Master Itosu

Hi Jason

I'm already a regular Poster on that Forum

I agree there is a pluthera of Articles by many experienced Martial Artists

I think it is fairly well accepted that Itosu Sensei 'created' he Pinan kata set (best examples are in the Kobayashi Shorin Ryu IMO)- of course he would have used material from his previous studies significantly (Iain Sensei and others here can explain better than I on this one).

Personally I think itosu Sensei changed Pinan 1 and Pinan 2 from a previous kata called Channan (my choice of spelling), and created 3,4 and 5 from the classical kata. (regarding my comments on Channan this is oral history from our Ryu, but this kata is refered too by Motobu Sensei in one of his books).

Information about Channan (refered correctly as Chang'an, a major city during the Tang Dynasty) - 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27an

The old meaning of Karate, read in Chinese translates as Tang (China) Hand, an interesting link perhaps to what I believe is the earliest 'form' of karateper say, Pinan 1 and Pinan 2 bear striking resemblance (IMO) to what could be defined as simple, Chinese Long Fist methods.

also from same source re translation - Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese , nice link to Pinan (Peaceful Mind etc. translations?).

Just throwing it out there!