Heian Shodan

[ajayfieldhouse]

I would have to say I agree with you on this. There are many fine non JKA schools in existence today. The SKIF springs to mind immediately, and although Shihan Kanazawa was and is, still linked to the JKA, I know that he has done his own "thing" for quite a few years.

[osuperu]

i too am starting...and working on heian shodan religiously...and i really try to get the bunkai for everything..im a thinker....iabnd the bunkai makes it so much clearer...

like what sparky said, i was really at odds with the point of the hammer fist part...untill i foudn the use for breaking your opponents collar bone..now i jsut visulize that! among the other visualizations for each part.

hey..anyone know of a book with all the shotokan bunkai for each kata?..im sure theres variablity between senseis and books...but anyone know?...i dont get that much time to rack my sensei's brain during class\

thanks

[ajayfieldhouse]

You might want to try the "Best Karate" series of books by Masatoshi Nakayama. They are very informative. or for a more recent study of practical kata bunkai, try "Bunkai Jutsu" by Iain Abernethy. All very good books and full of bunkai.

[papaschtroumpf]

I have a few books of the "Best Karate" series and none of them explains the bunkai for katas. Is it in one of the later volumes?

[ajayfieldhouse]

Many apologies. The actual title of the books by Nakayama Sensei I was referring to is: Karate Kata-Heian 1, Heian 2 etc. Yuo could also try the series of books by Vince Morris & Aidan Trimble. They are well worth a look. For a very good supplier of martial arts books etc. visit: https://www.monabooks.com.

[osuperu]

hey thanks for the links and book titles...

but hey would anyone know of a good martial arts supply store (for books and such) in america?

[ajayfieldhouse]

Didn't realise you were in America!! Anyway, for martial arts supplies, you can try Asian World of Martial Arts -visit: https://www.awma.com (they are in philadelphia) and for books and stuff you might like to try Black belt magazine (I am looking through an issue as I type this and they seem to havea good assortment of martial arts books & videos etc.) visit; https://www.blackbeltmag.com Hope this helps

[mlee]

Anybody have anybody good tips on Heian Shodan?

Check out this website, it's my dojo's site:

http://www.peijka.ca/noflash.htm

Click on Heian Shodan on the left hand side, scroll down a bit on the right and watch that little man do the kata.

[Neddo]

Whazz up...

Hey, this is my first post, my real name is Nedim,and I train karate...

In this monday (day after tommorow) I am doing Heian Shodan for yellow belt...

Great tips... Greetings from Bosnia!

[pegasi]

One tip I'd like to add is something my sensei taught us. When moving from one move to another, think of it as contraction/expansion. You contract - pulling your hands in to the beginning positions for the next moves, as well as stepping one's feet together, then expanding out into the next move. Keeping the arms and legs together when turning also helps balance and makes turning neater, not to mention clearly delineates the change from one move to the next. This idea can also be thought of as gathering your power for the next strike, block or kick.

One thing that I was also taught was a bit regarding timing. Some moves are meant to be performed as individual distinct moves, whereas others are "combinations" executed quickly one after the other, until you hit that natural "pause" in the kata. Speaking of "pauses", if you think about it, a lot of the kata, not just the Heian, but also Bassai, Kanku, Empi, etc, have a "flow" to them, where single moves or combinations "fit" together to help provide that illusion of combat against imaginary opponent(s), which is what Kata are.

I have found that some of the best instructors will often take pieces from assorted kata and show them in "stand alone" use, so that you can get a better idea of the application of the specific technique.