Unlocking Naihanchi Shodan

[Ueshirokarate]

It is my opinion that there is no kata as important, overlooked or more definitive of karate than Naihanchi Sho. Iotosu's student Yabu Kentsu used to say that karate begins with Naihanchi. I am sure practioners of Goju Ryu and a few other styles would say the same of Sanchin. Naihanchi was also a favorite of karate great Choki Motubu for real fighting. So this begs the question what exactly about the kata makes it so special. Yes it develops strength endurance in the legs, but what makes the techniques it holds so effective in fighting?

[Montana]

Nahachin Sho is a very xcomplex and often misunderstood or appreciated kata.

As with all the Nahachin kata, you're fighting witgh your back against the wall (basically). In Sho you utilize leg blocks, sweeps, throws, stomps and techniques that are only incorporated into that kata. The bunkai for Nahachin Sho is is really rather fascinating and complex and it takes years of practice to really understand the kata and what it contains.

[Ueshirokarate]

The strongest theory I have come across for the roots of Naihanchi, is that it is the Okinawan adaptation of the Dai Fan Che of Mantis Kung Fu:

Here is an excellent article on it:

http://www.cw-fc.com/karate/kata/naihanchi.htm

[sensei8]

I hold the Naihanchi series quite endear to me. Not only for its complexity, but because of the effectiveness born in the techniques. Also, I've always found it fascinating that this series is known as Motubu's Kata; all three done as one. Motobu stated it repeatedly..."There is only one kata necessary to develop and excel in karate, and that is Naihanchi as one."

So, if Motobu Sensei is correct, then do we really need all of the other kata's within your/our syllabus?

Naihanchi shows the power of Kiba-dachi; the one stance that's primarily used by every practitioner of the martial arts when engaged in kumite. I use Kiba-dachi more than any stance within the Shindokan syllabus/curriculum. My Tuite incorporates Kiba-dachi constantly within its transitional shifts and the like. Yes, other kata's use Kiba-dachi, but not to the extent of Niahanchi.

In Oyo Bunkai, I've found and am still finding so many effective applications within this series. I'm ok with the "back against a wall" applications, but, many other applications stand alone and away from that well know interpretation. Will we always have our back against a wall? Therefore, I don't practice this series for the sake of a wall, but for the chance of experiencing the separation from that proverbial wall.

Inasmuch, the short punching/blocking are also tightly woven in with the Tuite found in Shindokan. Our short range techniques pack one heck of a whollup, and the thanks go to the Niahanchi because of those short punches/blocks/deflections.

The application possibilities of the use of ones legs in the Niahanchi series is without any comparison, imho. Is this movement for stomping, sweeping, avoidance...what else can one derive from the legs of this series?

It's exciting!!

To save the length of my post, and if I continue, it would be a long post, so let me just say this about the Niahanchi series....OH WHAT A RUSH!!

[Ueshirokarate]

I hold the Naihanchi series quite endear to me. Not only for its complexity, but because of the effectiveness born in the techniques. Also, I've always found it fascinating that this series is known as Motubu's Kata; all three done as one. Motobu stated it repeatedly..."There is only one kata necessary to develop and excel in karate, and that is Naihanchi as one."

So, if Motobu Sensei is correct, then do we really need all of the other kata's within your/our syllabus?

Naihanchi shows the power of Kiba-dachi; the one stance that's primarily used by every practitioner of the martial arts when engaged in kumite. I use Kiba-dachi more than any stance within the Shindokan syllabus/curriculum. My Tuite incorporates Kiba-dachi constantly within its transitional shifts and the like. Yes, other kata's use Kiba-dachi, but not to the extent of Niahanchi.

In Oyo Bunkai, I've found and am still finding so many effective applications within this series. I'm ok with the "back against a wall" applications, but, many other applications stand alone and away from that well know interpretation. Will we always have our back against a wall? Therefore, I don't practice this series for the sake of a wall, but for the chance of experiencing the separation from that proverbial wall.

