Naihanchi and Sanchin

[Montana]

On 7/1/2025 at 11:04 AM, Spartacus Maximus said:

Stance: How is this taught and explained in your lineage? How should the stance feel? Completely loose and relaxed or tensed in some areas? 

For anyone replying, please mention which of the two kata you practise and the founder of your lineage.

Similarities between the two and anyone may add and correct:

1. On the surface Naihanchi and Sanchin stance are similar, especially the knees and feet direction.

2. Both are considered core kata and fundamental training(tanren). 

3. Both probably originated from or were heavily influenced by chinese systems from Fukien. 

4. Both are deceptively simple and short

5.  Both kata are used to test and evaluate skill level, mental and physical toughness and body conditioning.

 

We don't do Sanchin. We practice a more natural breathing, but in Shorin Ryu Matsumura Seito, old style Shorin Ryu, not this "new and improved" crap that's so prevalent now days, we do all 3 Nahachin kata starting with our 4th - 6th kata in line. One of the core elements of Nahachin stances is a shoulder width horse stance, toes facing straight forward, knees bending outwards. It hurts until you get used to it. Your feet feel like their digging into the floor, regardless if it's a wood floor, cement, carpet, padding or anything else. The tension is quite large. OSensei Soken Hohan, great nephew of Bushi Matsumura, is considered the foundation of our current system. As to Nahachin being a "simple" kata, it's not so simple when you practice it long term. It has some really incredible bunkai in it.

[Montana]

I hope this link works from Utube, but at the 27 minute mark you'll see Nahachin Sho as we do it.

 

 

[Spartacus Maximus]

When first learning the Naihanchi series it did seem simple at first glance because the katas have very few moves and they repeat themselves in opposite directions. Like for many karate students, it wasn’t until much later that it became clear how important these are in Shorin ryu.

The depth and breadth of application of it is quite amazing and it isn’t difficult to understand why past exponents like Motobu spent years on it before learning anything else. 

[aurik]

Uechi-Ryu is Sanchin and Sanchin is Uechi-Ryu (maybe not QUITE on the second half of that statement).  If you look at our organization logo, it consists of a stylized globe overlaid on the flag of Okinawa.  And written over this are the kanji for "SANCHIN".  It is the first kata we teach, and 9 out of 10 classes begin with warmups, technique exercises, and then Sanchin kata.  We have a saying "all is in Sanchin", or "always return to Sanchin."  All of our stances and kamae are derived from Sanchin.  For example, our zenkutsu-dachi can be described as "Start from a Sanchin stance.  Move your forward foot about a foot or so forward.  There you go"  

Our version of Sanchin is significantly different from the Goju-Ryu version and its variants.  Our Sanchin-Dachi starts with a solid base.  We start with feet about shoulder width apart, one foot slightly ahead of the other (the toes of the back foot are roughly in line with the heel of the front foot).  The front foot twists in about 30-45 degrees.  The karateka then bends their knees and settles down into the stance.  In this stance, the legs are like coiled springs, you can absorb forces coming at you, or you can quickly snap a kick at an opponent with either leg.  

The arms are held out in front of the student.  The elbows are roughly one fist distance away from the ribs, the hands are open, and the fingertips are roughly level with the shoulders.  When we strike, the striking arm draws back along the side of the body, and the fingertips will trace the top side of the opposing arm.  When the arm is fully chambered and the shoulder muscles stretched (somewhat like a rubber band), we strike with a nukite to what would be the (same-side) shoulder joint on our opponent.  The strike is done quickly, but when the strike ends we tense the arm with kime.  This goes back to the original name of our style, Pangai-noon, or "Half-hard Half-soft".  Our strikes are soft and quick until they make contact, and then we tense.

We also practice shallow, circular breathing during Sanchin, and the breathing is usually NOT synchronized with our strikes.  We inhale into the hara (think about the space right near the navel), and exhale with a "sst" noise.  This keeps the abdominals tensed in the event we get struck there.  In fact, during Sanchin we typically keep most of the body tight for protection -- especially the lats, traps, forearms, legs, and muscles around the neck.  It is common practice among higher-rank students to test this protection (and stability) by pushing, pulling, or striking the student in various places -- the abs, pecs, traps, forearms, and upper and lower legs are all possible targets.

Trying to explain our Sanchin in a single post is like trying to disseminate 8+ years of learning into one post -- because that's what this is.  As Sanchin is the foundation of our style, I am always learning new lessons about Sanchin (and then applying them to the rest of my karate).  

Here is a clip from a seminar with Kanji Uechi (great-grandson of the founder) discussing Uechi-Ryu kata, especially Kanchin (required for sandan) and Seisan (required for shodan).  The most common phrase he uses in this clip is "Return to Sanchin", especially when discussing how to make a sequence better.  If the audio is muted or muddled, you'll want to go to your YouTube settings under "audio track", and select "Japanese Original".  Apparently with his accent and frequent use of Japanese terminology, YouTube's AI decided he was speaking Japanese.

 

Edited 5 hours ago by aurik

[sensei8]

. 

2 hours ago, aurik said:

Uechi-Ryu is Sanchin and Sanchin is Uechi-Ryu.  If you look at our organization logo, it consists of a stylized globe overlaid on the flag of Okinawa

You’re not implying that Sanchin IS the property of Uechi-Ryu alone?!? Imho, no matter the Kata, all Kata are for every practitioner of the MA. I’m not strictly a Shindokan practitioner that only trains in Shindokan Kata because other Kata from other styles do offer a model of effectiveness that I can’t deny.

 

[aurik]

1 minute ago, sensei8 said:

. 

You’re not implying that Sanchin IS the property of Uechi-Ryu alone?!? Imho, no matter the Kata, all Kata are for every practitioner of the MA. I’m not strictly a Shindokan practitioner that only trains in Shindokan Kata because other Kata from other styles do offer a model of effectiveness that I can’t deny.

 

Okay, I guess I overreached with that statement.  But the first half, "Uechi-Ryu is Sanchin" is definitely true.

[sensei8]

5 minutes ago, aurik said:

Okay, I guess I overreached with that statement.  But the first half, "Uechi-Ryu is Sanchin" is definitely true.

I respect that wholeheartedly.

[Spartacus Maximus]

The same thing is often said about Shorin ryu. It is a saying to emphasize the importance of the kata as a fundamental kata, central to the style and recognized as such in a general sense.

Sanchin, Naihanchi or Seisan are not really the property of, or even exclusive to one specific style or lineage. They are, however considered to be characteristic of certain styles.

All Uechi-ryu and Goju-ryu (Naha-te) include sanchin and seisan in some variation. As every Shorin ryu (Shuri-te) style and off-shoots have some version of Naihanchi. 

 

[aurik]

22 minutes ago, Spartacus Maximus said:

The same thing is often said about Shorin ryu. It is a saying to emphasize the importance of the kata as a fundamental kata, central to the style and recognized as such in a general sense.

Sanchin, Naihanchi or Seisan are not really the property of, or even exclusive to one specific style or lineage. They are, however considered to be characteristic of certain styles.

All Uechi-ryu and Goju-ryu (Naha-te) include sanchin and seisan in some variation. As every Shorin ryu (Shuri-te) style and off-shoots have some version of Naihanchi. 

 

Uechi-Ryu has 3 core kata: Sanchin, Seisan, and Sanseiryu.  Our other kata were developed later as "bridging kata" to help students transition between the core 3.  I guess technically if Uechi-Ryu "owns" any kata, it would be our 5 "bridging" kata, since they were developed specifically for Uechi-Ryu.