RE: “Karate Japanese”
Warren Smith
Thanks for sending this. It looks like an excellent resource.
Odd -- The editor uses the term "bugei" for "martial arts." Personally, I have never heard of "martial arts" referred to as "bugei" in Japanese (literally "Martial" and "arts" -- but here "arts" is a kanji referring to performative entertainment arts, literally the same kanji "gei" as in "geisha" ["arts person"]).
Checking myself, I see that bugei 武芸 is indeed a word, and gets 2.4 million hits in Google.
By comparison, busjutsu 武術 (also meaning "martial arts" but using a term for "art: the is more along the line of "technique") gets 24 million hits. (In both cases I have limited my results to results in Japanese to exclude Chinese sites.)
Bugi 武技 (another word emphasizing "technique" for "arts") gets 13.6 million hits
Budo 武道 (the "martial way"), on the other hand, gets 57.8 million hits.
Repeating these same searches with the language limited to Chinese I get the following:
Bugei 武芸: 1.97 million
Bugi 武技: 16 million
Bujutsu 武術: 22.9 million
Budo 武道: 44.4 million
It seems as though "budo" is by far the preferred term for "martial arts" in both Japan and China.
This makes me not trust his dictionary entirely (although it is possible that "bugei" is the preferred term in Okinawa, for example, and the editor actually knows more about martial arts terminology than the Japanese people in general). Conversely, perhaps the editor views training in the martial arts as visual performative art (akin to dancing), rather than a combat art, so chose his word carefully... It is also possible that "bugei" has a broader connotation -- including military strategies and tactics, rather than just training as individuals.
Because you are interested in these things:
There is a we page talking about the differences between Budo and Bugei: https://www.meihaku.jp/sword-basic/budo-bujutsu-bugei/ It is interesting, and chatGPT does a pretty good job of translating it.
This page implies that "bugei" includes equestrianism, artillery, archery, etc., in addition to what I would normally think of as "budo." Bugei (and bujutsu) apparently are ancient terms, dating back to the 9th century, while budo is a more recent term, from the 19th century. Budo also incorporates the morls, principles, attitudes and philosophies of the warrior's way of life (as opposed to just the physical techniques).
I will send this link to some of my colleagues (including the lexicographer who compiled the dictionary that Mr. Randall has there on his bookshelf), and see what they have to say.
Warren
From: Rob Morley
[mailto:rob63...@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2023
2:02 PM
To: warren...@comcast.net
Subject: “Karate Japanese”
Hey there ! Long time no see. I hope things are well with you. I imagine your new work has been keeping you busy.
I don’t know if you’re interested, but, since we have discussed “Karate Japanese” before, I figured I share a new find.
The book below (Amazon link) is a newly released, Karate Kanji dictionary. I’ve only skimmed it thus far, but am finding it to be exhaustively complete and nicely cross referenced throughout. It also reveals where some of the unusual pronunciation come from; be it Okinawa Hōgen, Mandarin, etc..
It seemed a bit pricey at first, but I’m glad I invested in it because
I love this stuff.
Any way, I just wanted to touch base, in general, and share this information.
I hope all is well.
Take care,
Warren Smith
A private poster suggested a term for "marital arts" that I had not considered: 格闘技 (kakutougi).
This one gets even more hits than Budou, coming in at 67 million hits in Japanese web sites.
Kakutougi means "hand-to-hand fighting techniques." An image search returns pictures that appear to be what I would call "mixed martial arts" (no weapons, but guys beating on each other using a host of different styles, in organized fights in a boxing-style ring, enriching themselves and their promoters).
These images are very different from what is found with Budou "武道," which depict "traditional" Japanese martial arts in what we would think of as "karate" and the like (and many images where such arts are romanticized in anime).
Images returned for bugei, on the other hand, feature many pictures of people in historic dress of old samurai times, with top knots and swords.
Bujutsi武術 shows stylized poses of people in Chinese attire.
What is the correct name for the dictionary? I don't know. I would have to look inside it. If it is limited to words used in the old samurai days (prior to karate being brought into Japan from China in the late 1800s), then I guess "bugei" is appropriate. If it covers terms from modern karate, kung fu, taekwondo, etc., then I think "budou" would have been a better choice.
W
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