Iron in Chinese / Japanese...

tesshin sekichou

鉄心石腸 is a Japanese proverb which suggest you should have the inner-strength and will as hard and steadfast as iron. It's the Japanese way to say, "stay strong." 鉄心石腸 is an especially uplifting thing to say to a person in distress or recovering from a disaster. It's kind of the survivor's creed.

If you literally translate this, it means, "iron will, stone guts" or "iron heart, rock-hard bowels."

tiě xīn

tetsu kokoro / tesshin

This can be translated as "iron heart," "steel core," "iron mind" in Chinese and Japanese Kanji.

鐵心 is not a common term, but I added it here since so many were looking for "iron heart." 鐵心 is almost like saying you are without emotions or feeling - a very stoic person. 鐵心 is not a Buddhist trait.

gāng tiě xiá

鋼鐵俠 is the Chinese title for Iron Man, the comic book superhero.

tiě quán

tekken

철권

鐵拳 is a common theme used by various schools of martial arts.

鐵 means "iron" but in some cases, can mean "indisputable."
拳 means fist.

Some schools use the older/Taiwanese way to Romanize the iron fist, so you may have seen it spelled "Tieh Chuan" instead of "Tie Quan." Neither way is technically incorrect.

Note that in Mandarin, the first part of the first character sounds like the English word "tea" blending into a soft "-eh" sound. The second character sounds a lot like "chew on" but as if it is one syllable.

After WWII in Japan, the Kanji for iron was simplified. This new Kanji form is shown to the right. If you want this modern Japanese version, please click on the Kanji to the right, instead of the button above. The characters shown to the left would still be considered the old or ancient Japanese version of this title.

tetsujin

鉄人 is a Japanese title that means iron man or strong man.

鉄人 is sometimes used as a given name romanized as Tetsujin, Temujin, Tetsundo, Tetsuhito, or Tetsuto.

mó chǔ chéng zhēn

This Chinese proverb means, "to grind an iron bar down to a fine needle," or "Even a bar of iron can be ground down to a needle [with perseverance]."

Figuratively, this means to persevere in a difficult task or to study diligently.

tiě zhǎng

tetsu-tenohira

철장

These two characters mean "iron palm," the martial arts technique taught by Brian Gray and others.

This term can mean different things to different people. The consensus is that rather than a type or style of martial arts, this is a technique for refining hand position and strengthening of hands to strike blows for with maximum force and effect.

The regime may include herbal treatments and special exercises to fortify the hands.

In more extreme versions, the carpals and metacarpal bones in the hand are systematically broken, so that when they heal, they will become stronger.

Japanese note: This does make sense in Japanese (though the version shown above is the ancient form of the first Kanji) this is far from a commonly-known term.

bǎi shé bù qū

백절불굴

This Korean proverb means "indomitable spirit," at least, that is the way it is commonly translated in martial arts circles (Taekwondo, Hapkido, etc.).

The literal translation is "[one] hundred [times] broken [still] don't succumb."
Or more naturally translated, "Even if attacked/beaten one hundred times, still be undaunted/indomitable."

Notes:
Some will say this is one long word rather than a proverb.
百折不屈 is also a proverb/word in Chinese though rarely used in modern times.

bù qū

fukutsu

불굴

不屈 is the short form of a longer Chinese word, and also a word used in Korean and Japanese to express the idea of being indomitable. It literally means, "will not bend," "will not crouch," "will not yield," "will not flinch," or "will not submit."

Note: Some will translate this as "indomitable spirit"; however, technically, there is no character to suggest the idea of "spirit" in this word.

See Also:  Tenacity | Fortitude | Strength | Undaunted

ma ke ji damashii

This Japanese proverb means "indomitable spirit" or "unyielding spirit."

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

bù qū bù náo

fukutsu futou

不屈不撓 means "Indomitable" or "Unyielding."

不屈不撓 is a long word by Chinese standards. At least, it is often translated as a single word into English. It's actually a proverb in Chinese.

If you want to break it down, you can see that the first and third characters are the same. Both meaning "not" (they work as a suffix to make a negative or opposite meaning to whatever character follows).

The second character means "bendable."

The last means "scratched" or "bothered."

So this really means "Won't be bent, can't be bothered." I have also seen it written as "Will not crouch, will not submit." This comes from the fact that the second character can mean, "to crouch" and the last can mean "to submit" (as in "to give in" such as "submitting to the rule of someone else"). This may explain better why these four characters mean "indomitable."

Notes:
Some will translate this as "indomitable spirit"; however, technically, there is no character to suggest the idea of "spirit" in this word.
The first two characters can be a stand-alone word in Chinese.
In Japanese, this is considered to be two words (with very similar meanings).
The same characters are used in Korean, but the 2nd and 4th characters are swapped to create a word pronounced "불요불굴" in Korean.
Just let me know if you want the Korean version, which will also make sense in Japanese, and though not as natural, will also make sense in Chinese as well.

See Also:  Tenacity | Fortitude | Strength | Undaunted

gāng

hagane

강

鋼 is the Chinese character and Japanese Kanji for steel (as in iron mixed with carbon and other elements to make it stronger).

This can also be the name Hagane in Japanese. Like Mr. Steel in English. It can also be pronounced as Tsuyoshi or Kou when used as personal or given names in Japan.

bǎi liàn cái chéng gāng

This literally translates as: Only after much tempering is steel produced.

Figuratively, this means: True character must be tested in hardship.

This is a mild form of saying, "Whatever doesn't kill me, makes me stronger."

bushi no ichigon kintetsu no gotoshi

武士の一言金鉄の如し is an old Japanese proverb about the value of the word of a warrior.

Here's a couple versions of how this can be translated:

A warrior's single word is as unchanging and reliable as gold and steel.
A warrior's promise is as dependable as gold, and his [scabbard contains] untarnished steel (a sword).

Note: Sometimes this phrase is written as 男子の一言、金鉄の如し (danshi no ichigon kintetsu no gotoshi)

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.