Terminology

At the start or the end of the session

At the beginning of the lesson the sensei or the sempai will say:

Seiretsu「整列」
line up
Seiza 「正坐」
sit in the proper seiza posture. (Make sure you do not sit before your sempai is already seated. If you are standing in the second line sit at the same time as the person in front of you.)
Seiza or Mokuso 「黙想」
(start) meditation or silent contemplation.
Seiza yame or Mokuso yame 「黙想止め」
stop meditation, retum to the seiza position.
Shomen ni rei 「正面に礼」
stop meditation, retum to the seiza position.
Seiza yame or Mokuso yame 「黙想止め」
turn your body to face the joseki/ shomen (usually a banner or other indicator), and bow (rei).
Sensei ni rei 「先生に礼」
face your sensei and bow, simultaneously saying “onegaishimasu” (please) at the start or “arigato gozaimasu” (thank you very much) at the end to appreciate the effort he is going to/has put into the lesson.
Otagai ni rei 「お互いに礼」
greet (start) or thank (end) each other by bowing

Warm-up Practice

Counting
Ichi 「一」
One
Ni 「二」
Two
San「三」
Three
Shi (Yon)「四」
Four
Go「五」
Five
Roku「六」
Six
Shichi (Nana)　「七」
Seven
Hachi「八」
Eight
Kyu(Ku)「九」
Nine
Ju「十」
Ten

Note: Warm-up is done in counts of 8.

Suburi

Warm-up strikes

Joge-buri
Big straight vertical cut ending with kensen at knee level
Naname-buri
Big diagonal (R.L) cuts ending with kensen at knee level
Zenshin kotae men
Big straight vertical cuts to head level
Zenshinkotae sayu men
Big diagonal(R.L) cut to head level
Haya-suburi
Big straight vertical cuts to head level while jumping forward and back
Reiho, Etiquettes

Beginning and Ending Training

Seiretuse
line up
Chakuza
Sit down in seiza
Seiza(Mkuso)
Meditation
Shomen-ni-rei
Bow to front of dojo
Sensei-ni-rei
Bow to teacher
Otagai-ni-rei
Bow to each other
Wakare
Show appreciation/Seperation

Kihon-Basic Fundamentals

Men-uchi
Striking the middle of motodachi(oppenent)’s men
Kote-uchi
Striking the middle of motodachi(oppenent)’s kote
Kote-Men-uchi
Striking the middle of motodachi(oppenent)’s kote followed by motodachi’s men
Do-uchi
Striking the middle of motodachi(oppenent)’s do
Kote-Do-uchi
Striking the middle of motodachi(oppenent)’s kote followed by motodachi’s do

During training

Men o tsuke 「面(を)付け」
Put on your men and kote.
Taito 「帯刀」
To bring your shinai to your hip as if it was a sword in a scabbard.
Kamae 「構え」
Posture: assume a chudan (middle guard) no kamae position.
Sonkyo 「蹲踞」
Squatting posture
Hajime 「始め」
Start
Yame 「止め」
Stop
Osame-to 「納刀」
To return your sword to the sheathed position (end of each drill or session)
Men o tore 「面(を)取れ」
To remove the men

