On kamae and kurai dori

The term Kurai-dori is made up of two kanji.

位 KURAI means "position"

取 DORI means "take"

Translated literally, KURAI-DORI means "position taking", often used interchangeably with the term KAMAE in some of the martial arts handed down from Takamatsu Sensei to Hatsumi Sensei.

Koto Ryu Koppojutsu fighting postures are usually referred to as Kurai-dori when we want to be "squeaky precise" historically, though Hatsumi Sensei will often use the term Kamae as well for Koto Ryu.

Many of these Japanese terms are more generic than we Westerners might hope for. We want to know things in a specific manner - "Is it Kurai-dori 'taking a position' or is it Kamae 'posture'? What is the OFFICIAL term?" ...when the original practitioners of our martial arts were probably much more likely treating such terms as mere descriptors.

Think of the English terms "hand-to-hand" or "close-quarters battle" or "unarmed combat". These are often used interchangeably, and none could be "patented" or registered for exclusive use. They are just everyday English words in combination describing fighting. Japanese can be like that too.

- Stephen K. Hayes