Japan Karate Do in Chinese / Japanese...

The literal meaning of 空手道 is “empty hand method” or “empty hand way.”

Credit is given that karate started in China but migrated and became refined and vastly popular in Japan.

Karate is a martial art that uses no blades or weapons other than the “natural weapons” God gave to humans (fists and feet). The last character somehow became optional, but the meaning of that character is “method” or “the way” as in Taoism / Daoism.

Karate-Do reached Korea, where it is known as 공수도 which can be romanized as “Kong Soo Do” or “Gong Su Do.”

唐手道 is the alternate title for Karate-do.

This title uses a character, 唐, which represents the Tang Dynasty of China. Thus, this is often translated as the “Tang Hand Way” or incorrectly, “Tang Fist Way.”
I have also seen some call it “China Hand Way.”
Many in Korea refer to and romanize these characters as “Tang Soo Do” (당수도) where these characters refer to a kind of Korean style of Karate.

There is not a lot of information on this title but some believe that a simplified form of Kung Fu that started in China and ended up very popular in Japan used this title initially. It was later changed in Japan to a different Karate title which means “Empty Hand” (as in, without weapons).

Note: When used in Korean, this is pronounced 당수도. This title is often romanized as “Tang Soo Do,” “Tangsudo,” “Dang Su Do,” or “Dangsudo.” The last two romanizations on that list are the official Korean government romanization, though martial arts schools tend to use other non-standard versions.

日本空手道 is the title Nihon Karate Do in Japanese Kanji.

The literal meaning is “Japan(ese) empty hand way.”

日本空手道玄武會 is the title for Nippon Karate-Do Genbu-Kai.
A Japanese karate association of the Genbu school.

Note that while this title does make perfect sense in Chinese, it is really a Japanese title. In fact, the first word is “Japanese/Japan.”

If you’d like your martial arts school, dojo or club added to our calligraphy database for easy ordering of a custom calligraphy wall scroll, just contact me.

少林寺拳法 is a specific type of martial art in Japan that claims origins in the Kung Fu practiced in the original Shaolin Monastery of China.

The first three characters mean “Shaolin Monastery,” and you might notice the Japanese is pronounced in a very similar way. The reason is, many words were “borrowed” from the original Chinese when Japan did not have a written language and simply absorbed Chinese characters into their language around the 5th century. When a Japanese word did not exist, the Chinese pronunciation was often absorbed as well as the written form.

The last two characters mean “fist law” or “method of the fist.” It has long been argued as to whether the Japanese for these characters should be Romanized as “kempo” or “kenpo.” The official method should be “kenpou” but it's common to drop the “u” that comes after the “o.”

I imagine if you are looking for this title, you already know what it means, so the above is simply extra information that a student of Shorinji Kempo might want to know.

韓武館 roughly translates as “Hall of Korean Martial Arts” or “Korean Martial Hall.”

Kanbukan is one of the earliest Karate organizations established after WWII in Japan.

Note: Chinese and Korean pronunciations are included above; however, this title is only common in Japan.

少林流 is the Japanese martial arts title “Shorin-ryu.”

Though the first part of the title comes from the Shaolin (small forest) monks of China.
In Japan, this refers to the Okinawa School of Karate.

Note that often in Japanese, the first Kanji of this title was changed to the version shown to the right. If you prefer this version, please click on the Kanji to the right instead of the button above.

少林寺流 is the Japanese martial arts title “Shorin-ji-ryu.”

Though the first part of the title comes from the Shaolin temple in China. In Japan, this refers to an Okinawa school of karate.

Note: Sometimes, this title is written without the “ji” or “temple” Kanji.

Taidō (The Way of the Body) is a style of Karate practiced in Japan and popular worldwide.

Taidō or 躰道 traces a lineage from Genseiryū (玄制流), which came from Shuri-te (首里手), one of the original martial arts schools of ancient Okinawa.

