I have recently begun to study linguistic dictionaries more intensively, and I will therefore also draw comparisons to the Deutsches Wörterbuch by the Brothers Grimm. What many people may not know: the Brothers Grimm did not only write fairy tales, but also worked on a dictionary—one that, during their lifetimes, only reached the letter F and was not completed until 1961.
Oxford University also decided to publish a dictionary intended to cover the entire English language and to provide well-founded descriptions of its words.
What is evident in both of these monumental works: their completion took decades—and both were only finished after the deaths of their original initiators.
I recently acquired the final volume of the Great Japanese-German Dictionary—a work that likewise took decades to complete and was also the result of a collaborative effort.
Now to my actual topic:
Is it possible to compile a truly significant dictionary on Karate?
Yes, I’m aware that Karate dictionaries already exist.
But: can the existing works really be compared to the three examples mentioned above?
Such a dictionary should aim to explore all Karate styles down to the smallest detail. This would include reading every available Karate book in its original language. Naturally, the starting point should be the works published before the Second World War—for example, the books by Funakoshi, Motobu, and Mabuni, to name just a few.
Newspapers from that era should also be taken into account—again, in the original language. However, one must be aware that newspapers from that time often contained incorrect kanji, so a strong command of the Japanese language is absolutely essential.
In addition, numerous other works from Japanese and Okinawan literature would need to be considered.
The next step would be to write each word on an index card, noting who first used it in written form.
For example: when was the word “Atifa” first recorded in writing?
One of the rarer words in this context is “Yakaa”—a term that appears in the Sai-Kata Yakaa no Sai. It was Motobu Naoki Sensei who first explained the meaning of the word Yakaa to a broader audience in 2015. (https://www.facebook.com/share/16kVzYzU4x/?mibextid=wwXIfr)
Such an approach would be necessary for every word, including precise sources and clearly defined meanings.
It would therefore be a tremendous project…
Karate Kenkyū Shitsu 