Kendo in Motion

Ashi-sabaki: Footwork
Ayumi-ashi
Sliding step with alternating feet(like normal walking)
Okuri-ashi
Sliding step with right foot leading(like normal kendo footwork))
Hikari-ashi
Sideway step used to turn the body diagonally
Tsugi-ashi
Left foot is pulled in close to the right foot before advancing forward with the right foot. (usually fast foot work)
Chisai
Small (short distance move)
Fumikomi
To stamp on the floor with the front foot so as to move the body stably when striking
Mae
Front (forward)
Ato
Back (backward)
Migi
Right
Hidari
Left
Ippon-shobu: A one-point-scoring
Jigeiko
The general methos of practice in which the trainee polishes techniques, disciplines mind and make an effort to overcome weak points.
Kakarigeiko
The all-out attack practice method where the trainee practices striking the motodachi with all the waza to learn without thinking of being struck or doged.
Kamae: 構え 【かまえ】: guard position
Jodan no Kamae : 上段の構え【じょ うだんのかまえ】
upper guard”, high position of the sword over your head; analogous to the element of “Fire” – aggressive and purely offensive stance, usually only an option for higher level Kendo practioners.
Chudan no Kamae : 中段の構え【ちゅ うだんのかまえ
middle guard”, commonest stance with tip of sword pointing at your opponents throat; analogous to the element of ‘water’- fluid and versatile.
Gedan no Kamae : 下段の構え【げだんのかまえ】
Least common stance, almost never used in keiko; sword tip should be below kneecap level.
Keiko: Practice
Ki ken tai icchi 気剣体一 致【き けんたいっち】
literally “the spirit, sword, body as one”; in practice, this means that the ki-ai, cut and footwork should all land in the same instant
Maai: 間合い 【まあい】
the ideal maximum distance between two opponents. This is different for each person and can take a long time to develop or extend it.
Issoku-ittou: 一束一刀 【いっそくいっとう】
One step, one sword
To-ma : 遠間 【とおま】
distant interval” – where the tips of the shinai are apart or just touching
Chikama : 近間 【ちかま】
close interval” – usually where the nakayui of one shinai has surpassed beyond the nakayui of the other shinai
Seme: 攻め 【せめ】
literally “to attack”, but should be taken as ‘to invade’ in this context.
Taiatari: 体当たり; 体当り 【たいあたり】
ramming attack, body blow; usually in succession after tsubazeriai
Tsubazeriai : 鍔迫り合い 【つばぜりあい】
forcefully meeting at the tsuba)
Where the two opponents are pressed against each other at the tsuba with a pocket of open space and the hips to provide the driving force. Both opponents are waiting for the optimum moment to either go through or strike while going backward.
Uchikomi
A method of practice in which one learns basic techniques of striking by responding chances provides by the motodachi.
Yuko-datosu
Valid strikes or thrust
Zanshin: 残心 【ざんしん】
literally “remaining heart”. Shin (心) also means mind or spirit. In this context, it means that the state of your heart/mind/spirit should be maintained immediately after executing an attack in order to be ready to meet any subsequent situation. Quite simply, it means ‘follow through’.

Waza-Techniques

Can be classified into two broad types; Shikae-waza, Oji-waza

Shikake-waza
Shikake means ‘challenge’. Shikake-waza is the name given to offensive techniques such as dabana, hiki, and harai waza.
Debana-waza
A waza where one strikes just at the moments when opponent is about to strke or attack, e.g. debana-men, debana-kote..
Hiki-waza
A waza where the player strikes while retreating, in situations such as tsuba-zeriai, where one in very close to the opponets e.g. hiki-men, hiki-kote, hiki-do
Harai-waza
A waza used when opponent is ready in kamae stance or in a defensive stance there is no opportunity to attack. It consists of striking after deflecting the opponent’s shinai and breaking the opponets’s stance e.g. harai-men, harai-kote.
Oji-waza:
Oji means ‘response’. Oji-waza is the name given to defensive and counterattack techniques such as suriage, kaeshi and nuki-waza.
Kaeshi-waza
A waza where in response to the opponent’s shinae with one’s own shinai and counterattacks a zone on the side opposite that of the parry e.g. men-kaeshi-men, men-kaeshi-do, kote-kaeshi-men.
Nuki-waza
A waza in which one avoids the opponets’s attack, causing the opponent to swing through the air, then counterattacks when the opponent’s waza or movement has come to an end e.g. kote-nuki-men, men-nuki-do.
Suriage-waza
A waza in which one deflects the strking opponents’ shinai by swiping it upward with the right or left side of one’s shinai, then strikes when the direction of the opponent’s shinai or his/her balance has been upset e.g. men-suriage-men, kote-suriage-men

Warm-up Practice

San-bin-shobu
A match which id decided by tow out of three points.
Shinpan
Match referee
Shiai-jo
A court where matches are held
Wakare
Seperation of players on the spot from tsuba-zeriai to distance of issoku-itto-no-maai. Resume upon command of ‘hajime’.
Hansoku
Prohibited acts, e.g. stepping out of the court, dropping shinai
Encho
Extention
Gogi
Temprary suspention of a match and holding of conference of the referees in the center of the court.
Hikiwake
Draw
Men/Kote/Do/Tsuki-ari
Scoring of valid strike
Nihon-me
The first point has been scored
Shobu
Called by the chief judge to resume the match after the players have both scored one point
Shobu-ari
Called by chief judge to announce victory and end of the match