The first character 躰 is a variant of the original Chinese character 體. In modern Japan, they tend to use 体, a more simple character form. 体 is also the modern Simplified Chinese form of 體.
The 躰 character is correct for this 躰道 martial arts title. But it can be confusing with so many variants out there, not to mention other homophonic Japanese words that also romanize as Taidō or Taidou.

To have a bit more fun with this 躰 character, it has a 身 radical on the left, which sets it apart. The meaning doubles up on the “body” as 身 (shin) is a character that also means body in Japanese and Chinese. On the right is 本, which often means root, stem, origin, source, or fundamental (but can also mean “book” in some contexts). This has deviated from the original 體 which was 骨 (bone) + 豊 (vessel). Hence, the body was your “bone vessel” in ancient Asia.

The meaning of 躰, as well as 體 and 体, is usually translated as the body. When related to the physical body, it can also refer to the torso, trunk, build, physique, or the constitution of a person. As an extension of this, it can also refer to someone's health (good body = good health).
However, depending on the context, it can encompass other meanings such as form, style, system, experience, aspect, corpus, corporeal, substance, or essentials.

The second character, 道, is recognized and well-known as the “Way” and is the same “do” as in Karate-do or Aikido.

禪道 is a title used in certain contexts but is not widely known by the general population of China or Japan.

In Japanese, you will see this title romanized as “zendo,” which is the brand name of a board game, and also a title used by some martial arts studios and karate dojos. Oddly, many translate this as “zen fist,” although there is no “fist” in the title. If you literally translated this title, it would be “meditation way” or “meditation method.”

In Chinese, this would be “chan dao” with the same literal meaning as the Japanese title. It's used in China by just a handful of martial arts styles/studios.

You should only order this title if you really understand the meaning, and it has some personal connection to you (such as practicing a martial art style that uses this title, or if you love the board game Zendo). Many who see your wall scroll will not be familiar with this title, and you'll have some explaining to do.

The first character can also be written in a more complex traditional way as shown to the right. Let us know in the special instructions for your calligraphy project if you want this style.

If you order this from the Japanese master calligrapher, the first character will automatically be written with an extra dot on top. This is the variant form of the original Chinese character which is commonly used in modern Japan Kanji. See sample to the right.

柔術 has been somewhat incorrectly spelled and pronounced “Jujitsu” for some time in the English-speaking world. The correct Japanese Romaji is Jujutsu or Juujutsu.

A little background on the word: By combining the Kanji pronounced “Ju” (which means flexible, pliable, gentle, yielding) with the Kanji pronounced “Jutsu” (which means art or technique), we get a meaning that can be translated as “flexible technique,” “gentle art” or “yielding technique.”
柔術 does make sense in Chinese as well, although pronounced “rou shu” in China.

The Jujutsu system has a history in Japan that started well before the 1600s. Some see this style as a variation of the “Empty Hand Method” (Karate-do). Even the samurai of old used some Jujutsu methods in defending themselves with their unarmed hands against weapons that could pierce their heavy armor.

There are convoluted relationships between various schools and systems of martial arts, but it's generally accepted that Jujutsu led to the development of Judo and a few other variations.

道 is the character “dao” which is sometimes written as “tao” but pronounced like “dow” in Mandarin.

道 is the base of what is known as “Taoism.” If you translate this literally, it can mean “the way” or “the path.”

Dao is believed to be that which flows through all things and keeps them in balance. It incorporates the ideas of yin and yang (e.g. there would be no love without hate, no light without dark, no male without female.)

The beginning of Taoism can be traced to a mystical man named
Lao Zi (604-531 BC), who followed, and added to the teachings of Confucius.

More about Taoism / Daoism here.

Note that this is pronounced “dou” and sometimes “michi” when written alone in Japanese but pronounced “do” in word compounds such as Karate-do and Bushido. It's also “do” in Korean.

Alternate translations and meanings: road, way, path; truth, principle province.

Important Japanese note: In Japanese, this will generally be read with the road, way, or path meaning. Taoism is not as popular or well-known in Japan so Daoist/Taoist philosophy is not the first thing a Japanese person will think of when they read this character.

See our Taoism Page