W

Wabi [侘び ] or Wabi-sabi [侘寂]

Simplicity, as dictated by Shintoism. The single character/ideogram is coupled with a kana character and means "the beauty to be found in poverty and simplicity; subdued taste; quiet refinement; sober refinement." The first character means, "proud; lonely."

Wabi is a term that means something like, "rustic simplicity, freshness and quietness. It is often seen readily in the simplistic yet complex art of Japan. It is an application of human effort to create natural art with man-made materials and is most beautify with an elegance unparalleled in any other culture.

Wabi-sabi is a developed wisdom of natural simplicity and often incurs flawed beauty. Wabi and sabi suggest in the art both desolation and solitude.

Wabi-sabi [侘寂]

These two characters/ideograms, which by the way are meant to be two complimentary terms as in yin-yang, meaning to have an aesthetic sense in Japanese art emphasizing quiet simplicity and subdued refinement. The first character means, "proud; lonely," and the second character means, "loneliness; quietly; mellow; mature; death of a priest."

In the martial arts some of the fundamental principles of martial applications defines such things as "economic movement" where maximum effectiveness is achieved best by restricting movement to its simplest form and application to gain greater results, i.e. similar to the value placed by the Japanese cultural and Shintoist beliefs that produce art that is simple, pure and most valuable as described by wabi-sabi shinto concepts, etc.

Often in self-defense it is taught that keeping applications to its most natural and basic moves that follow nature in its natural and instinctive forms creates greater benefit and ability to be applied in combat by the same means. It ensures its simplicity is most effective over more complex and most difficult techniques used by many western dojo.

One who practices a martial art with intent on simplicity, slow and uncluttered with complexities that come naturally as the cycles of nature dictate will find a authentically practice of a traditional martial art. It is a matter of eliminating and trimming away the inessentials that add no value to the application or display of the art.

One can feel the wabi-sabi influences in traditional forms of any art including the martial arts. 

Wago [和合]

The characters/ideograms mean "harmonization; harmony; concord; agreement; unity; union." The first character means, "harmony, Japanese style; peace; soften; Japan," the second character means, "fit; suit; join."

In martial systems this speaks to the harmonization or harmony of mind and body to the spirit, spirit being that third jewel that connects the two in a moral and just manner so applications are just, correct and in modern times legal.

Harmony in the originating culture of budo began in the feudal era and was a direct descendent of Chinese influences that touched Okinawa as well. Harmony is to achieve a state of balance in martial arts that foster moral, good and benevolent life or the way of life. The study of the ancient classics like the I Ching and the Tao Te Ching are meant to provide the corner stone that sets a foundation of high moral and humble study of martial arts

Wajin [和人]

The characters/ideograms mean "Japanese person 9term esp. used in ancient China, i.e. meaning man/men of wa or harmony." The first character means, "harmony; Japanese style; peace; soften; Japan," and the second character means, "person."

Wajin is a part or word/term to describe a particular process called "gyo." Gyo are exercises that invigorate man's "intuition." The exercises strengthen and temper the physical centers of an individual so that when they are fully strengthened and in full operation, enable man to create "wa" or the harmonious unification of man and woman, science and religion, East and West.

Wajin is in reference to grains therefor "adjusting one's daily diet" to an appropriate form of consumption is one of several critical "gyo exercises" that are necessary for attaining balance, balance of yin-yang, balance that creates harmony within, wa.

Another part of gyo is physical activity where one develops hara or haragei where physical energies are focused and along with eating appropriate foods, grains, etc. along with dynamic activities often found in martial systems is necessary.

Other aspects of gyo are "diet," "physical activity," "mental activity," "establishment of order first internally and then naturally externally," "service," and "self-reflection toward self-transmutation." Gyo is spontaneous self-expression in harmony with the life and order of the universe. Achievement comes first within the self-universe of humans and naturally expresses itself with the external universe.

Wa is harmony, Wajin is harmony of man. Man's internal harmony is achieved through the yin-yang of the mind-body or body-mind.

Waka Sensei [若先生]

The characters/ideograms mean "youth; child; young; new: teacher; master; doctor; with names of teachers, etc. as an honorific." The first character means, "young; if; perhaps; possibly; low number; immature," the second character means, "before; ahead; previous; future; precedence," the third character means, "life; genuine; birth."

Waka-sensei is simply a younger sensei. I would classify this as a student teacher, i.e. a Sho-dan and Ni-dan who provide assistance to sensei so they can apprentice to them before reaching a level that allows them to be full fledged sensei with the option of opening a dojo, etc.

Wakaru [判る]

The characters/ideograms mean "to be understood; to be comprehended; to be grasped; to become clear; to be known; to be discovered; to be realized; to be found out." The character alone means, "judgement; signature; stamp; seal."

In a traditional dojo this term is used to ask and respond to training and practice. When used with verb conjugations it is both a question and then an answer, i.e.

wakarimasuka - do you understand?

wakarimasu - (I) understand.

and so forth. It is sometimes good to try and understand the culture and language if traveling to the honbu dojo is in your plans to train and practice. Taking time to learn such phrases and other more cultural words and etiquette will go a long way in communications and understandings.

Wansu [汪楫]

The two characters/ideograms are not translated into any specific meaning through my sources. The first character means, "flowing full; expanse of water; wide; deep," and the second character means, "sculling oar." The Isshinryu family gives Wansu, thus the characters, a meaning of "dumping form." It is not clear as to the origins of this name vs. meaning. (to skull through water or to skull oar through flowing water or expanse of water? Hmmm.

Another name for this kata is wanshu, ansu, and anshu. In another site they speak of giving meaning to wansu as both "dumping form and dragon boy dumping form." The characters do not support this nor are the supportive of the English word used for the kata, wansu.

