Nippon Budō Seishin-Kan

After bowing and announcing the name of the kata ("Kihon Katachi Ichi") ...

Yōi (cross open hands at groin level in musubi dachi) and kiyomeri kokyū (purification breaths)
Kamaete (shift right foot into nami heikō dachi while closing hands into fists at knee width)

	1	Turn 90 degrees left into hidari zenkutsu dachi with hidari gedan barai
	2	Step forward into migi zenkutsu dachi with migi oizuki
	3	Turn 180 degrees right into migi zenkutsu dachi with migi gedan barai
	4	Step forward into hidari zenkutsu dachi with hidari oizuki
	5	Turn 90 degrees left into hidari zenkutsu dachi with hidari gedan barai
	6	Step forward into migi zenkutsu dachi with migi oizuki
	7	Step forward into hidari zenkutsu dachi with hidari oizuki, then immediately proceed to Step #8
	8	Step forward into migi zenkutsu dachi with migi oizuki and kiai
	9	Turn 270 degrees left into hidari zenkutsu dachi with hidari gedan barai
	10	Step forward into migi zenkutsu dachi with migi oizuki
	11	Turn 180 degrees right into migi zenkutsu dachi with migi gedan barai
	12	Step forward into hidari zenkutsu dachi with hidari oizuki
	13	Turn 90 degrees left into hidari zenkutsu dachi with hidari gedan barai
	14	Step forward into migi zenkutsu dachi with migi oizuki
	15	Step forward into hidari zenkutsu dachi with hidari oizuki, then immediately proceed to Step #16
	16	Step forward into migi zenkutsu dachi with migi oizuki and kiai
	17	Turn 270 degrees left into hidari zenkutsu dachi with hidari gedan barai
	18	Step forward into migi zenkutsu dachi with migi oizuki
	19	Turn 180 degrees right into migi zenkutsu dachi with migi gedan barai
	20	Step forward into hidari zenkutsu dachi with hidari oizuki

Zanshin yame (withdrawing left foot, turn 90 degrees left and return to kamaete)
Naotte (perform tekagami movement while sliding right foot into musubi dachi)
Rei (bow)

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Kihon Katachi Ichi is usually taught to students of Shimabukuro-Ha Shitō-Ryū karate-dō during the first month of their training.  It contains only one blocking technique (gedan barai) and one striking technique (chūdan oizuki), since there is no intention of presenting practical self-defence techniques.  Instead, the primary purpose of Kihon Katachi Ichi is to teach new students the basic footwork pattern found in many other kata, such as Heian Nidan. 

Similarly, only one stance is employed throughout Kihon Katachi Ichi:  that being zenkutsu dachi.  Therefore, the student is expected to consistently use zenkutsu dachi correctly when performing.  Having only a single stance to work with also presents the opportunity for students to focus primarily on learning how to correctly perform Shuri-te mawari-kata (Shuri-style turning methods). 

Zenkutsu dachi (meaning "front [leg] bent stance") is one of the foundational stances of Shitō-Ryū karate-dō.   Key factors in zenkutsu dachi include:  (1) feet at shoulder-width (heel to heel), (2) distance between the toes of the trailing foot and the heel of the leading foot is the length of the student's shin plus the length of one foot, (3) front knee is bent so that the kneecap is directly above the big toe, (4) rear leg is "locked" straight, (5) both feet are flat on the floor (neither heel raised), (6) weight is distributed evenly (50%/50%) between the front and rear feet, (7) back is straight and posture erect, (8) shoulders are aligned with and directly above the hips, and (9) slight forward pressure is exerted against the front foot and equal backward pressure against the rear foot.

Another training factor in Kihon Katachi Ichi is the use of zenkutsu dachi to develop improved strength and stamina.  Moving from position to position throughout the kata should be done with the body remaining level.  This keeps the legs bent while stepping from stance to stance and strenghtens the leg muscles.  In addition, learning to move quickly in zenkutsu dachi will increase the student's speed and stability of movement in more upright stances, like han-zenkutsu dachi.

For the beginning student, a major focus should also be the timing of gedan barai and oizuki with the movements in the katachi.   Each block or strike should reach its point of impact at the same instant the feet and legs "lock" into the stance.  This creates  maximum power and stability from the use of the hips and legs.

