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I've heard a martial arts Sensei use a phrase that sounds to my English ears like "yow may", I think in context (at the end of a teaching, when it was time to practice he would clap his hands and then say this) meaning something like "let's go" or "to the front". What's the proper/standard spelling of this phrase when you transliterate it to Latin characters?

Kev
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    If it were something that was said after the practice, it would be "yame" (止め), meaning "Stop!", "Avast!". – naruto Apr 29 '16 at 05:46
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    Are you sure it's even a Japanese martial art? – istrasci Apr 29 '16 at 05:56
  • @naruto I was pretty sure it was before, but maybe I'm remembering wrong. Thanks for the insightful comment either way. – Kev Apr 29 '16 at 06:44
  • @istrasci, yes, it's Aikido. :) – Kev Apr 29 '16 at 06:45
  • @naruto also love the "avast!" translation :) – Kev Apr 29 '16 at 06:55
  • @naruto is it possible someone (especially a non-native speaker) would say it when done teaching, in the sense of "OK, that's enough, I'm done talking"? My partner also remembers him saying it at the end of teaching rather than at the end of practicing, that's why I wonder about the above possibility. (I know, maybe we're both remembering wrongly.) – Kev Apr 29 '16 at 09:54
  • Whoever upvoted istrasci's comment after mine...is there more to the "are you sure?" than my surface interpretation of it? – Kev Apr 29 '16 at 09:58
  • Was your sensei actually Japanese, or did they just (mis)remember the phrase themselves? – deceze May 01 '16 at 23:43
  • @deceze No, not native Japanese. Used frequently enough that I don't think it would be a misremember on their part, though. – Kev May 02 '16 at 06:26
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    はじめ (Hajime) sounds most correct from the context. A teacher would say this to let students start solving problems in an exam or to let students start practicing in PE. やめ (Yame) is the just opposite. – Keita ODA May 02 '16 at 08:47
  • @KeitaODA thanks, that rings a bell too. Maybe I was confusing the two, and he'd say Yame at the end, Hajime at the beginning of the physical part. – Kev Jun 01 '16 at 12:47
  • BTW why was my question downvoted? Also why do people answer in comments here? :) – Kev Jun 01 '16 at 12:48
  • It just seems like a poorly defined question, possibly unanswerable. People can only make guesses. –  Jun 02 '16 at 16:08
  • @snailplane fair enough, I guess it seemed better defined when I was more sure what I was remembering. Nonetheless I think it's been fruitful... – Kev Jun 03 '16 at 10:56

2 Answers2

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What you are referring to does indeed sound like (止め) or Yame!! A lot times (止め) or "stop", is used in some sort of practice like baseball (少年野球) ,budou (武道) and other sports.

In a competition, Judo for example this is what is said.

Before initial match. 『まて』、『そのまま』 『Wait』、『stay』

Re-start of match and during the match. 『はじめ』, 『よし』 『Start』, 『resume』

At the end of the match 『それまで』 『Stop』Not the literal translation, that would be 『Until then or the end』

Although (止め) is used quite a lot during pratice it is not said in a tournament.

Not sure if that helps you any?

KyloRen
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As naruto said, it could be "yame" (止め), meaning "Stop!", "Avast!". I disagree that it would have to be after the practice to make sense. Having no other suggestions I will go with this.

Kev
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