Wansu may also again be a name or title of a person who created this kata and could have passed down by word of mouth that it was a dumping form. There is one section, part of set of techniques within the kata that could be interpreted as a dumping action but that is not verifiable and there are other forms or kata that have techniques or combinations within the pattern that could be interpreted as a dumping technique.

These two characters have a general meaning of "dumping" along with abandonment; giving up; throwing away and disposal, i.e. [投棄] The English word used for these two characters is "touki."

Also, [不当廉売] are characters for "dumping," with the first character meaning, "negative; non-; bad; ugly; clumsy," the second character meaning, "hit; right; appropriate; himself," the third character meaning, "bargain; reason; charge; suspicion; point; account; purity; honest; cheap; rested; peaceful," and the last character meaning, "sell." Even if we add the character for form it would not convey the meaning for a kata the dumps a person in a conflict.

Warudjie [悪知恵]

The characters/ideograms mean "guile; cunning; craft; serpentine wisdom." The first character means, "bad; vice; rascal; false; evil; wrong," the second character means, "know; wisdom," the third character means, "favor; blessing; grace; kindness."

If you find avoidance is unavoidable then make warudjie, or guile, your technique to avoid the more physical aspects of protection. Using your mind to attack the adversary in lieu of the body seems like another solid way to defeat the attack/attacker. Using a skill in deception, tricks and cunning to cause the other person to stop before starting the fight seems prudent.

Use that cunning to skillfully provide deceit as a strategy to avoid and protect yourself, your family and your friends. Beguile the adversary in a deceptive way to gain your advantage thus your ultimate goal - to avoid the fight altogether.

Wasureru [忘れる]

The character/ideogram means "to forget; to leave carelessly; to be forgetful of; to forget about; to forget (an article)." The character/ideogram without the suffixes/verb conjugations means, "forget."

Wasureru or to unlearn or to forget about something in martial arts refers to the practice of martial arts after learning the fundamentals, basics, patterns, and rhythms, etc. where one starts to actually unlearn what they learned to make room for a more spontaneous way of applying the martial arts.

Look at the enbusen line of kata for instance. This is a set pattern used as a blueprint to teach such fundamentals as distance, space, stance or kamae, etc. so the person can teach the mind-body to feel instinctively its atomistic aspects so they may holistically blend them in reality based sparring contests. Wasureru is that unlearning or to forget about such things to allow the freedom of the mind so it remains present in the moment so the body and subconscious or lizard brain of the mind can blend, mix and holistically on the "fly" create apparent instinctive reactions to any action.

When you learn the enbusen you then must forget it and allow free-flowing of all those techniques, stances and applications into something unique much like any attack by an adversary is unique, unexpected and unpredictable.

Kata patterns, rhythms, etc. are also something that must be unlearned or to be forgotten so you can practice the same method in kata practice which also ingrains, embeds, and encodes the bunkai in a more chaotic blend that is created spontaneously as attacks are created spontaneously.

To learn is yin, to unlearn is yang and to accomplish both is holistic in our approach to learning such difficult disciplines.

Waza [技 ]

This one is fairly easy and mostly well known in both Asian and Western martial systems. It means, "technique; art; skill; ability; feat; performance; vocation."

It does have other characters, i.e. [業] meaning deed; act; work; performance. Another is [禍] meaning, "calamity; catastrophe." Vastly different as to character or ideogram but the English word is identical.

I feel no explanation is necessary here for this term because a technique is a technique. Whether an actual strike or kick or a type of movement used in applying a strike/punch/kick.

The term is used for technique in the martial arts. Human's are present in the technique. It is a means to to create technique and allow the technique to create us. It is connected to the body-mind, i.e. thought and application is not two distinct things but "one." They don't exist one without the other but a holistic existence when applied in combat.

It is a moment of intuitive action that one becomes one with waza or when the mind and body become one, holistic, action that is waza. It is the efforts of the mind-body that wields the waza by the blending of the thoughts and actions instinctually due to long, arduous repetitive practice that provides unity of the mind-body-spirit.

Anyone who achieves ultimate waza in applications against a combative antagonist is experiencing holistic unity of the hand/foot to the mind/no-mind. You become the technique applicable to the situation in the present moment where the mind achieves optimal waza blend to that attack waza, etc.

When we are holistically applying complete mind-body waza we cannot distinguish one from the other. Through this art of waza we find the true nature of waza and promote it to an advanced perfection of the present moment, i.e. a fluidity that reaches perfection of present moment application in combat.

Waza are within the totality of the kata both obvious fundamental waza and waza variants.

Wu Wei [無為]

The characters/ideograms mean "idleness; inactivity." The first character means, "nothingness, none; ain't; nothing; nil; not," the second character means, "do; change; make; benefit; welfare; be of use; reach to; try; practice; cost; serve as; good; advantage; as a result of."

The mind of wu wei provides a means by which martial systems train the mind. The training results in a mind, wu wei, that "flows like water," "reflects like a mirror," and "responds like an echo." The Japanese term for these characters/ideograms is "mui," meaning idleness; inactivity.

Wu wei means "without action," "without effort," or "without control." The full phrase in martial systems is wei wu wei or action without action or effortless doing. We would be best served in martial systems by observing ourselves and our behaviors with full acceptance  of ourselves for who we are and therefore release any conscious control over our lives. In martial systems this means, to me, practicing and training to where one's instincts control actions in all beliefs taking the process of thinking and removing it from the actions taken in martial arts, etc. It is making the training and applications as natural to human action as can be achieved. It is the ability achieved to take appropriate actions in any situation with natural action. This makes it even more important that martial systems training be such that it either matches or relates closely to natural action or movement.