Many martial arts come from other cultures with different languages. This new weekly article, Martial Word Wednesday, is designed to shed some light on some of the ideas present in other languages that don’t necessarily have a place in English.
-do
Do is a suffix that is used in Japanese martial arts. It forms the last part of the word budo (武道). It is therefore incorporated into many modern Japanese martial arts like aikido (合気道), judo (柔道), kendo (剣道) and even is sometimes used as karate-do (空手道). The translation usually provided as “path or way.” It is even the root of “do” in Taekwondo. Tao (as in Taoism) is the Chinese pronunciation of the same character. Budo would then translate as the “way of war” or perhaps “martial way.” For more information on bu see the previous Martial Word Wednesday HERE.
Modern Interpretation
Today, budo is often used to convey an art that no longer concentrates on martial effectiveness, but instead on personal or spiritual growth. That is why the suffix is also applied to other arts such as chado (茶道) the way of tea, or shodo (書道) they way of writing; calligraphy.
Budo is contrasted with the descriptive term bujutsu (武術), martial techniques. Today bujutsu is used to denote military effective martial arts or koryu martial arts. Although this breakdown of definitions was created by Donn F. Draeger in his book Modern Bujutsu and Budo-The Martial Arts and Ways of Japan, even historical budo already had a connotation of peacefulness associated with it.
All of this culminates in another important term using “do,” dojo (道場). Dojo translates as “place to practice the way”. This word is due to the early Buddhist influence on elite/samurai culture in Japan. In this way, Dojo is non-specific, but indicates a place to perform a deep practice. Keep this in mind the next time you step onto a dojo mat.
Do you have a favorite martial arts word that doesn’t directly translate into English? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll cover it next week. Or better yet, submit your own Martial Word Wednesday and get published.
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