Training for a judo match with 稽古

Vocabulary Explanation: Training with 稽古

Members of the judo team plea for Takeo to help them in their upcoming match against a rival high school. Takeo quickly accepts their request, but Sunakawa considers how this will impact Takeo’s new relationship with Yamato.

砂川(すなかわ):: 「おまえ試合(しあい)の稽古(けいこ)するんだったら　しばらく大和(やまと)さんに会えなくなっちゃうんじゃない？１(いっ)か月(げつ)くらい？」; “When you're training for the match, won't you be unable to see Yamato for a while? For about a month.”

Here, 稽古(けいこ) is used to describe training for a judo match.

Key Points

稽古(けいこ) = “training” (specifically for martial arts / traditional arts)
- 稽古(けいこ) refers to disciplined, structured training in martial arts and traditional arts
- Unlike 練習(れんしゅう) as general practice, 稽古(けいこ) emphasizes learning from past techniques and traditional methods
- Pattern: 試合(しあい)の稽古(けいこ)をする → “to train for a match”
Conditional form: ～するんだったら
- ～んだったら is a casual conditional meaning “if you’re going to~” or “when you~”
- Here: 試合(しあい)の稽古(けいこ)するんだったら → “if you’re going to train for the match”
Negative potential + contraction: 会(あ)えなくなっちゃう
- 会(あ)えなくなっちゃう is a casual contraction of 会(あ)えなくなってしまう
- Pattern: [potential negative form] + なる → “to become unable to~”
- The ちゃう (from てしまう) adds a sense of regret or unfortunate outcome
Seeking confirmation: じゃない？
- じゃない？ at the end of a sentence seeks confirmation or agreement
- It’s casual and can be translated as “won’t you?” “don’t you think?” or “right?”
- The speaker (Sunakawa) is prompting Takeo to consider the situation