Inasmuch, the short punching/blocking are also tightly woven in with the Tuite found in Shindokan. Our short range techniques pack one heck of a whollup, and the thanks go to the Niahanchi because of those short punches/blocks/deflections.

The application possibilities of the use of ones legs in the Niahanchi series is without any comparison, imho. Is this movement for stomping, sweeping, avoidance...what else can one derive from the legs of this series?

It's exciting!!

To save the length of my post, and if I continue, it would be a long post, so let me just say this about the Niahanchi series....OH WHAT A RUSH!!

Excellent post. I actually don't buy the back to the wall idea. To me the value of naihanchi is for fighting when you are close in with an opponent. I have read authors who believe that each kata is its own distinct and complete fighting system. Further many masters spent their entire life just studying one kata. It is fun to learn many katas as we do today, but that is more for the system of rank and to keep students from becoming bored than to develop fighting skills in my opinion. There really is no reason to learn all the katas in a system. You should be able to proficiently fight with one. The challenge becomes learning how to apply the techniques and then effectively drilling them and conditioning your body.

[honoluludesktop]

Sensei8, You are in good company. Wado's founder, said that Naihunchi Shodan was his favorite kata; not because of his technical understanding of it, but because he felt "something special about it". His student, Shoimitsu Sensei gave a seminar and dedicated several hours on Naihunchi. If I find the time, I will extract and annotate if for those that may be interested. After a long lay off from training when I was a young adult, it was the first kata I was able to recall.

[sensei8]

While Shindokan has its own plethora of kata's; it's not the quantity of kata's one might know, but it's the quality of that one said kata that stands alone above all the rest of them.

[still kicking]

I am currently quite immersed in the 3 Naihanchi kata. For our black belt testing, we have to perform all of the Kihon, Pinan, and Naihanchi kata (as well as 2 optional kata). To be honest, I do not yet understand what is so special about the Naihanchi kata! I mean I understand that Kihon and Pinan kata are the fundamentals, and have some idea of the applications and importance of the Naihanchi kate, but why are they considered to be more fundamental than the 3 Bassai or 3 Rohai or 3 Kosokun kata? Well, sensei8, I will have to save what you said, but also, mostly, practice and think about it lots more.

[Dobbersky]

Good Post, and excellent responses,

You are correct about some Kata being considered as complete fighting styles, especially to the likes of Bassai, Kushanku, Naihanchi, the Jion/ Jitte series and others. Prior to WWII, most Karate schools practiced at most 4-5 kata and many spent years as with Funakoshi (spending 9 years on Naihanchi alone) learning it breaking it down to its components and rebuilding it over and over again.

Regards to learning many kata instead of one, what must be considered is that as in Wado Terms, All kata become one. It is the building blocks of the senior kata, you will find many components in the Pinan/Heian series than can be found within the higher kata. Question on this, why learn 5 Pinan/Heian Kata when Kushanku/Kanku Dai would suffice?

Naihanchi is a favourite kata of mine too, I included it in my syllabus as one of five traditional Kata that we practice.

It used to be the first Kata taught to Karateka until the Pinans/Heians took its place due to internal politics amongst the styles.

Iain Abernethy has a DVD on application/bunkai of the kata which many Martial Artists find more close to the original reasoning behind the kata than most. I have added the link to an excellent article which describes history and ethos behind the Kata

http://www.practical-martial-arts.co.uk/practical_karate/iain_abernethy/ia_deadly_kata.html

In Shotokan/Shotokai the stance is extremely wide, whereas with Wado and a lesser affect Shukokai/Shito Ryu have a shorter stance when performing the Kata. In my style the stance is more of a Ready Stance, my perception of the kata does to me take seeds to a ground fighting kata, although most kata contain stand up and ground fighting aspects to their context. When performed with more fluidity aspects of Chin Na can be seen

For "modern day fighting", the crane scene from "Cascino Royal", James Bond, extracts of Naihanchi kata can be seen to be used in defence and attack.

