Heian Shodan is very similar to Taikyoku Shodan, since the latter was, in essence, created as a subset of the former.

It has practically the same embusen of the first Kata, organized in the same pattern: an A-B-A travel with baselines divided into 5 segments. Unlike Taikyoku Shodan, these segments are all distinct.

Segment 1: Gedan-barai Oi-Zuki Baseline (Tettsui variation)

This segment is very similar to the first segment of Taikyoku Shodan. Its most striking aspect is that it is not a mirrored baseline. It starts to the left like Taikyoku Shodan, but the right-side repetition includes an extra technique, a tettsui between the gedan-barai and the oi-zuki. The other baselines of Heian Shodan and most of the Heian Kata are symmetrical, so this one stands out as an exception.

The Heian Kata were incorporated by Funakoshi into his syllabus as his version of Itosu's Pinan Kata, but these have…

Since when I first learned Karate, about 30 years ago, I’ve heard of a style of Bunkai (perfectly exemplified in this video) that interprets Kata as an imaginary combat against several opponents. In this view, the Kata is seen as a series of small combinations, each against a single opponent, with several turns to face a new opponent linking the various combinations.

This interpretation has been contested many times, and it is relatively easy to find videos online making the point that Kata should be considered more like a series of techniques that can be applied (in different situations and never as the linear story of a combat) against a single opponent. Iain Abernethy, in particular, frequently refers back to the founder of Shito-ryu (Kenwa Mabuni) when explaining that turns in Kata represent a change in the defender’s angle of attack, to face the opponent from a different direction: “The meaning of…

This is the second segment of Taikyoku Shodan. In contrast to the first segment, there do not seem to be many applications for it. This segment appears only in Taikyoku Shodan and Heian Shodan, and seems to be purely offensive. Perhaps for that reason, it rarely appears in bunkai videos that demonstrate defences against a particular attack. But I find it interesting for a couple of reasons:

• it is the prototype for repeating one same technique (or group of techniques) 3 times, which appears time and time again in several Kata. Taikyoku Shodan is itself a Kata prototype, and is an appropriate place for smaller prototypes like this.

• it could be a stylized form of a flurry of punches, a chain sequence of repeated techniques, and can help to teach the karateka to think beyond making a single attack intended to finish the fight. That can easily happen in dojo…

In this post, I look at some possible Bunkai for the first segment of Kata Taikyoku Shodan. This is a Block-turn baseline based on Gedan-barai and Oi-zuki. There are a few interpretations, with more or less grades of completeness, that I was able to find online. I follow the philosophy that looks at Kata as a repository of techniques for self-defense in civilian combat situations. This avoids the rigid and traditional view of bunkai like a fight against many successive opponents, which seems more ritualised than applicable in practice.

This is in accordance with the teachings of my teacher, Sensei Furuzawa, and of the TVSK association.

I sourced various Bunkai online, and compiled them here in different categories. For each, I tried to give at least one good video example, and in all cases I avoided listing videos that did not add anything new. This means you may be able…