A new student pairs off with a more senior one for his first lesson. "We'll start with a very basic Aikido throw called Shihonage," says the senior. "Start with a right hanmi stance, then strike me Shomenuchi while stepping foward. I use my right hand to sweep your hand in front of me using a gaeshi move similar to kotegaeshi. Bringing my hands together in the shihonage grip, I will turn tenkan, cut to my tanden, causing you to loose balance and fall. You'd better have a good ukemi ready!"

This is perhaps an extreme example of what happens all the time during a typical Aikido class. To a new student of Aikido, the jargon can be very confusing, especially since it is in a language that he or she is unlikely to know anything at all about. Aikido is described by a set of Japanese terms which need to be carefully explained to each new student in the dojo. In many ways, this jargon represents a barrier that must be overcome before the student can feel comfortable in exploring what Aikido has to offer.

Do we realy need this series of cryptic Japanese expressions to describe what we do in Aikido? It helps to have some standard terminology that can be used to discuss what this is all about, but it doesn't have to be Japanese. Most students do not have and will never have any instruction in Japanese as a language. They have no clue about how to pronounce these words, much less how to inflect them. English spellings are inconsistent, which leads to further confusion.

It should be a simple task to replace these Japanese words with standard English translations. Unfortunately, this is not so simple. It turns out that there just are no words to describe certain motions in English. Furthermore, there are concepts like ma'ai, which are very difficult to translate at all. Even something as simple as the tanden (center) has not real English equivalent.

Over the years, I have worked out a practice of using both English and Japanese terms. I always state the typical Japanese name for a technique I have demonstrated (Tsuki Koshinage, for example). During the demonstration, however, I tend to use English terms to describe what is happening. "You need to get your center under his and then extend his arm diagonally up and out like this." When there is no good English term for what I need to say, I use the Japanese one. The kamae postures in sword play are a good example. To me, "gedan no kamae" is more accurate than "forward lower stance". I am willing to describe things in English where it is meaningful to do so, but I won't give up on the usefulness of unique terms defined by other cultures.

Removing language barriers to Aikido is simply a matter of creating teaching techniques which puts the moves to be described into a better cultural framework for the student. Usually (as in my case) the teacher has learned using a older terminology system. It is up to him or her to make the translation for the newer generation of students. As time goes on, a new system emerges which is better suited to the needs of the student.