Dojo Kun

The Calligraphic Characters (kanji) for Dojo kun

The Dojo Kun is often recited at the end of a karate lesson, to remind the student that they should have a strong humble character, both within the dojo, and away from it. Every dojo ends with the Sensei making the karatekas repeat the following Dojo Precepts based on the clear understanding of the Karate-do ideals of character building. The original Dojo kun were made by a Karate teacher from Okinawa by the name of Sakugawa Shungo who based them on the Chinese training hall rules prevalent at the time of Boddhidharma.

The JKA Dojo Kun in the illustration has the signature on the extreme left of Sensei Masatoshi Nakayama, the late Chief Instructor of the JKA.

Japanese Sentence in Kanji	Pronunciation	English Translation
一、人格完成に努むること	Hitotsu, jinkaku kansei ni tsutomeru koto	one, to work toward completeness in one’s character viz. Seek perfection of personality
一、誠の道を守ること	Hitotsu, makoto no michi wo mamoru koto.	One, to defend the path of truth viz. to stick to the truth regardless of the consequences.
一、努力の精神を養ること	Hitotsu , doryoku no seishin wo yashinau koto.	One, to foster a spirit of hard work. viz. to cultivate the spirit of putting in effort
一、礼儀を重んずること	Hitotsu, reigi wo omonzuru koto.	One, to keep in esteem the factors of courtesy and respect viz. to respect others
一、血気の勇を戒むること	Hitotsu, kekki no yu wo imashimuru koto.	One, to guard against the urge of being driven by physical youthful passion. viz. dont be impetuous / violent