Here is a TSD version of Sip Soo. I like to throw a Shotokan version because this is where our hyung come from and sometimes looking at the roots helps you understand application.
This is Jitte. While I'm at it,
here is the Okinawan version of this kata.
This progression is very important if you are going to understand kata application. You have to see where the kata comes from in order to understand where changes have been made along the way and in order to understand how the various moves were applied closer to a lineage that traces back to a time when the kata was being used in self defense.
Sip Soo is Jitte. Jitte means Ten Hands,
here is the Wiki on the kata.
The mastery of Jitte (translated: "ten hands") should in theory enable one to face ten adversaries. Its origin is from the
Tomari-te school. Some claim that the name, Jitte, is derived from the position of the raised fists, resembling a type of
sai known as a
jitte, which occurs a number of times in the kata. This rather short kata of only 24 movements contains a number of defenses that can be implemented against the
bo. It is somewhat unusual in that the kata does not end exactly where it begins. Also known in some styles as Sip Soo.
I checked youtube for some good bunkai for sip soo, but I've not been able to find any. Most people seem stuck in looking at moves in the (punch/block) paradigm. If you look at the Okinawan version, however, a lot of the moves that we would consider as
strikes or
blocks certainly aren't performed that way.
Here is my suggestion for an application to the so called
mountain block.
The Okinawan version of this kata supports this application. If you look at the entrance that this technique is performed and the angles that the arms are held, you can clearly see that someone could be carried and thrown on their head.
Shotokan used to teach this throw, but it was taken out of their basics list some time in the 70s. The bottom line is that applications for sip soo will not make sense unless you consider a full range of technique. From strikes, to blocks, to throws, to joint locks, etc.
