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Kevin73
Kevin73's picture
Repeated patterns across katas

I read Iain's book review on Anaku kata.  It was one I wasn't familiar with, so I watched a clip of it.

It got me to thinking, in that kata there are sequences that are repeated in other katas.  For example, the movements with the double knife hand blocks that are found in Kusanku.  There is also the double punch/kick/punch sequence that we see in Seisan kata.

Do you think that this is evidence that the katas were once complete fighting systems passed on by someone and the kata was a repository of their information and was "encoded" differently based on what they thought was important?

Do you think that a system like Isshin-Ryu that eliminated some of the katas that were taught in other Shorin based systems was an attempt to weed out duplicate material?

When looking at the Pinan/Heian kata series, do you think it makes them more important as a complete fighting system or just prepatory for the katas the moves came from?

Kevin73
Kevin73's picture

Kind of answered my own question for the first part.  I started to do some research on the kata and found that many people believe that the kata was developed by Chotoku Kyan.  This might explain things, and might support that he put the ideas he felt were most important into the kata.

For example, in Isshin-Ryu many have stated that Sunsu kata was developed by Tatsuo Shimabuku and contained what he felt were the most important ideas/techniques.  I know there are a couple of IR students on here that may shed light on this if it is correct or not.

Gavin J Poffley
Gavin J Poffley's picture

Annanku (and the other name variations that exist for it) is an interesting kata from that perspective, as all but one of the sequences within it can also be found within other shorin ryu kata (about 70% from seisan, 15% from passai, 5% from wansu with 10% "original" content by my reckoning). This would seem to indecate to me that it was created later as a kind of "condensed record" of the style, or maybe as an introductory kata that covers the core principals. I actually use it on my syllabus in that way and find that if students master it first they have a much smoother time learning the other shorin lineage kata. 

From my interpretation of the bunkai, I also feel that annanku gives a very good introduction to core combat methods in much the same way that the earlier pinan katas do. If we did not have the pinans then it would probably be the first kata I would teach.

rshively
rshively's picture

Kevin: you're absolutely right, a number of kata's are a technical map of a style or system of martial arts. Many chinese styles use long kata's (some between 100 to as much as 1,000 movements) in order to preserve their styles. For example, many tai chi styles have a long form, which can be practiced in different ways using weights, weapons, even applying different methods of grappling, etc. six harmonies & eight methods fist has over 400 movements. Whereas ten animal style can have up to 1,000 movements.

A lot of people who practiced martial arts over the centuries couldn't read. Kata was the means by which a martial art could be taught, as well as being passed on to different students over decades-centuries. Repetition was the standard by which muscle memory was developed I.e. Instinctive reflex. Long forms often have a lot of repetition. Yang style tai chi has an average of 108 movements, but only 37 actual movements repeated over and over. Often times  the movements that are practiced the most are what the kata's founder thought were most important. It's easy to see what the kata's founder liked the most, depending on how a kata's movements are organized. Grapplers and Kyusho-pressure point fighters modify their kata and techniques based on personal preferences.

It's been said that in the 30's when karate was changed from China-hand to empty-hand, that the hands were closed. Meaning, that a lot of grappling as well as pressure point strikes were more easily concealed, creating a type of himitsu, or inner system or secret, specialized techniques. It's the old adage that the best place to hide something is in plain sight. People who don't like studying kata rarely can find the real treasures hidden within a style's kata.

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Gavin J Poffley wrote:
Annanku (and the other name variations that exist for it) is an interesting kata from that perspective, as all but one of the sequences within it can also be found within other shorin ryu kata (about 70% from seisan, 15% from passai, 5% from wansu with 10% "original" content by my reckoning). This would seem to indicate to me that it was created later as a kind of "condensed record" of the style, or maybe as an introductory kata that covers the core principals. I actually use it on my syllabus in that way and find that if students master it first they have a much smoother time learning the other shorin lineage kata.

From my interpretation of the bunkai, I also feel that annanku gives a very good introduction to core combat methods in much the same way that the earlier pinan katas do. If we did not have the pinans then it would probably be the first kata I would teach.

That’s a very interesting observation!

Jose Garcia
Jose Garcia's picture

Well, about Pinan I think I'm not the first one to comment that they were created as an okinawan beginners' introduction to higher katas, using parts from Kushanku, Bassai and others that in some cases are easily recognizable. It is thought that were created in times of Itosu, Im not sure if by himself. Some have claimed that Itosu's son said "if you have time to practise Pinan, then better practice Kushanku". Perhaps Pinan is not a complete system but an introductory one.

I have seen some versions of Suparimpei contain movements appearing in Seienchin, Rohai, Sanchin and others. I don't know if they were changed in that versions to make both katas more likely similar in a specific ryu or that means that perhaps movements in Seienchin come from Suparimpei kata or probably the original crane system (or/and others) having Suparimpei as the complete master kata. I'm just supposing, I haven't learned Suparimpei and many other superior katas yet. I do have practised Sanchin, Seienchin and Rohai. The case of Sanchin is more clear because some masters say Sanchin is not specifically meant for bunkai but for body control work, and in some schools (Uechi Ryu) is one of the first katas and is always practised. So it would be a little summary of techniques linked to that specific work (which afterwards has to appear in the other kata in a way or another), and the number of movements can be modified or extended for that purpose (there is even a video of Yamaguchi performing Sanchin and Tensho with no stop in the middle).

It's true there is repetition in kata. In some cases, specially when I'm training in a dojo where there is little bunkai with the kata repetition, I miss practicing some techniques or sequences with the opposite part of the body. You can always go apart and take that part and make kihon in both sides, or, even further, practise the kata mirrored. But what I wonder is that, if the creators of the kata wanted it to be perhaps the complete training standalone practise for that techinques, why did they put up to three repetitions with the same hand, like, in example, Rohai. Why not to let it to just one repetition then? Perhaps to study changes in direction. Or most probably because in the schools in which they study just a few katas  -but with a lot of repetitions- they do more bunkai with them with both sides.