Part Three: Hasen no Kata- A series of Kata

Part Three: Hasen no Kata- A series of Kata

                Many years ago I became a Kata nut, I loved the history and tradition of Kata and researched them deeply to find out who created them, tried to figure out their intent and wanted to awash myself in, or steep my training in the foundation or text books of Karate.  But very early on I realized that their was no way a part time student who spent less than 4 hours a day in the club could know and do all 26 Kata well, and even more I realized you were not really meant to.

                I know of some great Karate men that would spend hours and hours doing all 15 Kata and then working into the more senior Katas and I did that as well as a new shodan I could “dance” through all 26 Kata with just a few mistakes,  but that’s when I realized the mistakes were not what I should be worried about, it was that I was dancing through some of the Kata and not really studying them hard. 

                I kind of became depressed and wanted to stop training in Kata all together, I mean if you cant learn the 26 Kata of your style why bother….but then Dingman Sensei pointed something out to me….Goju has Seven Kata and not everyone knows all seven main Kata!  No master can demonstrate all 26 Kata perfectly and not miss a technique.  But they can impress you and make you inspired by watching their Kata…..Their Kata, it had a nice ring to it and I started looking for a kata to specialize in.

                I promptly asked Dingman sensei what “His” Kata was and he replied “which one”….leaving me scratching my head and confused after he had just said that the masters had their Kata…and he did not seem to have his!  But he quickly explained something his instructor had taught him…Hasen no Kata! 

                Hasen no Kata means running together Kata in a stream of movements.  You could see this if you did all five Heian Kata in a row with no bowing and just finish one, move into the next. But the term has been hijacked by Yaguchi sensei for Dingman Sensei, and then me, and now my readers…both of you!

                Hasen No Kata has come to mean your personal study triad of Kata! Hasan no Kata has become a selection of three Kata that you study to work on your Karate and get a better understanding of Karate. Now Dingman Sensei says you should pick three opposing kinds of Kata, one that is your body type and perfect for you, one that is the opposite of you and one that is of personal interest to you and study them. For instance if you are a giant of a person that is heavily muscled and not to quick you may want to pick Hangetsu to work on your stance and power even more, then empi to really work the speed and explosiveness part of your training and perhaps Kanku dai to balance out your training.

                Why Three and not all 26 or not just one…well I already said that I don’t believe its possible to know all 26 Kata well enough to really explore them and know them inside and out in this life time…and why not one, well you pick a Kata that is like you are ( a big powerful guy doing Jion only) and you will not grow as a person or in Karate, you need that opposing factor to really push yourself to the next level.  By selecting three Kata to really focus on you allow yourself to grow as a Karate person, study different aspects of the Karate system and create a very special strategy in Self-defense or Kumite.

                To select your Kata first you have to be very honest with yourself and sit down and think about what your strengths are and what your weaknesses are and what kind of body you have. If you think you are a little pixy and you are fast as lighting but in reality you are long and lanky and kind of awkward, well your picks will be flawed. Also, listen to your instructor and your seniors. While the final choice is yours, your instructor knows you best and will push you to find the right fit for you.  Now if they pick a Kata you simply can not get into, well give it time, they may still be right! But if you find that they picked Jion for you and you simply don’t like it and it feels weird for you, well talk to them and find out what is missing. You may in the end choose not to pick that Kata at all.

                Sometimes it seems obvious that you should train in three Kata and you pick three Kata that would be obvious to put together like Jion, Jutte and Jiin…right I mean they are a Kata run that seems to be perfect right? Well I personally don’t think so.  They are to much alike and all you get is basically the same Kata done with no real growth outside of powerful movements and solid stance, no real speed play, change in levels and they kind of play into that “Im really big so why move fast” mentality.  Why?  Well there is nothing scarier than a big man that can rocket through you and change direction to follow you like a heat seeking rocket! Trust me it does not fit the model that Dingman Sensei and Yaguchi Sensei set up.

                Now most sport Karate guys work on a kata to compete, they perfect every detail of it and get it as show ready as possible. Kind of like working with a pure Bread show horse, every hair is groomed every detail of the Gi is ironed into it and every technique is perfect to with in the most aesthetic set as possible. That is counter to the art of Hasen no Kata, its not about polishing a kata till you can display it, its about getting into the bowel of the Kata and learning from it. Its not about mastering the Kata Dance, its about learning how to think like the Kata wants you to, hard wired in moves and creating a reaction to stimuli that is done with out thinking. The art of Hasen no Kata is a lost art of really learning from the Kata and providing an open door or blank canvas to remake yourself with each Kata. In place of one great dance you have three teachers!

                So, how do you pick them, or what should you pick. Well the first Kata should be playing to your strengths, the second to your weaknesses and the third a fundamental Kata that grounds you in the arts very roots. For a Kata that focuses on your strength pick one that is tailored to your body type, for instance a smaller more nimble person would pick Empi and a more athletic person Unsu or a bigger person Jion and a long tall person Gankaku!  These strength based Kata should focus on your ability and body type and be presented as your focal Kata when training.  This means when someone asks you for your Tokui Kata you answer this one. Be careful when selecting your strong side Kata as you will not want to make an error like Picking Gankaku if you are short and light but feel that this is a great Kata to show off your speed. It may be that you can make it do this, but the intent of the Kata shows that its made more for someone built like a crane, and not a sparrow!

