Which kata best represents your style?

[moriniuk]

If you had to suggest only one kata to represent your particular style of karate, what would it be? It should idealy showcase the particular style.

Something like Kanku Dai for Shotokan and Sanchin for Goju Ryu.

[tallgeese]

We don't do kata much, so I really can't say one is indicitive of our practice.

If I had to pick a single drill that summed up our system it would be spontaneous attack and defend drills with some level of armor.

[Zanshin]

If you had to suggest only one kata to represent your particular style of karate, what would it be? It should idealy showcase the particular style.

Something like Kanku Dai for Shotokan and Sanchin for Goju Ryu.

Hi moriniuk and welcome to the forum.

This is a very interesting question and one that I have had pondered over before.

In a nutshell, I don’t think that is about how certain katas can best represent certain styles, but more to do with how each of the Katas are performed and how this varies from style to style.

A Wado “Wanshu” contains very similar moves to its Shotokan counterpart and the “embusen” is roughly the same, but the way it is performed (fluidity of movement etc.) is different, as is the purpose in some cases.

That said, it is clear that some styles place a higher status of importance on certain katas over others; the core katas of their system as it were.

The “Shitei” (compulsory) kata list as recognised by the WKF is as follows:

Goju Ryu – Seipai and Saifa

Shotokan – Jion and Kunku-Dai

Shito Ryu – Seinchin and Bassai – Dai

Wado Ryu – Seishan and Chinto

To be honest, I don’t know what is behind the reasoning for these choices. From a Wado perspective you could argue that Seishan and Chinto are the two most senior and therefore most important / representative Katas of the style. So does the same logic apply to the other styles? I don’t know.

On the other hand the WKF Shitei list has probably been designed around competition performance and what looks the prettiest.

I can understand why Sanchin would be considered by most Goju practitioners as fundamental and Wado’s Otsuka went on record many times to say that Naihanchi was a very important kata. – Problem is though from a WKF / performance perspective, they ain’t too exiting.

It’s a tricky one, but I am going to stick my neck out and say Chinto as it is light, fast and contains many of the key Wado principles.

[Tiger1962]

I can't really pin-point one particular kata but I particularly enjoy the ones that have mostly fast-paced moves in them with a just few slow ones throw in to catch your breath......mostly the ones that resemble animal forms as in Shaolin Kung Fu forms.

[unknownstyle]

my style is made up of two styles, so the matsumura side would be chinto, and the shorinji would be seisan

[The BB of C]

I think Seisan of Isshin-Ryu and the white belt form of Kuk Sool Won represent those styles best.

[tenshinka]

Tang Soo Do: Kicho Il Bu

I agree BB of C...Kicho Hyung and Woon Hak hyung are Kuk Sools best IMHO...Although Bak Pal Ki is cool too

[Shoto4Life]

Tekki for all okinawan styles!!

[tenshinka]

Tekki for all okinawan styles!!

Okinawan? Wouldn't that make it Naihanchi???

[bushido_man96]

Tekki for all okinawan styles!!

Okinawan? Wouldn't that make it Naihanchi???

Ah, its semantics, isn't it??

For my TKD style, I think Choong Moo.