A kata (型) is an example or a template containing practical self-defence techniques, while a katachi (形) is a pattern of movements intended for training in the movements themselves, rather than their practical use.  An analogy might be the difference between playing scales or chord progressions on a musical instrument for skill development (katachi) and playing a song or a symphony on that same instrument (kata).  Therefore, Kihon Katachi Ichi involves little in the way of bunkai (step-by-step analysis) or ōyō (practical application).   Nevertheless, it does contain a few fundamental principles of karate-dō worth understanding.  Some of these principles are:  (1) why and when to kiai, (2) why Shuri-te turns are done the way they are, (3) why most kata begin with a turn to the left, (4) the practical and symbolic reasons we perform the same strike three times in a row in many kata, (5) why most kata repeat the same movements to the left and right sides, (6) why we sometimes turn 270 degrees to the left instead of just turning 90 degrees to the right, (7) what tactic is represented by moving the leading foot to the rear when turning (as in Steps #3, #11, and #19 of Kihon Katachi Ichi) instead of the usual Shuri-te turn, and (8) what is meant by "ikken sunawachi banken" ("one fist is the equivalent of 10,000 fists") and how does it apply to Kihon Katachi Ichi?  Consider these questions, along with others that may occur to you, then discuss them with your sensei.

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When learning a new kata (or katachi, in this case), it is important to remind oneself of the adage: "Manabu no tame ni hyakkkai, jukuren no tame ni senkai, satori no tame ni manga okonau" (学ぶのために百回、熟練のために千回、悟りのために万回行う.).  A hundred times to learn, a thousand times for proficiency, ten thousand repetitions for complete understanding.   A related Okinawan saying is "ichi kata san nen" (一型三年):  one kata three years.  Think of it this way:  it takes about 30 to 40 seconds to perform Kihon Katachi Ichi.  So in just ten minutes per day for only ten days (or twenty minutes a day for just five days), you can learn its correct sequence of movements.   But to become truly proficient—to be able to perform it correctly, and with the speed, power, timing, and bushi damashii (samurai spirit) necessary to make its techniques effective in a real self-defence situation—will take a thousand repetitions, which equates to 100 days at ten repetitions a day.   And to fully understand and apply all of its principles, nuances, and variations will take 1,000 days (three years) at ten repetitions per day.

The exact origins of Kihon Katachi Ichi are a bit murky.  It is attributed to Mabuni Kenwa, but it is possible that he either borrowed it from, or developed it in collaboration with, Funakoshi Yoshitaka, the son of Shōtōkan founder, Funakoshi Gichin.  Despite Funakoshi Gichin being more than 20 years senior to Mabuni, in the 1930s the Funakoshis were frequent visitors to Mabuni's home and dōjō in Ōsaka, because Mabuni was the acknowledged expert on kata.  Funakoshi Yoshitaka is credited with creating the kata, Taikyoku Shodan, which is identical to Kihon Katachi Ichi, in the late 1930s or early 1940s.  Originally, however, Mabuni's version was called Jūni no Kata (十二の型) or "12 kata".  It is not known if this was because there are twelve kata in the series, or because there are twelve strikes in each kata, since both of these are the case.

In either event, the pattern we now perform as Kihon Katachi Ichi is actually the eleventh in the original series, or Jūni no Kata Sono Jūichi!  The Jūni no Kata series is essentially the same four patterns performed in each of three different stances:  ashimae heikō dachi (one foot forward heikō dachi), neko-ashi dachi, and zenkutsu dachi.  The first katachi in each set is performed with yoko uke and oizuki chūdan, the second with yoko uke followed by choku geri and oizuki chūdan, the third with gedan barai and oizuki chūdan, and the fourth with age uke and oizuki chūdan, resulting in a total of twelve.

Hayashi Teruō restructured the Juni no Kata when he established Hayashi-Ha Shitō-Ryū in 1970 and reduced the number of  in the series to five.  In the process he renamed and resequenced them as Kihon Kata Ichi, Ni, San, Yon, and Go.   The first three were all taken directly from the set performed in zenkutsu dachi, but his Kihon Kata Yon and Kihon Kata Go were modifications of the original Mabuni kata.  Kihon Kata Yon is performed with two successive blocks—gedan barai and yoko uke—performed with the same hand, followed by oizuki chūdan, and Kihon Kata Go uses shutō uke, followed by a choku geri— oizuki combination.

Shimabukuro Hanshi believed that five was too many kihon kata, so when he opened his own dōjō he stopped teaching Hayashi's Kihon Kata San and Kihon Kata Yon, and renumbered Kihon Kata Go as Kihon Kata San.  Later, when he affiliated with Mabuni Kenzō and the Nippon Karate-do Kai, he also stopped teaching Kihon Kata San, since it had not been part of the original Jūni no Kata series.  As a result of all of these changes, the Kihon Katachi Ichi and Kihon Katachi Ni we now teach at the Seishin-Kan correspond to Jūni no Kata Sono Jūichi and Jūni no Kata Jūni, respectively, of the original twelve Jūni no Kata set.

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