Fighting Styles in Japanese

Have you ever wondered how a fighting style is written in Japanese? Like boxing... or kickboxing... or chinese kickboxing... or drunken, chinese kickboxing? Or maybe how karate is written in Japanese? Well, worry no more, I've compiled a list of those names for you.

The names below are either in kanji or katakana. For fighting styles from around Japan and China, you'll see their names are in kanji 漢字. The names of other fighting styles become loan-words and are written in katakana カタカナ.

• Boxing
  bokushingu ボクシング
  kentou 拳闘
• Capoeira
  kapoera カポエイラ
• Chinese Martial Arts
  chuugoku bujutsu 中国武術
  chuugoku kenpou 中国拳法
• Karate
  karate 空手
• Kempo
  kenpou 拳法
• Kickboxing
  kikkubokushingu キックボクシング
• Kung Fu
  kunfuu 功夫
  kufuu 工夫
• Jiu Jitsu
  jyuujitsu 柔術
• Judo
  jyuudou 柔道
• Muay Thai
  muetai ムエタイ
• Pradal Serey
  puradaru serei プラダル・セレイ
• Sambo
  sanbo サンボ
• Sanda, Chinese Kickboxing
  sanda 散打
• Savate
  sabbato サバット
• Shaolin Kung Fu
  shourinken 少林拳
• Silat
  siratto シラット
• Sumo
  sumou 相撲
• Taido
  taidou 躰道
• Taekkyeon
  tekkyon テッキョン
• Taekwondo
  tekondoo テコンドー
  taikendou 跆拳道
• Wing Chun
  eishunken 詠春拳
• Wrestling
  resuringu レスリング
• Wushu
  bujutsu taikyoken 武術太極拳
  wuushuu ウーシュー
• Zui Quan, Drunken Boxing
  suiken 酔拳

(if you're wondering what jutsu 術 means, check out the meaning of Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Genjutsu)

Related Words

Here's a little more Japanese vocabulary about fighting.

• bujutsu 武術
  Martial arts. Specially Chinese.
• budou 武道
  Martial way. Study of the martial arts.
• bujutsu-ka 武術家
  budou-ka 武道家
  Practitioner of bujutsu/budou.
  (see ka of mangaka 漫画家)

Win and Loss

• shoubu 勝負
  A match.
• katsu 勝つ
  To win.
• kachi 勝ち
  kachi 勝
  Victory.
• makeru 負ける
  To lose.
• make 負け
  make 負
  Loss.

Fighting and Brawling

• kenka ケンカ
  A quarrel. A fight.
• tatakau 闘う
  tatakau 戦う
  To fight
• naguru 殴る
  To hit. To strike.
• naguriai 殴り合い
  Fist fight
• ataru 当たる
  To hit something.
• ataranai 当たらない
  To not hit something.
• kawasu 躱す
  To evade.
• kobushi 拳
  Fist
• panchi パンチ
  Punch
• nageru 投げる
  To throw.
• nage 投げ
  A throw.
• keru 蹴る
  To kick
• keri 蹴り
  A kick.

Outcomes

• itai 痛い
  Hurting. Ouch!
• itami 痛み
  Pain.
• taosu 倒す
  To make [someone] fall.
  To make [someone] go down.
• taoreru 倒れる
  To fall down. To go down.
• kizetsu suru 気絶する
  To faint.
• kizetsu saseru 気絶させる
  To make [someone] faint.
• kossetsu 骨折
  Bone fracture.
• nyuuin suru 入院する
  To be hospitalized.
• shinu 死ぬ
  To die.
• korosu 殺す
  koroshiteyaru 殺してやる
  To kill.
• ano yo ni okutte yaru あの世に送ってやる
  To send [someone] to the other world.

Other Vocabulary

See also this list of body parts in Japanese in case you want to refer to something exactly, like "hitting [someone's] face," kao wo naguru 顔を殴る, for example.