In my style Ashihara Karate (off shoot of Kyokushin) we have taken the kata one step further and we tend to use Jissen based kata from a more Modern approach and all kata taught can be used in a fight

and an addage from the 70's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nZQcWG4Guo&feature=related

[Wastelander]

I have learned two versions of Naihanchi Sho/Shodan--one from Shuri-Ryu and one from Shorin-Ryu--and while Shuri-Ryu does have versions of the other two they are considered "black belt kata" and taught at Shodan and Nidan ranks which I have not reached, so I only know the Shorin-Ryu versions of the second and third Naihanchi kata. My views on this kata come from these two styles of karate, tempered with my own study, such as it is at my level. I won't go into a ton of detail--I don't have a ton, after all, since I've only been training for 5 years--but I'll go over some of the staples of Naihanchi as I see it.

Stance

Kiba-dachi in Shuri-Ryu is very low, which turns Naihanchi into a serious exercise in leg conditioning, but this is obviously not a practical position to be in from a bunkai perspective. I feel that this helped my leg strength, my leg flexibility, my balance and my understanding of how to drop my weight. When I transitioned to Shorin-Ryu, however, the kata uses a Motobu-style Naihanchi-dachi/kiba-dachi that is much more natural. What I feel I've gained from this is a better physical understanding of how to move, generate power and root myself to the ground. Between the two I feel most comfortable in the more natural stance but I feel that without the low kiba-dachi-version of Shuri-Ryu my leg conditioning, balance and weight dropping would not be nearly as good, so I feel there is value in running it both ways, not just one or the other.

Leg Techniques

Naihanchi's leg techniques are probably the most often "played with" when it comes to bunkai, as far as I've experienced. It seems that many people see Naihanchi as a linear kata with your back against the wall and neglect the smaller movements of the stances, as well as the concept of entering to attack your opponent with one side forward. The steps where you cross one foot over the other can be knee strikes, stomps or both, but to use them as just a step is an unsound concept unless you intend to spin around, which I have also seen done as another way of practicing Naihanchi. The sweeps and use of your knees to off-balance your opponent by pressing against their legs are probably the most valuable leg techniques for me, personally, because I feel that the judo training I have done compliments these techniques well, and I use them often in free sparring and in self defense drills. That said, I have also seen these used as low side-kicks or stomp-kicks, as well as simply pulling your foot up out of the way of a kick or stomp being thrown at you. I feel that these can also be knee strikes and training to check leg kicks and other strikes to the thigh, however--I see that application especially with the knee-raise in Naihanchi Nidan.

Hand Techniques

I don't think that it is a coincidence that Naihanchi Shodan starts with a fairly long hand technique (the open-handed block, excluding the yoi position) and ends with a fairly long technique (the double-punch) but all of the techniques in between are close-quarters-style strikes, blocks, deflections and grappling techniques. To me, this signifies covering distance, engaging someone in a very close situation and then breaking free of the engagement. That said, I do not feel that this is the only way to use these techniques. I find that the hand techniques of all three Naihanchi kata are very efficient for striking and grappling close to your opponent and compliment the stancing and leg techniques very well. In other words, the kata are very well put together and I feel that they build on one another. A lot of people feel that there is very little of value in Naihanchi Sandan but I think that it introduces the idea of using the techniques from the first two Naihanchi kata in even shorter spaces, in addition to adding the concept of moving off-line of an attack and I like the added grappling concepts of the wrapping arm.

Grappling

I love grappling and I love grappling in karate, so this is a great aspect of Naihanchi both from a practicality perspective and an entertainment perspective. The joint locks, the sweeps, the tie-ups/clinching, the grip-breaking, it's all great and most people agree on it being in the kata. The part that gets people on shaky ground is exactly the idea that Naihanchi contains ground-fighting techniques (forgive the pun). I can see where people get this idea--the stance is reminiscent of having someone in your guard, the steps where your feet cross are similar to half-guard and many of the grappling techniques used standing can be applied just as well or better from the ground. All that said, I believe that the grappling concepts in Naihanchi were intended to be used from a standing position, but I don't see anything wrong with practicing them on the ground, either.

tl;dr - Naihanchi is awesome and deceptively complex