Dojo Kun in Japanese

[evergrey]

OSU!
So, I am memorizing the dojo kun- I know, I should already, but for some reason they don't recite it at my dojo.
I love the translation that Quinn Shihan provides in his book, and I am memorizing that... but I do not know how to say it in Japanese.
I found this-


But it is just too FAST for me. I really don't speak any Japanese, except for some terms from karate, of course. I can count to 99. I am sure my pronunciation is universally atrocious... but I still want to learn to say the Dojo Kun in Japanese.

Quinn Shihan says he'll say it for me in person, and let me record it, but who knows how long it will be before I can get to SoCal when he visits and pin him down, so in the meantime, does anyone here know where I can find a video or recording of the Dojo Kun spoken in Japanese slowly so that I can try to learn how to say it properly? Maybe I can eventually learn to say it passably, and then say it at least kind of like it is said in the video above.

Also- when you recite the dojo kun at your dojo (if you do) is it in English, or Japanese? Or some other language?

How significant do you feel it is to know it? I think everyone should at least read and and study the meanings of it.

OSU!

[monty]

During our time with Enshin we had a dojo kun in the front of our licence books, we very rarely recited it.

When we were Charnwood Karate we did not have a dojo kun, so we never recited it.

And we certainly didn't recite it in Japanese.

I don't get it at all, do we really need someone to tell us how to live our lives inside and outside the dojo. Doesn't common sense prevail?

1. Train Hard
2. Don't be a ****

[GJEC]

Couldn't have put it better myself.

I was brought up in a 'poor but proud' home and taught English good manners. We were expected to behave correctly, especially when out, and woe betide us if we let our parents down. At school in the 60's it was still very much about how you played sport rather than the actual result. In the Fire Brigade certain rules of behaviour permeated through, as required when working for each other in high pressure situations.

So back to the dojo oath, I recited it as required in Kyokushin and Enshin, but can honestly say it never altered my basic manners, sense of fair play or work ethos. We could argue that someone dragged up with none of the above might benefit from an oath, but personally I think they gain more from good coaching and working with strong training partners.

So I find it strange sometimes when people place a huge emphasis on it.

Gary

[senshido]

The Kyokushin Dojo oath is written in our licence books, but I can honestly say, hand on heart, I have never recited it

[meguro]

My feelings on this topic change. There was I time when I found ending a class with the dojo kun a necessary part of the closure process- and now class has ended. It wasn't the import of the words so much as the ritual. Like all rituals, reciting the dojo kun, reinforced a sense of group identity. The words themselves, meh. I like the first phrase, the one about training hearts and bodies, and the last one. I think about them a lot. The words in the middle, nothing you couldn't find inside of a fortune cookie.

I suppose the words are useful for parents who might worry that their little ones might be turned into psychopaths with a little karate training. Yeah, we teach your kids to beat each other up every day, but it's for a higher purpose. See, we have this dojo kun.

Of course, I might look back and say the dojo kun was worthless. But, having been exposed to it, can I say that I have not been affected by it? Did the ideas not influence me in some subtle way, hopefully for the better? I read somewhere that the act of repeating affirmations can help you achieve your goals, so who knows.

Below is the recitation of the dojo kun from the last karate class I ever took in Japan, and the last time I recited it (my voice is the garbled one, third from last). The mirrors are fogged up and everyone was a little loopy from all the exertion to make the class "special." A couple senpai were so cooked they goofed up the Kun and we had to start over. Good times.
youtu.be/rvOOFXkolFE

[MMX]

The Enshin Dojo kun is pretty simple. Do your best,respect others,keep training.
I have no problems being behind that.

[GJEC]

I agree

I have no problem with it, but it didn't change my character.

I think people have to be basically sound and respectful to put up with the dojo discipline anyway, so in some ways it's just asking good people to be ... good.

Gary

[evergrey]

Thanks guys, this is all good stuff. :}

We don't recite it at my dojo, and I don't think most of the students even know it exists, actually. I personally do want to have it memorized... but it's interesting, I wonder how many still-Kyokushin dojos recite it today?

OSU!

[powerof0ne]

Not sure if we had one in shito Ryu, of we did, not once did I recite it, not even to the soke from Japan when he would come visit. In Goju we had one but in all honesty I forgot it. In Kyokushin where I trained if we had it posted in syllabus, license books, etc but I only have a few memories of ever trying to recite it.

[powerof0ne]

Sorry typing on iPhone in bed bleh! Anyhow, I agree with most of what the others are saying about not reciting it. I honestly don't think I'm missing out on anything by not having it memorized. I have too many other damn things I have to memorize lately anyway lol!
Osu!

[shugyo]

Never once did we ever recite said Kun out loud at anytime. We knew it well. It's posted everywhere; the lobby, the main dojo floor, in each of the two adjacent smaller training floors, inside of the gym, each of the dressing rooms, in the main hallway, in the auditorium, and in the banquet room. With the Kun everywhere one looks, one's constantly reminded of its importance.

[cameronq]

We say it every night after training. I say it in Japanese because a few of the lads are wanting to learn it and a few Japanese students come in sometimes. Then we all say it in English. We say it with gusto too. It is a great way to close things. Hard training done, breathe a little, say the oath with energy and focus everything back. It forces the minds of everyone to come back to the present. And minds do wander.

As far as the words go, they're pretty lofty ideals but each line is solid. I'm happy with the base and direction of my personal life philosophy now. When I was a teen, though, when looking for something to reach for beyond the family manners and living politely and all that, the dojo kun gave me something to strive for. And from there I sought something more. So it served well.

These days I say it after training not to enforce any strict moral code on anyone but just to give a reminder. When students ask about it, I just say take one line of the oath and for a month think about its meaning and how it can make a difference and if it is worthy of being applied in life. I mean, what does it really mean when it says a 'firm, unshaking spirit'? Test that under pressure. Guys in pressure jobs: ambos, paramedics, cops, fireys, soldiers, pilots, security etc, are tested under pressure all the time so they have direct experience of what that means. But most people haven’t got a clue outside of the dojo.

As far as the translation goes, I thought about it a lot when I wrote Budo Karate. I think the original translator of the generally-accepted version was a gentleman named Richard Gage. Probably emplyed by Kodansha when Sosai's books were being published. He did a stellar job. I chose the words 'religious principles' for my book because the actual Japanese word, Shin-butsu, is really a very Japanese-specific term, referring to their own unique combination of native Shinto and imported Buddhism. It's a neat blend of philosophies that balances well and serves them nicely. But I found the translations of this word to that point kind of insufficient: our god, our gods and Buddha, etc. What if you didn't want to say god, or even Buddha? So I thought 'religious principles' covered the whole gamut. Even an aetheist technically has his own religious principles.

If it isn't recited it doesn't matter. And it basically becomes just another dojo decoration on the wall. I personally feel that in that case it may as well be removed because having there as part of the (in my case) Kyokushin foundation philosophy but not being recited or considered is a bit misleading. As my dad would say, if you sit, sit; if you stand, stand; whatever you do, don't wobble.