Heian Yondan

[Tobias_Reece]

Hey all

 

The other day in class a question aroused about Heian Yondan (I wont bore you with the details on how it came about)

 

The people practicing it were ending one-to-two steps behind there they started.

 

I had thought about this before, but recently I read somewhere that in Yondan you should finsih 2 steps behind, but in Godan you finish 2 steps in front (therefore if u perform them together you end up in the place where you started)

 

This is causing some problems in our dojo, so I was just wondering if anyone can shed any light upon it

 

Cheers

 

 

[SaiFightsMS]

Sometimes the lenght of the step into the kosa dachi at he last move to the front of the kata will make a pretty big difference in where the kata finishes. You should be going a least as far forward with the right foot as if you were stepping in zen kutsu dachi.

 

Also sometimes if the kakiwake moves to the corners are off line that too affects where the kata ends.

 

Actually I like the idea that all of the Heians can be practiced as one long kata - non stop.

 

 

[ronryu]

Im not sure about the heians but in the pinans we try to end up in the smae spot that we started ive never had a proablem with yondan and godan but sandan has always given me trouble ending in the same spot .

 

 

[G95champ]

I teach my students to fix themselves on the last 2 knife hands. By steping short or long dependong on where they are. Its not correct but if you worried about it for tournys this could be a way to make it look right.

[G95champ]

I agree with both post above the distance you make on you cross leged stance and other moves can throw you off.

[ajayfieldhouse]

Traditionally, ALL kata should start and finish on the same line of the embusen. If you watch the Kanazawa video of 26 Shotokan kata, he has an X marked as the start/finish point of the kata, and he ALWAYS finishes on this point.

[Ted T.]

Not all traditions are the same...

O'Sensei Richard Kim has taught that the Pinans were based on a symbolism of Peace thru archery.

Pinan Sandan was based on the symbol of the person as target - how do you be a success when you are the target? How do you make things better? How do you face failure and defeat?

Thus it is symbolic to end the kata a full step behind where you started because some days you just can't win tho never defeated. It also symbolizes that every fight will cost you something and it is a bit of a fanstasy to expect to come thru a fight exactly as you went in.

So, ronryu, don't worry abut it!

[Shorin Ryuu]

Not all traditions are the same...

O'Sensei Richard Kim has taught that the Pinans were based on a symbolism of Peace thru archery.

Perhaps Sensei Kim taught it this way, which is fine. But I do not believe that was the original intent of the kata. Instead, it was more of a simplification of kata to teach to school children. That doesn't make them bad. Indeed, it is the level of the practitioner that determines the true level of the kata. However, I think adding too much symbolism to its creation cheats it of history. I don't care that he taught it that way...I just think one should try to cut through the mythology when talking specifically about history. If an extra layer of spiritualism and whatnot is taught currently by some people, that's fine by me.