I find the terminology quite helpful. It only takes having a working knowledge of about 50 words and kanji (for the simple stuff anyway) to get some sense of the intended flavor of specific waza and kata. Every little bit helps
Does anyone other than me seem to get lost in the terminology of the techniques, especially in jujitsu. Just look at the difference between jujitsu and aikido for example. I know there are differences in the karate-do arts as well, but it certainly bugs the crap out of me.
Recently, I got Gary K's tape for Uechi and it makes a lot of sense to me and helps me understand what the hell I've been doing for the last 26 years. I wonder if they'll ever come up with something like that in my jujitsu system or will it take a "gaijin" to do it?
Why don't you Mike try training with people from other countries. That can REALLY get you confused. The terms is different places are a little bit same but yet different. Jutsu becomes jitsu, matsu becomes mokuso, yoko becomes sokuto etc.
I had some trouble when started training with a British Sensei after training with Finns.