Shitō-Ryū Kata:  Kihon Katachi Ni (基本形二)

 

Kihon Katachi Ni (基本形二) is not a kata (型) in the strictest sense, but a katachi (形)—a pattern of movements that are memorised and performed for the training value of the performance itself, rather than the practicality or applicability of those movements for realistic self-defence.  The origins of Kihon Katchi Ni are obscure, but it, along with eleven more kihon katachi, appears to have been the creation of Mabuni Kenwa, making it Mabuni-kei.  More background information is provided below under the heading, Additional Information.  The purpose of Kihon Katachi Ni was to provide beginning students with a simplified practice pattern on which to begin their training, and from which they could learn some of the fundamental aspects of kata.  No video of Kihon Katachi Ni is currently available, but, as stated in the written description below, Kihon Katachi Ni is identical to Kihon Katachi Ichi in every respect, except that the blocks performed are age uke instead of gedan barai.  The video for Kihon Katachi Ichi can therefore serve as a guideline.

Kihon Katachi Ni Description

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 age uke
  2 Step forward into migi zenkutsu dachi with migi oizuki
  3 Turn 180 degrees right into migi zenkutsu dachi with migi age uke
  4 Step forward into hidari zenkutsu dachi with hidari oizuki
  5 Turn 90 degrees left into hidari zenkutsu dachi with hidari age uke
  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 age uke
  10 Step forward into migi zenkutsu dachi with migi oizuki
  11 Turn 180 degrees right into migi zenkutsu dachi with migi age uke
  12 Step forward into hidari zenkutsu dachi with hidari oizuki
  13 Turn 90 degrees left into hidari zenkutsu dachi with hidari age uke
  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 age uke
  18 Step forward into migi zenkutsu dachi with migi oizuki
  19 Turn 180 degrees right into migi zenkutsu dachi with migi age uke
  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)

Key Training Aspects of Kihon Katachi Ni

 
The Key

Kihon Katachi Ni is usually taught to students of Shimabukuro-Ha Shitō-Ryū karate-dō within the first month of their training.  It contains only one blocking technique (age uke) and one striking technique (chūdan oizuki), since there is no intention of presenting practical self-defence techniques.  Instead, the purpose of Kihon Katachi Ni is to supplement Kihon Katachi Ichi as a tool for teaching new students the basic footwork pattern found in many other kata, such as Heian Nidan and Jion.   Kihon Katachi Ni differs from Kihon Katachi Ichi in only one respect:  wherever a gedan barai is performed in Kihon Katachi Ichi, age uke is performed instead in Kihon Katachi Ni.

Only one stance is employed throughout Kihon Katachi Ni:  that being zenkutsu dachi.  Therefore, the student is expected to consistently use zenkutsu dachi correctly when performing it.  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 (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, (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 Ni 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 of movement in more upright stances, like han-zenkutsu dachi.

For the beginning student, a major focus should also be coordinating the timing of age uke and oizuki with the footwork 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 assumes maximum power and stability from the use of the hips and legs.  Another key emphasis should be the difference in how the hips and legs are employed in performing age uke to direct its power upward from how they are used to direct power downward in gedan barai.

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 Ni 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-do 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 Ni instead of the usual Shuri-te turn, and (8) what is meant by "ikken sunawari 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.

Additional Information

MakimonoWhen 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 Ni are a bit murky.  It appears to have been derived from Kihon Katachi Ichi, since the two katachi are identical except for the blocking technique employed.  Although Kihon Katachi Ichi is almost identical to the Shōtōkan kata, Taikyoku Shodan, Kihon Katachi Ni bears only slight resemblance to Taikyoku Yondan, its most similar Shōtōkan counterpart. Originally, Mabuni's kihon kata were 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 Ni is actually the twelfth in the original series, or Jūni no Kata Sono Jūni!  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 Jūni 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.