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PASmith
PASmith's picture
Kata named after actual people

I've been discussing pattern/kata applications with some of my taekwondo mates and trying to get across the notion that quite a few karate kata encapsulate a given individual's fighting style or approach and are actually named after them.

So the fighting comes first, then the 2 man drills to learn that fighting style and THEN the kata as an aid memoir (either created by the man himself or his students) in order to solo train and to visualise and remember the lessons they have learnt.

But what kata can be said to embody the individual approach in that way?

Kushanku? He was southern Chinese?

Chinte? Was he the shipwrecked sailor?

Do the Pinans, alhough not named after him, condense Itosu's approach to fighting in this way?

AllyWhytock
AllyWhytock's picture

Hello, Interestingly the Kanji 安 for calm or peaceful appears in both Pinan 平安 and Itosu Anko's name 糸洲 安恒. Motobu tells us that Itosu changed the name Channan to Pinan and this kata evolved during Itosu's lifetime. [A night talking about Karate - Joe Swift p246 Itosu Anko Saviour of a cultural heritage) Kindest Regards, Ally

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Hi Paul,

PASmith wrote:
I've been discussing pattern/kata applications with some of my taekwondo mates and trying to get across the notion that quite a few karate kata encapsulate a given individual's fighting style or approach and are actually named after them.

You may find this old podcast on how a kata records a style relevant:

 https://iainabernethy.co.uk/content/how-kata-records-style

PASmith wrote:
Kushanku? He was southern Chinese?

We are told he was a Chinese official who visited Okinawa and ended up teaching Tode Sakugawa, who then made the kata. There’s more on that here:

https://iainabernethy.co.uk/article/kushanku-kanku-kosokun

PASmith wrote:
Chinte? Was he the shipwrecked sailor?

There’s the kata “chinte” (珍手) which translates as something like “unusual hands”. However, I think you mean Chinto, who is said to the a shipwrecked sailor who ended up teaching martial arts to Matsumura, who is then said to have created the kata. This tale has less documentation to support it, but it’s a well-established “oral tradition” on the orgins of the kata.

PASmith wrote:
Do the Pinans, although not named after him, condense Itosu's approach to fighting in this way?

That’s certainly my take on them. There’s more on that in this article:

https://iainabernethy.co.uk/article/there-nothing-peaceful-about-pinans

Another kata said to be named after an individual’s methods is Wanshu (Wang Ji), said to be another Chinese official. The kata was renamed “Enpi” / “swallow” in Shotokan due to Funakoshi being reminded of the way a Swallow flies when looking at the heigh changes in the kata.

I hope that helps?

All the best,

Iain

PASmith
PASmith's picture

Excellent Iain! After being at your recent seminar I should know better than to get the wrong letter in someone's name re: chinte/chinto and Matsumora/Matsumura!

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

PASmith wrote:
After being at your recent seminar I should know better than to get the wrong letter in someone's name re: chinte/chinto and Matsumora/Matsumura!

It happens! With a name like “Iain Abernethy” you get to live if first-hand :-) In the US, I frequently get, “Lain AbernAthy”, due to the spelling of my first name not being common over there – so there is the assumption the “I” is a lower case “L” – and the “nathy” variant of my surname being pretty common (“crazy cat lady” in The Simpsons, Fantastic Beasts character, Haymitch Abernathy in the Hunger Games, etc).

In mainland Europe, the “I” (sounded “e”) of my first name is often thought to be an “eye” sound – quite understandably! – so “eye-an” or “eye-on” is pretty common.

Happy to answer to all of it so, when I invariably butcher their names – due to my monolingual Cumbrian nature – we can do so on an equal footing :-)

All the best,

Iain