The Kushanku from the Choto Kyan line is called "Chatan Yara no Kushanku." It is a bit different from the Itosu/Sakugawa lineage Kushanku, but in the same ball park. It is considered the highest kata of the Matsubayashi Shorin ryu. We consider Gojushiho to be one of the highest kata. Kosokun Dai is usually taught for shodan/nidan.
Most important Kata
- Thread starter Andrew Green
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Brandon Fisher
Master Black Belt
You just jogged my memory I forgot that Matsubayashi Ryu used Chatan Yara Kusanku.
chinto
Senior Master
OK, we just call them kusanku sho and kusanku dai. and all our empty hand kata are tested in the shodan ho testing. we learn the kusanku kata and several others at brown belt level. I have not heard the term chatan yara no kusanku myself. when i think of chatan yara I think of the bo/kun kata chatan yara no kun. but either way both are from the tamari te linage.
but thanks for the information!
Em MacIntosh
3rd Black Belt
For Chito-Ryu, Seisan.
chinto
Senior Master
Jin Gang
Green Belt
People keep saying "basics" are the most important kata, essentially. I'd like to mix it up a bit, and say that I disagree, at least in semantics. Basics are basics, they aren't a kata. I don't consider the fuyugata and taikyoku type kata to really be important as fighting kata, they're just groups of basics strung together. Obviously, if you don't know your basics, no kata is going to mean anything. The one kata I'd want to have, if I could only have one, would be the one that encapsuled the strategies and combinations which had the greatest depth/variety. for matsubayashi ryu, this would be either kusanku, gojushiho, chinto, passai, or maybe naihanchi. Each of these kata could be their own seperate "styles", and probably were at one point. You can extract basics from each of them, and drill them with partners and on bags/makiwara. The basic kata of various systems, including the pinan, are exactly this...techniques extracted from the traditional kata and reformed into shorter/simplified drills.
It's hard for me to choose one kata, but I think I'd pick Chinto. I like the shoulder/elbow bump, the arm dropping, the spinning techniques, and the simultaneous block/strike...reminiscent of some other arts I've studied.
If I could have two, I'd throw rohai in there, too (the matsubayashi/tomari version). I just like it, even though it's really short.
It's hard for me to choose one kata, but I think I'd pick Chinto. I like the shoulder/elbow bump, the arm dropping, the spinning techniques, and the simultaneous block/strike...reminiscent of some other arts I've studied.
If I could have two, I'd throw rohai in there, too (the matsubayashi/tomari version). I just like it, even though it's really short.
If I had one kata to teach it would be Sanchin (Uechi-ryu version).
It is simple in design, but very complex in its teachings, encompassing more than just developing core strength for self-defense. It carries with it deeper philosophical and spiritual significance...but then again, I have had so many kicks to the head it's just easy for me to remember.
It is simple in design, but very complex in its teachings, encompassing more than just developing core strength for self-defense. It carries with it deeper philosophical and spiritual significance...but then again, I have had so many kicks to the head it's just easy for me to remember.
Kusanku (Kosokun) dai and sho are very different kata. Chatan Yara KSK is a significantly different version of KSK than the Itosu one. Check it out at the Shito Kai website or in Nagamine's book on Okinawan karate.
chinto
Senior Master
our kusanku and passai kata are all tamari-te in linage.. they are NOT the Itosu katas, nore is our chinto kata. the Itosu versions are significantly different.
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