Judo Terms | Godai Judo

Shows Japanese names of body parts for Judo: seoi (back), goshi (hip), hiza (knee), obi (belt), gi (uniform), ashi (foot/leg), tai (body), te (hand), mata (thigh)

Learn to speak Judo!

Judo is a Japanese sport and martial art, so there is a small amount of Japanese you will need to learn to understand what is happening around you and to talk about Judo with others.

Words you will hear all the time

hajimi (hah-jee-may) "Begin!" or "Start!"
mate (mah-tay) "Stop!"
hai (ha-ee) "Yes" or "I understand"
gi (g-ee, g like in "get") the judo uniform

Counting

We count in Japanese every time we warm up, so learn the first 10 numbers so you can join in!

Here they are in order, along with a story to help you remember them.

ichi (ee-chee)
ni (knee)
san (sahn)
shi (shee)
go (go)
roku (row-koo)
shichi (shee-chee)
hachi (hah-chee)
ku (koo)
ju (joo)

You're at the beach, building sand castles.

When you start to get up, you have ITCHY (ichi) KNEES (ni).

You also have SANDY (san) SHINS (shi).

When you stand up to GO (go), you step on a ROCK (roku). 😣

In the car, your sister stole your seat because SHE CHEATED (shichi)! 😡

But it was in the sun, so now she has the HOT SEAT (hachi). 🥵

But you're on the COOL (ku) side, drinking your favorite JUICE (ju). 👍🏽

Japanese words for motions: gari (reap), barai/harai (sweep), guruma (wheel), nage (throw), otoshi (drop), sasae (support), tsuri (lift), komi (pull), tomoe (swirl), makikomi (wraparound)