term "kai" (school)

[donald1]

in class i was discussing with my instructor about how our school name was goju ryu and goju Kai. and he said it meant "school" he mentioned that some schools say that its schools in japan. but it means "school" not "Japanese school" or school in japan"... or does it?

 

[Carol]

The term 会 is closer to 'society' or 'gathering'. It does not mean school.

 

[K-man]

in class i was discussing with my instructor about how our school name was goju ryu and goju Kai. and he said it meant "school" he mentioned that some schools say that its schools in japan. but it means "school" not "Japanese school" or school in japan"... or does it?

The Goju Kai was the organisation put together by Gogen Yamaguchi in Japan. While technically the Goju Kai is the same style as 'Goju Ryu', it serves to distinguish it from the Okinawan Goju. Although Ryu could mean school it is probably closer to 'style' in its meaning. When I was training under the Goju Kai we were told Kai just meant 'organisation'.
:asian:

 

[TKDTony2179]

Just sounds confusing to me. I always thought that Ryu meant school. Maybe not. Learn something new everday.

 

[Chris Parker]

Nope. Ryu (&#27969 is also pronounced "nagashi", and means "flow" (or, in context, "style"), referring to a "flow of knowledge from one person/group to another". A particular martial system (or a non-martial one, for that matter) can be referred to as a "ryu", but that doesn't mean "school".

 

[DennisBreene]

Nope. Ryu (&#27969 is also pronounced "nagashi", and means "flow" (or, in context, "style"), referring to a "flow of knowledge from one person/group to another". A particular martial system (or a non-martial one, for that matter) can be referred to as a "ryu", but that doesn't mean "school".

Is literal translation possible, particularly in the sense of finding a synonym? It seems as though the explanations are tending to hone in on a conceptual target without finding the "bull's-eye".

 

[Chris Parker]

All words are conceptual, and all miss the exact target they're aiming for... that's one of the beautiful things about them. But really, all a word is is a sound, or a string of sounds, used to communicate concepts, ideals, feelings, and other intangibles with others who don't have the benefit of being in your head and your skin. Languages don't really lend themselves to a direct replacement of one word (from one language) with another (in another language)... although concepts can be used to translate from on lexicon across to a second. So all translation has to be a way of recognizing the concepts of a source language and applying the sounds for a similar or related concept in the receiving language. Literal translation isn't genuinely possible at any time.

 

[DennisBreene]

All words are conceptual, and all miss the exact target they're aiming for... that's one of the beautiful things about them. But really, all a word is is a sound, or a string of sounds, used to communicate concepts, ideals, feelings, and other intangibles with others who don't have the benefit of being in your head and your skin. Languages don't really lend themselves to a direct replacement of one word (from one language) with another (in another language)... although concepts can be used to translate from on lexicon across to a second. So all translation has to be a way of recognizing the concepts of a source language and applying the sounds for a similar or related concept in the receiving language. Literal translation isn't genuinely possible at any time.

Agreed. My post was a somewhat clumsy attempt to point that out. What we say is symbolic of what we think. But we also tend to think in the symbols of our language and that can result in the intrinsic "concept" of an entity being somewhat different when "conceived" of in one language versus another. It seems somewhat unproductive to try to push for an exact word in English that will represent a word/concept in Japanese unless it is an agreed upon convention. Translation is always going to be subject to issues of nuance.