Kata: a street map to the puzzle of the Tokui no Kata Part 2 B

Part Two (B): Tokui no Kata- Personal or speciality Katas

The following 11 Kata round out the Shotokan Curriculum for Kata and can be used to select your next Tokui Kata or to form your Hasen no Kata going forwards. I will do the same to these Kata as I have the first 8. These are higher level black belt Kata and many Nidan choose to not select any of these, but play with them as a bit of a fun. Once you have your Nidan however you should begin looking for Hasen no Kata groupings to compliment your training and to use for your Karate training…I will explain this in my next blog…..



Sochin:

One of the most overdone Kata in tournament history! I love Sochin and if done well it is a regal and powerful looking Kata…but everyone is doing Sochin at Nidan and up! For this reason alone I have avoided making it anything close to my Tokui Kata and its not in my Hasen Kata group!

Sochin is built for a powerful, strong and thick body. The dynamics kicks also rely on a flexible hip, so it can be a hard match for smaller more athletic people that do the kata and have great kicks, but tend to look “off” when doing the power movements. Thick limbs and powerful kicking is not always a combination you can find in a person. Enoeda and Shirai are both hold/held these traits as well as Kagawa. The three of them do Sochin justice in their presentation.

Those that study this modern Kata tend to forget it is not even a hundred years old yet and created by Funakoshi Senseis son as a demonstration Kata. The presentation suggests age to the Kata that does not exist. Its applications are very basic but the movement timing is hard to get down if you only train in this kata in a shallow way.

If you are looking for a Tokui Kata and don’t mind following the crowd then this could be a great fit for you. It’s a powerful and dynamic Kata that requires a good stance, great timing and form, but some people are not built for it and still take up this as their Kata. When I see light, athletic people take up this Kata I think it’s a cop out, like taking up Hangetsu simply to avoid the better fitting Empi. My suggestion for those that like this very likeable Kata is to make it part of your Hasen Kata group if anything.



Unsu:

Dynamic, explosive, challenging and built for guys like Yahara Sensei, who is probably sick of being known for this Kata. Its very athletic and requires a great deal of agility to perform. Its also a all-consuming and time heavy Kata that will take lots of practice….as all Kata do…but even more…to get this one right. The benefits of this kata are HUGE when you look at the big picture on training, but its not made for everyone.

A fast, dynamic body that can execute whip like moves and has a solid grounding in Empi and Kanku Dai will do well on this Kata. Its dynamic changes in direction and explosive moves make this a fan favorite when done right and offer up the kind of Karate training that will make you a monster in Kumite.

Those that are suited for this Kata will excel at athletics and it will be a hard Kata to master well, so it keeps people’s attention when training. Keep in mind that its hard to learn, harder to master but the effort will pay off big time for you.



Nijushiho:

Nijushiho is a unique Kata with strange angles and a unique feel to it. The flow is very different and the explosive hip movements that are taught will help you in all your kumite. The re-enforceable lessons of hip twisting and coiling then lashing out are front and center in this Kata as well as some unique faints that will serve you will when you advance in Kumite.

This has been my favorite Kata for some time as the first few movements seem to establish a unique wave like flow to the Kata. Like waves lapping on the side of a boat the first three moves take on this wave like movement to generate power and help drive the hips into the techniques after the initial backwards retreat.

Nijushiho may not be as dynamic as Unsu but you have to appreciate the intricacies of the kata to truly enjoy performing it. The wrist locks, elbow strikes and throws that are incorporated into sliding movements make this a very powerful and potent Kata.

This Kata is suited for average and very nimble people. The admittedly hard side thrust kicks are best performed by someone with a nimble set of hips and strong hip flexors to really show the power of the kicks.



Bassai Sho:

Bassai Sho, or the lesser of the Bassais, is anything but smaller than the first Bassai, it simply has a different feel of grandeur. In a lot of ways this Kata feels completely different, for one thing there are more “how to disarm a guy with a stick” applications than you can….well shake a stick at. The whole Kata was created by Itosu sensei to basically teach you how to do this.

Bassai Sho is great for average and long limbed people. The slow movements and the concentrated moves mixed with the explosive movements and the changes in direction using unique stepping movements to retrace your steps for an attack make this a unique and under used Kata.

Its unique look tends to keep it from being as popular as other Katas. It’s a great way to push performance and training in a different direction.



Kanku Sho:

Kanku Sho is very popular amongst athletes competing who need explosive movements and dynamic showing forms. However the Kata is fantastic for those wanting to learn the rapid changes in direction and the dynamics of power mixed with timing.

This is perhaps as difficult a kata to learn as Unsu and is built for lean, athletic people that have the spring and explosive nature to bring to the table.

Much like Sochin and Unsu this Kata has been wickedly popular with tournament competition and maybe is a bit overdone at that level. While instructors like Shinna have brought back the katas like Jitte and Jion is always popular, the higher up the competition the more the participants tend to rely on flash and not solid basics. They have the solid basics but they feel it must be wrapped up in a nice shinny bow!

