Kime and Fajin
Words are always inadequate and can only point the way to a much deeper meaning.

If you say ‘kick’ to a non martial artist, they’d think of kicking a football or a tin can, a martial artist would think of something far deeper and a senior martial artist even deeper still.

Translating from one language to another confuses it even more. I often see heated discussion between people looking at the same thing through different windows that can’t see it’s the same.

The literal translation of Japanese or Chinese words is insufficient for the martial arts. The word is a doorway to an understanding that gets deeper as the years and study goes by.

In the beginning kime and fajin are black and white explanations but as the years pass there are many shades of pulling, pushing, striking, throwing, blocking, shaking, pressing, gouging, locking, strangling, choking and unsettling and often 4 or five of those skills are being employed in one technique. It has to learned in layers. We virtually never use full force and it will vary according to the situation, the opponent and our skill level.

So when someone translates literally, that’s a low level understanding, when the understanding can be pointed to with words and then followed up over time with practice, questions, challenges, validated and internalised beyond words – you’re in a good place.