how to refer to someone who practices judo or karate

[optimistic pessimist]

Dear all,

I would like to ask how do you normally refer to someone who practices judo.

a judo player? a judo athlete? a judo person? a judo wrestler? Or something else?

Thank you!

OP

 

[Chicken Sandwich]

NOT A TEACHER

A karate practitioner is called a karateka (空手家[SUP]?[/SUP]).

Karate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A practitioner of Judo is known as a Judoka (柔道家 jūdōka[SUP]?[/SUP], Judo practitioner), though traditionally only those of 4th dan or higher were called "Judoka".

Judo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Barb_D]

However, I have never heard either of those in real life. I know more people who do karate than I do judo, so maybe that is used, but I think I've only ever heard "she does karate" or something similar.

 

[5jj]

My son did judo enthusastically for fourteen years, reaching 2nd dan level. Like the people Barb knows, he only ever 'did judo'. I never heard him refer to himself or any of his colleagues as 'judoka'.

 

[TomUK]

Not a teacher!

As judo and karate both originate in Japan it is probably best to use the Japanese expressions as already posted by Chicken Sandwich.

But since both fighting sports are often referred to as martial arts maybe it is not entirely wrong to call a practitioner of these sports a martial artist - if one really wanted to use an English expression.

TomUK

 

[5jj]

As judo and karate both originate in Japan it is probably best to use the Japanese expressions as already posted by Chicken Sandwich.

I see little point in using these expressions if people who actually take part don't use them.

 

[Reemy]

Dear all,

I would like to ask how do you normally refer to someone who practices judo.

a judo player? a judo athlete? a judo person? a judo wrestler? Or something else?

Thank you!

OP

"Judoka is the traditional Japanese word, but here and now, they are judo players." See article below..

Taking hold of judo Stressing competition, local club has turned Japanese art on its ear - Chicago Sun-Times | HighBeam Research

 

[5jj]

I don't think that's widely used. There are only six citations for 'judo player(s)' in COCA - and Steve Cohen's sentence is one of them.

 

[Chicken Sandwich]

I see little point in using these expressions if people who actually take part don't use them.

I agree that "judoka" is not a word that is often used in casual judo circles (I also did judo many moons ago, though not in an English-speaking country), but I have heard and seen it used on the news and on news websites when referring to professional judo practioners.

 

[winnie22]

Judoist and karate player

 

[5jj]

Judoist and karate player

Do you have any evidence that these terms are commonly used?

 

[Chicken Sandwich]

Judoist and karate player

"Judoist" is even less common than "judoka". There are on COCA ( http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/ ) 8 examples of "judoka" but 0 of "judoist".

 

[winnie22]

Yes, I heard it in a Tv series

 

[bhaisahab]

Yes, I heard it in a Tv series

Which TV series?

 

[Chicken Sandwich]

Yes, I heard it in a Tv series

But that doesn't count as evidence that the word "judoist" is commonly used.

 

[5jj]

Yes, I heard it in a Tv series

I don't really think that the use of a word in one TV series is sufficient grounds for offering it as the word to use. We don't even know if it was used seriously.

 

[bhaisahab]

I don't really think that the use of a word in one TV series is sufficient grounds for offering it as the word to use. We don't even know if it was used seriously.

I have no idea if it is correct, but I could accept "judoist", it looks like it might be used. However, "karate player" seems completely unnatural to me.

 

[Chicken Sandwich]

However, "karate player" seems completely unnatural to me.

I agree. "Chess player" is fine because chess is a game that you can play, but karate isn't a game.

 

[optimistic pessimist]

Dear all,
Thanks for your replies.
I'm really surprised to see such a large number of posts to my thread.
As I have sometimes heard native English spaekers say "I'm a basketball/ baseball player", I thought there is a common phrase to refer to someone who do judo or karate, which are not ball games and therefore don't go with "player".

Also, I didn't know judoka or karateka can be used in Enlgish. In Japanese, ka is sometimes added to a noun to refer to a person who do the activity. (For example, the Japanese for music is ongaku, and the word for musician is ongakuka.) In my opinion, however, judoka sounds a little bit old fashioned or formal, so we are more likely to use "I practice judo" type expressions rather than judoka.

Thank you!

OP

 

[abaka]

My wife's Japanese, and I asked her -- a non-practitioner -- whether judoka and karateka were words she heard much. She said no.