Heian Shodan - what's that knifehand move?

[iolair]

In Karate before the styles I've done did not have the Heian katas, so I'm teaching them to myself from the internet now.

I've got a couple of good images which show the final state of each move, but not in detail how to get there (videos are no good - I have a 56k connection!).

In the last four moves, you end up in kokutsu dachi (back stance) in a knifehand block (shoto uke). Exactly how do you move into these positions?

Thanks!


BTW, is there any relationship between the Pinan Kata and the Heian Kata, or are they entirely separate?

[Jamie Thomson]

I can supply a link to a 1.27 Mb WMV file. Should only take a few minutes to download?

Jamie

[ketong71]

Originally Posted by iolair

In Karate before the styles I've done did not have the Heian katas, so I'm teaching them to myself from the internet now.

I've got a couple of good images which show the final state of each move, but not in detail how to get there (videos are no good - I have a 56k connection!).

In the last four moves, you end up in kokutsu dachi (back stance) in a knifehand block (shoto uke). Exactly how do you move into these positions?

Thanks!


BTW, is there any relationship between the Pinan Kata and the Heian Kata, or are they entirely separate?

Hi,

Basically, the Pinan Kata are the predecessors to the Heian Kata. The Shotokan Heian Shodan is actually the Shure-te/Shorin-ryu Pinan Nidan, while the Shotokan Heian Nidan is the Shuri-te/Shorin-ryu Pinan Shodan. Funakoshi switched the order for he felt that it was easiar to teach beginners Pinan Nidan first before moving to Pinan Shodan. IMHO, I believe he was right there.

Check out the following URL for all the movements of Heian Shodan, including the final 4 Shuto-uke:

http://kata.24fightingchickens.com/heian1.html

I understand that you have only a 56k connection. However, bookmark the following link for your reference in case you do get a faster connection:

http://jka.uchicago.edu/Video/HeianShodan.mpeg

In any case, try the link out. The video seems small enough for 56k (it's 1.85MB [1,950,222 bytes] large if you don't mind the wait).

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Ketong71

[TheHeianKid]

We're taught in our Seido classes that a use for the kokutsu dachi shuto mawashi uke in pinan sono ichi is to grab an incoming mae geri and deflect it.

[Romantic]

Originally Posted by iolair

BTW, is there any relationship between the Pinan Kata and the Heian Kata, or are they entirely separate?

They are basically the same with just a little variation depending on the style of karate that you are taking.

[Knight_Errant]

main difference is, pinan is the okinawan dialect version of the word heian. But different styles tend to select different ways of refferrring to the kata (e.g. wado ryu calls 'em pinan), so the kata are slightly different.
There's all sorts of these things, e.g. tekki and nai hanchi, kanku and kushanku etc. etc.

[Longshot421]

Originally Posted by iolair

...BTW, is there any relationship between the Pinan Kata and the Heian Kata, or are they entirely separate?

Heian vs. Pinan is sinply the Okinawan vs. Japanese pronounciation of the same kanji (character). Either way it means "peace." The Heian or Pinan kata show up in many different styles of karate with minor differences in stances and some other subtle differences. At least, that's the way I understand it.

Cheers,

Longshot

[Knight_Errant]

one thing: could you clear up whether you are talking about heian 1 or heian 2?
there is some confusion between the two as many instructors insist on doing heian 2 first. The knifehand at the end of heian 1 is entered into by switching to knifehand from the position you are at the end of the three punches, chambering, and swinging round 270 degrees to kokutso dachi facing the other way but diagonally. Keep yer feet together. For more details try here:
http://kata.24fightingchickens.com/heian1.html
It usually helps to get a video or at least some pictures.
My old instructor used to interpret it as a parry/knifehand strike strike sequence. Then again, we didn't quite do it the same- it was wado ryu.
*can't believe he just helped somebody to do kata*

[Furikuchan]

Damn you, Gichin Funakoshi for causing all this confusion...
I want to get one karateka from every style of karate. Shotokan, Gojuryu, Shorin-ryu, bring them all! We put them in a room and have them all do Pinan/Heian/Pianan kata dai ichi, whatever they refer to it as, and then watch them all run into each other as they do different variations.

[Knight_Errant]

oooh yes. Can there be 'prizes' for the karateka who bump into the most people?
Free the kata!