SHOTOKAN KATA

[nix]

Can anyone help ,e tell the difference between the jump in kankusho (the second one with the cresent kick) and the jump in unsu. Other than kankusho is 180 deg and unsu is a 360???

[jaymac]

I have not learned unsu yet. However, everyones bunkai is going to be different. In Kanku Sho, I believe that you are turning to kick an opponent from behind you and immediately drop to face the front for an oncoming attacker.

[Brandon Fisher]

I am drawing a blank on them I do not know them personally but have seen them performed many many times.

[GOM]

Original kata had no jumping movements, these were added for a sporting element. If you look back at some of the old kata, you will have a better understanding of the aplications.

As far as "kick an opponent from behind you and immediately drop to face the front for an oncoming attacker", that would only work in movies.

[ArmorOfGod]

http://www.natkd.com/karate_katas.htm

You can download those katas there. They are small files, so they won't take too long to dowload each one.

AoG

[jaymac]

Thank you Armor of God. That is a very good representation of Kanku Sho and how it is performed. I did not see any high flying kick in there that GOM indicated was added for sport karate. It a crescent kick to the back then a drop. Just as it is performed at our dojo.

[The Karate Kid]

in unsu the jump is supposed to be a jumping spinning back it before you land but to this day i have never ever seen anybody achieve it not even master kanazawa sensei 10th dan.

[cathal]

to this day i have never ever seen anybody achieve it not even master kanazawa sensei 10th dan.

I have had the fortune to see this performed by two different individuals. The first a Nidan from my dojo and the second the Master who is responsible for our region.

[Brandon Fisher]

Unsu is one of my required kata for Rokudan and I have never had the opportunity to learn it. Should be interesting and challenging.

[ps1]

It can be extremely challenging at times. Enjoy learning it Brandon Fisher.

As far as the differences go they are very different. As mentioned above, Kanku Sho is simply a jumping crecent kick at 180 degrees. In Unsu it is a full 360 degree turn ending in an arial back kick. I've seen very few people perform this in Unsu properly (it usually ends up being just a large spinning jump). On the contrary, Kanku Sho's kick is far less difficult.