Category: Kata Series

Today’s kata series continues with kata Bassai Sho, the smaller cousin of kata Bassa-dai. Whereas Bassa-dai’s movements are larger (dai translates to major) Bassai Sho movements are smaller (sho translates to minor).

Both katas have their meaning from storming a castle/fortress. They focus is the idea of changing “disadvantage” into “advantage” by strong and courageous response, switching blocks and differing degrees of power.

Bassai Sho is an elegant kata, with sweeping movements designed for stealth when capturing the “enemy” or fortress. It has a focus on smaller, more intricate movements and quick transitions, while also emphasizing core stability and balance. 

While Bassai Sho shares some techniques with Bassai Dai, it also includes unique movements and emphasis on certain aspects of technique, like unusual blocks or grappling techniques. It also gives opportunities for interesting applications (bunkai) and we look forward to Aneel Sensei taking us through this kata today.

Our Kata series continues this Saturday with the conclusion of the trilogy of Jion, Jiin and Jitte, with today’s focus being in Jitte.

An intermediate level kata, Jitte is usually introduced to students from Sandan onwards. Its meaning translates to “Ten Hands”. A popular explanation sometimes used is that the name alludes to the concept that once the kata has been mastered by the karateka, they can defend against multiple attackers. A more traditional explanation is that Jitte is named after a specialized weapon that was used by police in Japan, and some of the movements in the kata is representative of how an actual jitte is used.

The kata is well known for its bunkai techniques, particularly in defending against stick attacks (bo). Like its name, the kata performance emphasizes versatility and the application of various techniques against different attacks. The kata corporates techniques like wrist grabs, punches, and disarming a bo (staff), with a focus on hip movement and body rotation. The effective performance of using the hips to generate power with the torso as a single unit generates power in practical application (bunkai).

Jitte is often a difficult kata to master, or to even understand, as some movements appear awkward, and hard to make sense of when performing or learning the application. The student should begin by noting that Jitte is unique from other Shotokan katas, in that the meaning of “karate” –open hand – does not apply to Jitte, as the kata uses both attacks and defence against a Bo (stick).

Despite its complexity Jitte is a kata characterized by it boldness, strength and power, and we look forward to Aneel Sensei taking us through this kata at today’s Senior training session.

This Saturday we introduce kata Jiin. Having many similarities to Jion, Jiin is most likely another kata inspired by the teachings of a Buddhist temple in China, and therefore is sometimes translated to mean “Temple Grounds”. Other interpret the meaning as “Love and Shadows”.

Trio Jion, Jiin and Jitte and considered to be a family, since they all begin in the “Ming salutation” posture (palm over fist). Consisting of 35 movements, there are not many frills or complexities in Jiin, although it is usually a kata reserved for grading senior levels 3rd or 4th Dan up.

The signature technique of Jiin is ‘Chudan uchi-uke doji ni gedan-barai’, which of course is a ‘simultaneous mid-level inside outward reception and downward sweep’. This technique is the first action of the kata and is repeated for a total of five times in Jiin.

More importantly four of these times are in zenkutsu-dachi with the uchi-uke being executed with rear arm. This is unique to this kata, yet has some relationship to Kanku Sho and Gojushiho Sho; albeit, their respective rear arm uchi-uke are to the side and, also, utilizing kokutsu-dachi.

This is a kata usually only practiced from Sandan level, as it requires a great deal of attention to detail, and flawless execution. The simplicity of its techniques belies the fact that they all allude to actual self defense applications hence the reference to “shadowing” in the name.

This Saturday sees the last of the Shotokan sentei katas as the focus of our kata series, with kata Enpi rounding off the quartet with Bassai Dai, Kanku Dai and Jion. These are the basic, representative forms for black belts and are often used in competitions, as well as Shodan gradings.

Kata Enpi is translated from Japanese to mean “flying swallow” , a reference no doubt to its, agile and energetic movements, with quick changes in direction, as well as many sinking and rising motions, much like those of swallow birds that are extremely agile in flight and spend most of their time in the air.

Enpi is considered to be one of the oldest katas, believed to have first made an appearance in the 17th century under the name Wanshu. It was renamed to Enpi by master Gichin Funakoshi when he moved to the Japanese mainland in the 1920s. in an effort to make the Okinawan art more acceptable to the then nationalistic Japanese.

With 39 movements, kata Enpi calls upon the karateka to properly understand technique, posture, and the underlying principles of the kata. This includes maintaining a straight back, a strong core, and using the body to generate power efficiently. The kata also has some unique movements seldom found in other katas, example dropping to one knee, the reverse lean, and kirikae-ashi which calls for quick footwork from the karateka to switch feet to counter-attack. The spinning jump towards the end of the kata also makes it popular among the younger and sportier karateka, keen to using it to impress at competitions.

We eagerly look forward to Aneel Sensei taking us through this energetic and most interesting kata this Saturday .

This Saturday sees us continuing with our kata series, with an in depth look and practice of the popular kata Jion.

Again this is a sentei kata, studied from brown belt level upwards, and popularly used as a tokui (favorite) kata in Shodan examinations. The reason for this is that it is perceived as a simple kata, with no fancy moves or jumps to hide behind. Thus Jion is uniquely well suited to display one’s overall technique. This also makes Jion a favorite on the competition floor, when many participants prefer to start off their tournaments with a performance of Jion.

The kata has often been grouped with two others viz Jiin and Jitte, since all three start with similar hand over fist stance.

Jion in particular though is believed to have got its name from Jion-ji temples in China where martial arts were practiced.

While Jion may appear technically simple, it demands a high level of understanding and practice to perform correctly, with a strong emphasis on proper stance and movement. In addition, under its seeming simplicity Jion conceals a powerful fighting spirit, and the the karateka performing the kata would do well to strike a meaningful balance between executing the movements with strength and power, whilst maintaining mercy and grace, in honor of the meaning of Jion, being “Mercy of Love “ or “Mercy of the Temple”.

Interestingly, with 47 movements Jion is the second longest kata after Kankudai.
We look forward to Aneel Sensei taking us through this powerful but graceful kata.