tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jan 07 07:41:17 2013

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Re: [Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: moqbara

Steven Boozer ([email protected])



> Klingon Word of the Day for Monday, January 07, 2013
> 
> Klingon word: moqbara
> Part of speech: noun
> Definition: mok'bara
> Source: IKS Gorkon trilogy: Book One: A Good Day to Die

IIRC spelled {moQbara'} in KGT.  AFAIK it's never appeared in a sentence.

ST Enc. (p.207):  Ritual Klingon martial-arts form, resembling terrestrial tai chi. Worf taught a Mok'bara class to his Enterprise-D shipmates most mornings at 0700 ("Man of the People" [TNG])  Beverly Crusher and Deanna Troi were regular participants, often working out by themselves. (TNG "Second Chances")  Worf taught the Mok'bara to his fellow captives at the secret Romulan prison camp in the Carraya System in 2369.  The exercises, designed to enhance one's agility in hand-to-hand combat, helped to revive the dormant warrior spirit among the captives there ("Birthright II" [TNG])." 

Worf also practiced alone, wearing his white Mok'bara workout clothes, in his quarters to relive tension and stress. (TNG "Birthright I"; cf. ill. TKW 198) 

Worf explained that the movements were the basis of Klingon hand-to-hand combat. (TNG "Birthright, Pt. II")

TKW 85:  Though Klingons have a vast array of power weapons, the purest form of combat is hand-to-hand. Fighting in such close proximity to one another, a beard may be thought of by some as a disadvantage since one of the combatants may grab onto the beard of the other and draw him closer. To wear a beard, and long hair for that matter, shows that one is both brave and confident--willing to give the opponent the upper hand, and secure that one's own skills are superior.

KGT 207:  the Klingon verb {mI'} may be translated dance, but it also means exercise, do calisthenics, do martial arts movements.

HQ 10.2:  The 'finger verbs' are used when talking about specific ways of using a particular device ... or when describing specific ways to use fingers (as in movements in some martial arts). ... {nan} is used to refer to a particularly effective martial arts kick.

  jaghwI'Daq jIHom 
  I use (my) second toe at my enemy. (HQ 10.2)

[IDIOM: "I claim my enemy is unworthy or weak":  "The gesture itself is most likely to come up during ritualized martial arts combat (which, incidentally, is often a part of Klingon ballet)." (HQ 10.2:11)

HQ 11.2:  The verb {lol} ["be in a stance, be in a pose"] is also used frequently when talking about martial arts. In fact, there is a noun {lol} that refers to a specific position in the martial arts form Mok'bara.

The *KoH-man-ara* is a move resembling the crane block in tai chi chuan. (TNG "Second Chances")


Related words:

tonSaw' 		Klingon fighting (n)

Suv 			fight (v)
HIgh 		fight dirty (v)
mI' 			do martial arts movements (v)


--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons



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