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“Kata is a typical training form of the East Asian Martial Arts and has no equivalent in the different Western Arts. On the island of Okinawa and in China, the practice of kata was the actual heart of the fighting systems. Through kata, the knowledge was passed down from generation to generation and they are till the textbook of the art. Kata is the foundation that teaches the body stances, movements, and the principles of using hands and legs. It teaches breathing, tranquility, secureness, rhythm, fighting spirit, and power of decision. Kata is not a simple training of the body that can be done shallowly but an austere training form. It is a fine, classical way of learning based on the experiences on the battlefield during the fight for life and death.
Kata is comparable to the games of Go and Shogi (Japanese chess) and starts and ends with a bow. Kata is not an accumulation of basic techniques but is constantly flowing like circulating blood and must be filled with life. Adherence to the following three points are therefore essential: strength and weakness of power, slowness and quickness of technique, extension and contraction of the body. The karateka always has to pay attention to the correct number of hand and foot movements (enbusen) and to realize the specific nature of the kata and the meaning of its techniques.
Kata is, next to kihon and kumite, the third pillar of Karate-do. All three are independent but inseparable and together form the Art of Karate-do.
For a real understanding there are not only the techniques but also their meaning, spirit, and energy. The doctrine of kata includes three phases:
Heian Shodan
Meaning: Peace Mind Beginning Level
First Kiai Second Kiai Total move
9 17 21
Heian Nidan
Meaning: Peace Mind Second Level
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
11 26 26
Heian Sandan
Meaning: Peace Mind Third Level
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
Heian Yondan
Meaning: Peace Mind Fourth Level
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
13 25 27
Heian Godan
Meaning: Peace Mind Fifth Level
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
12 19 23
Tekki Shodan
Meaning: Iron / Horseman Beginning Level
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
15 29 29
Tekki Nidan
Meaning: Iron / Horseman Second Level
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
16 24 24
Tekki Sandan
Meaning: Iron / Horseman Third Level
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
16 36 36
Bassai-Dai
Meaning: Escape or penetrating the fortress - greater
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
19 42 42
Jion
Meaning: Love and Goodness / Kindness
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
17 47 47
Kanku-Dai
Meaning: Look at the sky - greater
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
15 64 65
Empi
Meaning: Flight of the Swallow
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
15 36 37
Hangetsu
Meaning: Half Moon
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
11 40 41
Jitte
Meaning: Ten Hands / Hands against tongfa
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
12 24 24
Gankaku
Meaning: Crane on a rock
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
28 42 42
Bassai-Sho
Meaning: Escape or penetrating the fortress - minor
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
28 42 42
Kanku-Sho
Meaning: Look at the sky - minor
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
6 47 47
Sochin
Meaning: Strength and Calm
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
28 40 40
Gojushiho-Sho
Meaning: Fifty Four Steps - minor
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
57 64 65
Gojushiho-Dai
Meaning: Fifty Four Steps - major
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
54 61 62
Nijushiho
Meaning: Twenty Four Steps
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
18 32 33
Chinte
Meaning: Rare / peculiar hands
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
9 22 22
Unsu
Meaning: Hands in the clouds / Parting the clouds
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
26 48 48
Meikyo
Meaning: Bright / Reflecting Mirror
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
22 - 22
Wankan
Meaning: King’s crown
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
16 - 16
Ji’in
Meaning: Love and Shadow / protectiveness
First Kiai Second Kiai Total moves
11 25 25
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