Japanese counting in karate

In most Karate styles, techniques are performed ten times, and it is common use in dojos all over the world to count in Japanese. Just like the bowing, counting in Japanese is a characteristic of Karate.
As a student, you should learn to count in Japanese out loud too, because the time will come when you are giving commands to fellow students (or because you have become a Karate instructor yourself), so you better know how to count in the way Sensei does. Students are familiar to his type of counting in Japanese and will be less startled or giggly if they hear the commands in a familiar way.

Counting and demonstrating

As an instructor, you will find that Japanese counting, performing a technique, and watching your students at the same time is quite demanding and can get you puffed and out of breath in no time.
Important points here: Do the techniques slowly, and count BEFORE you do the techniques. Your students are conditioned to do the technique when they hear the command. Thus, you must not start yourself with your own technique until you have completed the command.
Doing a repetition of 10 techniques is not a race against the clock. You won’t win a medal for rushing through it quickly. The slower you do it, the more people can concentrate on doing each individual technique with power, speed and precision. THAT is what you want to teach them, not to have them rush through it, leaving you breathless in the process.