippen
22nd March 2003, 14:39
> Many Japanese just say "turn."

Why doesn't that surprise me?

I wouldn't have been surprised if 'degree' was "degurii", for that matter.

I'm aware of the use of esoteric terms for directions... The weirdest I think I've ever come across was some style (can't recall which) that used eight directions with Shingon-shu seed syllables assigned to each of the directions. Then one used the appropriate seed syllable ('un', 'aa', 'ou', etc) to denote the direction. This of course could be used to meditate on meanings of movements during kata too. Heavy stuff. Needless to say it certainly must have made giving directions interesting. "Is this way right?" "Un." "Oh, that way then?" "Un. No, wait, the other way..."

Kimpatsu
23rd March 2003, 01:43
"Tenkan" is the best word in MA to describe a sudden change of direction, but there is also a word "kake", as in "kakekotoba", or "pivot word" in a sentence. There is also "kaname", which is the pin that holds a folding fan together, so everything pivots around it.
HTH.

J. A. Crippen
25th March 2003, 02:52
So would that be 転換する ('tenkan suru')? I've seen it only as an adverb in the sense of 気分転換に ('kibuntenkan ni') meaning 'for a change (of pace)'. I didn't think it was used as a verb.

Thanks.

Kimpatsu
25th March 2003, 03:32
Yes, "Tenkan" is a verbal noun. "Kenkan suru" (v.i., to pivot, change direction) is perfectly acceptable.
HTH.

renfield_kuroda
25th March 2003, 07:42
I concur; tenkan-suru for 'to pivot'.
Also can use taisabaki, in the sense of 'getting the body outta the way' by, for example, stepping in, stepping back, etc.

Regards,
renfield kuroda

Kimpatsu
25th March 2003, 09:38
"Taisabaki" refers to all manner of body movement, not necessarily change of direction.

Andy Watson
25th March 2003, 13:33
A pivot is "jiku" (Nelson no 4619).

180 degrees is sometimes called a half circle (in it's context) and is called "han en"

As has already been posted, for other angles they will say

Kyu ju do = 90 degrees
Hyaku hachi ju do = 180 degrees
Ni hyaku nana ju do = 270 degrees
San byaku roku ju do = 360 degrees

There are many words for turn, excluding verbal nouns:

mawaru = turn
hineru = twist
mukau or muku = to turn and face

Keep em coming

Kimpatsu
25th March 2003, 13:56
Jiku is an axis, as in "sujiku". You wouldn't use it to describe a change of direction.

Andy Watson
25th March 2003, 13:58
Sorry, I should have added that I meant pivot as in the noun not the verb. The reason why I mentioned it was that I have often heard Japanese sensei say something along the lines of "using the backbone as a pivot, turn..." i.e. keep the back straight and the centre of gravity above your feet. "senaka no jiki de, migi ni mawaru etc".

Kimpatsu
25th March 2003, 14:54
Originally posted by Andy Watson
Keep em coming
"Nejiru", "to screw", and "nejikomu", "to screw in."

renfield_kuroda
26th March 2003, 00:02
Originally posted by Kimpatsu
Jiku is an axis, as in "sujiku". You wouldn't use it to describe a change of direction.

Not true. The magic of the Japanese language, take a noun and verbify it:
jiku-ni suru

For example 'turn on the ball of the foot, draw and cut to the right':
?e指の付け?ェを軸にして右に斬り?繧ー
(oyayubi-no tukene-o jiku-ni shite migi-ni kiriage)

Regards,

renfield kuroda

Earl Hartman
26th March 2003, 00:13
Used in this sense, I would say that jiku is better understood as an axis (its literal meaning) rather than a pivot, e.g, to "turn around an axis (jiku)".

Kimpatsu
26th March 2003, 00:14
Actually, wouldn't the "ni shite" construction be better translated as "using"?