                For your weak point Kata pick on that is the complete opposite of you.  Dingman Sensei used to say that if you are built like a rhino you should not pick sparrows Kata as your favorite or specialty Kata, but should do it to compliment your ability and build off of it. So, if you are built like a runaway train, doubling up on Jion and sochin may not help you build snappy quick movements and speed in your training.  So, maybe if you are built like a king elephant, go for Empi to compliment your lack of speed and abundance of power.

                The last one to pick is your fundamental Kata.  The other two Kata are normally selected around Nidan to be honest, but the fundamental Kata is one that you pick to do at shodan to ground yourself in the fundamentals of Karate. This Kata is normally one of the first 15 Kata and normally selected from Bassai Dai, Jion, Empi, Hangetsu and Kanku dai.  The reason that the Tekkis and Katas like Gankaku are not selected are because they are wildly different from the Karate fundamentals and also because the Tekki Kata are training Kata and not a fighting Kata.

                So, you select a Kata that is fundamentally what you think of as Karate. For instance if you are a bigger person then maybe Jion or Bassai Dai will be your pick, and if you are a lighter person then maybe Empi or Kanku Dai, a very technical person would obviously go for Kanku Dai and a more “runaway train” kind of person Bassai to the next level. No matter what you select this will be your go to Kata for a while and one you return to the most to polish your fundamentals.

                So, what Hasan no Kata have  picked, well I picked some unique ones, and one was selected for me. For my grounding in fundamentals one of my seniors gave me Kanku Dai to work on.  One day after working on a demo with Tammy Sensei we were talking Kata and she suggested that I take up Kanku dai. I was a younger guy and brown belt at the time and she saw something in me that suggested that Kanku Dai was a good fit. I have to agree, I find that the intricate and yet basic movements are a great base for Fundamental training in Shotokan. Its also the flag ship of Shotokan Karate.

                My training in Kanku Dai also affords me the study of basics and body movement that helps me remember and hard wire in specific movements that help me teach the basics as well. Its an advanced, long kata that is dedicated to the very basic core of Karate training, hip movement and stance use.  It also has the two main kicks in Karate (Mae Geri and Yoko geri) imbedded in the training. Wide circular moves along with direct linear movements help define the Kata as well as a few fancy techniques that help make the Kata interesting.

                My study of Kanku dai has shown that it is a very difficult Kata to do correctly. The very nature of it being basic and fundamental do not allow you to hide weaknesses or mistakes in the training of it and basically it keeps you about as honest as possible when studying your own movements.

                When I got my Nidan under Tanaka Sensei many moons ago I was looking for my other two Kata to fit into my Hasen no Kata.  My first selection came because of my instructor.  While not built the same, we are both shorter men and both focus a lot on technical proficiency for our body types. We are not so big that we look great doing power Kata like Sochin and we are not so fast (well Im not) that Unsu looks good on us, and he was thinking 10-30 years down the road.  What kind of dynamics do we want for our bodies. I always loved hip spring and coil of the body so Nijushiho became my primary Kata for study. My instructor did this Kata a lot leading up to his Rokudan and he felt that the change of direction facilitated by the coil of the hip was perfect for showing dynamic change in direction. And I agreed….of course.

                My second Kata was Nijushiho, which played to my strengths of being kind of average height and not exactly and athletic build. It was more of a thinking Kata and had the ability to be both dynamic and complex in presentation. I needed a third Kata to work on that was similar but different enough to complement Nijushiho!

                I played with Kanku sho for a bit but found that it was to similar to Kanku Dai and also thinking down the road I could not see a 60 year old me doing this Kata at all.  I then turned to Bassai Sho, but as much as I like this Kata, it did not fit. I still go back to the Kata in my training but not as often as I do my other Triad Katas.  From Bassai Sho came Jiin and then Sochin and finally Chinte. All great Kata but none seemed to fit me.  I finally went back to my training in St.Vital with Brian Dingman Sensei and our attempt to study Meikyo.

                I watched videos of the Kata and studied the men that did this Kata. All of them were a bit introspective and it fit with my other Katas nicely.  Where Nijushiho was Dynamic and the timing made it very technical, it had easy to follow Embussen and you could pretty much be on target 99% of the time, Meikyo was more difficult and angles had to be perfect. The Sharp change in direction was not really lead by the hips, but more a shoulder rotation and lean. The Kata fit perfectly and complemented my other forms. While it did not adhear completely to the selection process for Hasen no Kata, I have always been a mild rebel when it came to Karate so that fit as well.

                Now to me the act of finding a Hasen no Kata selection is a soul searching process where you look at all 26 Kata and go through them. Learn a bit about each and figure out what your style is, what it is not and were the strengths and weaknesses of your body lay.  Then you can select and start training and studying the depths of Karate.  Remember Karate up to black belt is being lead around and shown what to do, after Shodan you start your own research and your own studies.  It’s like an education plan. In elementary (white to orange belt) you learn the very fundamentals of Movement in Karate. In Junior high/.middle school (Green and Purple belts) you start to “get it” and you are lead into some more advanced ideas. Your high school years (Brown belt) you start to put into practice the very basics and work on mastering them. And by university (Shodan) you pick your specialty and work on it, your education is much more self-guided and you will truly develop your own game plan.

                Hasen no Kata is simply the act of going to the next level and starting self-guided education and studies.  Its not something that Yaguchi Sensei, Dingman Sensei or myself created, its an extension and redefining of what already existed.   So pick your three once you are that level and start to really go beyond the first steps of Karate training that are the Kyu levels.