Kanku sho is a fantastic Kata to learn and for young athletic types it’s a great way to show their ability, but perhaps not built for older members worried about what happens when they land off a huge jump and it really is not built for bigger people trying to show power and timing over explosive grace!



Jiin:

Jiin is the lost brother to Jitte and Jion. Its pretty much a rework of Jion but has some turns that remind me of Gankaku. Its built for a big powerful person that wants to look like they are chopping down a tree when they move. Thick limbs help you do this kata and basics that are spotless. You need solid stances and concentrated power that almost sends vibrations through the air.

Jiin is one of the Katas that Nakayama did not get to for his best Karate series and as such has suffered from the issue of lack of info on the Kata. I have done tones of research on this Kata and found that its very tricky at points because I get so confused with Jion when trying to do this Kata in a series. But its also a great Kata for bigger guys to show off.

Its also just a slight bit out of the norm and interesting for those board of Jion but looking to continue on learning the Kata in a series. Kind of like learning Tekki Sandan after mastering the first two, the Jiin Kata is just different enough to be interesting but similar enough to not be to out of the norm.





Chinte:

Chinte has been called a girls Kata for years, and probably because Nakayama said “Chinte is a perfect Kata for self-defense. Men and ladies would benefit from learning its unique hands and applications for defense”. Far to many focus on the “And ladies” part of his comment and the Kata has been lost to a generation of ignorant young men not wanting to learn the same things that ladies learn!

Chinte has a tone of dynamic hand movements that can all be attributed to self-defense skills and the use of them can be devastating on an attacker. It is also a technically difficult kata with tones of balance points in it that make the Kata

While its true that ladies will do great with this Kata, so will average sized men and smaller men with fast hands. The other hard sell on this Kata are the hops at the end. While its controversial about the reason for the hops, it seems that it is a big deterrent for some people. When I study Chinte I realize that the Kata is very unique and has lots to offer, now it’s not part of my three Kata studies but the fact is that I see value in training this kata for all genders.



Gojushiho sho and Gojushiho dai:

Another favorite of mine are the Gojushiho Katas which served as a year long study of mine when I first was graded to shodan under Dingman Sensei (2 years before my JKA grading to Nidan). These Kata are very different from each other but follow the same Embusen and thus present a similarity in training that helps you learn the kata. Basically, you know if you are facing the wrong way or not during the Kata when you know one of them.

With dramatic turns and fast hand movements this Kata is particularly good for people with sharp form, quick hands and good use of their core in moving. It’s a true concentration builder as you can easily be off line or out of the embusen with some of the turning. This series also has differing speeds in technique’s and build on changing tempos.

Both of these katas are also very popular in international tournaments but some of the tournaments I have seen show the performer dressing up the kata with horrible pausing and strange changes in tempo. A Kata should be alive and a living performance not a Noh performance.



Meikyo:

A hugely misunderstood Kata by those that only trained in it slightly, Meikyo has a very depth to its character that you have to appreciate to perform this Kata properly. The use of 180 degree turns and the three direction jump make this a very athletic Kata if done properly.

It’s a very rooted kind of Kata so stance must be solid and the hips set firmly when doing the Kata. Angles are also very important. The first time I saw this Kata done It was Sensei Brian Dingman and I learning this Kata from a book and he has almost perfect form, and with a slight miss in the angle he was off in the Embusen noticeably. It took us a quarter of an hour to figure out it was the angle that was causing him issues.

This Kata is perfect for heavier people who are stalky and have solid foundations but still have dynamic explosive ability to use power in the proper methods during changes in direction and the jump. One of my favorite Katas its very introspective and because it is hard to do, very humbling when you realize you have missed a mark.



Wankan:

Wankan is the other lost Kata of Shotokan, and perhaps part of it still is! The Kata seems kind of Half of what you would expect out of a Shotokan Kata and it lacks lots of the dynamics of other Kata and it seems to be missing something…the second Kiai point. See all Shotokan Kata have two external points in the Kata where you Kiai to show focus, power ext……Wankan only has one!

This “missing kiai point” has been what others have used to point out that the Kata is missing something, that something being the second half. Some have even shown what the second half “looks like” an suggested that they added this back on and made the kata twice as long. I don’t know about all that and maybe its true, but seeing as the JKA only teaches the first part and you start and end on the same spot…that’s good enough for me.

Wankan is a great kata for stance work and unique defensive techniques, lots of leg locks standing up and interesting timing. I remember learning this one for my first Koyo camp, we had never done it before and it was different. We also did Chinte and I had seen that unique Kata way more than Wankan.

Wankan is built for bigger people with great stance or fast and sharp people with great hand speed and leg speed. Its kind of undefined because NO ONE DOES IT. It’s a bit of a leper in the Shiai world from what I can see and perfect for those looking to counter good kickers.





Those are the senior Kata that you can look at around shodan or nidan. They represent the last of the 26 Shotokan Kata and house the stronghold of the JKA knowledge on self-defense, sell most of it. In the next blog I will talk about the Use of Hasen No Kata, as was explained to me by Dingman Sensei.