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I am an instructor in a Finnish judo club. At the end of each session,
_**owari!**_ is announced and the students line up. I understand that owari
means _over_ or _end_ , but there are lots of Finnish judo clubs that use the
word at the start of the session as well (as if it meant _to stand in line_ ).

Now, I have started to use _**hajimari!**_ for this _beginning_ line up. I
have very little knowledge of Japanese, but I am aware there are also forms
_**hajimaru**_ and _**hajimeru**_. (I use _**hajime**_ to start exercises,
randori etc.)

So, the students know that when I say this, they gather in a line - but is
this correct from a Japanese viewpoint?

Doing research on this is surprisingly difficult. I would like to know what
are the differences between those forms, and which one of them would be the
best counterpart for the _**owari**_.

Please, if you could be so kind and avoid using any kana or kanji in your
answer.

## Edit:

First of all, I' like to thank all of you for the answers. I am going to be a
bit vain and accept the answer that best suits **me** , that answer even
grants me the **choice**.

I should have emphasized that much like **owari** , my intention on announcing
**hajimari** is to tell students that it is time to put away phones, exercise
balls etc. and gather in a line, tie their belts and wait in silence. Most of
the answers said that **hajimari** is grammatically acceptable, so I'll take
it - I don't care if it is not customary. I would like to think it means a
greater beginning than just **hajime** which to me sounds more instantaneous
_start!_

As I said, in some Finnish judo clubs some of the japanese words and terms are
used just because _they have always been used in this context_ , even without
proper knowledge of the meaning of the words. This is why **owari** is
sometimes used incorrectly as a command to stand in line. Some even say _let's
go stand in owari_. Japanese is not so much spoken in class, rather some key
terms are said in order to teach students the minimal vocabulary.

  * Hajimari (this is my addition to my class)
  * Mokuso (close your eyes, clear your mind)
  * Mokuso yame
  * Rei
  * Hajime (start randori, start yakusoku keiko)
  * Mate (wait: get up and start again)
  * Kootai (Koutai? switch partners)
  * Yame (stop randori etc.)
  * Owari (the end)

Obviously there are a lot more, but I included here the terms that control the
flow of the exercises.
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nuances word-usage terminology sports
Am I using the word "Hajimari" correctly in judo?
These words are all either verbs, or verb-derived nouns.

  * _Hajimaru_ : intransitive verb, "to begin, to start", as in "something starts or begins on its own". 
    * _Hajimari_ : noun derivation from the verb, "beginning, start", as in the natural or spontaneous beginning of something -- in line with the intransitive nature of the underlying verb.
  * _Hajimeru_ : transitive verb, "to begin", as in "to begin or start something". 
    * _Hajime_ : noun derivation from the verb, "beginning, start", as in the intentional or deliberate beginning of something -- in line with the transitive nature of the underlying verb.
  * _Owaru_ : intransitive verb, "to finish, to end", as in "something ends or finishes on its own". 
    * _Owari_ : noun derivation from the verb, "ending, finish", as in the natural or spontaneous ending of something -- in line with the intransitive nature of the underlying verb.

I'm not that familiar with judo as a discipline or how classes are run. That
said, shouting _" Owari!"_ at the b̲e̲g̲i̲n̲n̲i̲n̲g̲ of a class sounds like a
linguistic mistake to me.
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I am not particularly knowledgeable about judo, but the usual phrases used in
Japanese sports or military contexts are:

  * 整列！ _Sēretsu!_ ("Line up!") [pronunciation](https://forvo.com/word/%E9%9B%86%E5%90%88/)
  * 集合！ _Shūgō!_ ("Gather!") [pronunciation](https://ja.forvo.com/word/%E6%95%B4%E5%88%97/)

Of course these can be used also near the end of a class, so they are not
technically counterparts of _owari_. But I think nothing directly derived from
_hajimaru/hajimeru_ would work as you expect.

_Hajimari_ ("Beginning!") may be at least better than _owari_ , but it still
doesn't make much sense as a command to line up. Besides, it's too close to
_hajime_ used at the beginning of a match.
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Language aspects are answered in existing answers. Just let me share some
google searches. I have no experience of Judo either, so take my comments with
a grain of salt.

* * *

[This](https://okwave.jp/qa/q3383111.html) asks more or less the same question
in Japanese. The answer says, there is no particular shouting. According to
it, a session starts like

  * The instructor calls students for starting, just like in a normal conversation. E.g, (in English) "Boys, now we are starting..."
  * Everybody sits down (or up) in [seiza](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN8nByO3y3c?t=21).
  * A head student makes three calls:
  * Shōmen ni rei = _Bow to the front_ , then everybody makes a bow.
  * Sensei ni rei = _Bow to the teacher_ , then everybody makes a bow.
  * Otagai ni rei = _Bow to each other_ , then everybody makes a bow.

This takes place also in the ending. ([This
video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCGi36l51gM) does mostly the same). The
first shomen seems to refer originally to the
[altar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamidana) of Shintoism (Japanese native
religion).

I guess doing all these would be too much, so as naruto suggested, using
_Seiretsu!_ for lining up and then _Rei!_ for bowing would be good enough (in
terms of Japanese-ishness).

* * *

BTW I wish I could see Finnish students starting at the shout of _owari!_ ,
which would look a bit surreal. Don't be offended, but that just makes me
think how difficult it was for people using different languages to understand
each other in pre-modern days...
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With all due respect, this seems to be one of those cases where learners can
tell what is grammatical but only native (or near-native) speakers can tell
what is really idiomatic.

Grammatically speaking, there should be nothing wrong with _hajimari_ as it is
to the intransitive verb _hajimaru_ what _owari_ is to _owaru_ , which is also
(mostly) intransitive. However, it sounds very odd as something you shout at
the beginning of anything. _Owari_ in that context is understood as meaning
something along the lines of “That’s all, ”“This is it,” and so on. No such
meaning is attached to _hajimari_. It is just a neutral word for “beginning.”

_Hajime_ is derived from the transitive verb _hajimeru_ , and in that context
it is understood as an instruction to start doing something. Its opposite is
_yame_ from _yameru_ , which means to stop doing whatever you are doing now.

I would suggest you take in naruto’s advice.
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You'll have ask yourself what message you really want to deliver, in terms of
the "beginning".

# Command

As in " _You shall begin to line up_ "

Do you want to "command" your students? Then it's **Hajime**. After all, you
are in charge to initiate, so this makes sense.

# Statement

As in " _The beginning approaches, it's time to line up_ "

Do you want to "explain" that the beginning is approaching? Then it's
**Hajimari**. This is totally acceptable - story-tellers have been saying
"Hajimari Hajimari" (even twice to sound dramatic) to indicate the beginning
of the tale. In this case, you are not necessarily the one who is initiating
the linining-up - perhaps another entity including mother nature, god(s),
universe, etc. However in the martial arts industry (unfortunately, it is
practically an industry now days) this approach is never used.

# Choice

So you see, neither is wrong. The "do" in "Judo" resembles a "path" that one
follows. In Japan's conservative culture, students are always "commanded",
which is the path you may follow. But nothing is stopping you to change the
approach towards a humble and friendly style. Call it innovative, unique,
weird or unnatural, it's up to you.
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Wherever work sends me, I usually find a martial arts class to train with, for
a few months.

After studying karate in my youth, as well as in my itinerate middle age, I
should like to add 'seiretsu', as provided by @Naruto, is by far the most
widely used command in Japanese martial arts, other than the native language,
for the class to fall in, across the Western hemisphere.

With 'hajime' and 'yame' being used, respectively, at either end of a bout of
sparring or wrestling.
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