Ten-no-kata?

[arnisador]

What is the history of this form? The version I learned in Goju-ryu was extraordinarily simple--just a run-through of the basic blocks and punches that was all but stationary--but I know it is a bit more involved in some systems, e.g. Washin-ryu, in which it includes for example an unusal technique of drawing back into a cat stance, bending at the waist, then moving forward in this bent-over psoition while doing a double backfist strike (like the Tai Chi boxing ears move but bent forward).

 

[arnisador]

Originally posted by arnisador

an unusal technique of drawing back into a cat stance, bending at the waist, then moving forward in this bent-over psoition while doing a double backfist strike (like the Tai Chi boxing ears move but bent forward).

I saw an application of a very similar technique in a martial arts magazine recently; it was used to escape a choke then respond with a double palm strike to the jaw (or, to push away the arms).

I find it unusual because, in my experience, changes in the level of one's head are unusual in Okinawan kata.

 

[Shinzu]

i believe it was developed by gichin funakoshi. i have one of his earlier books (karate-do nyumon) that illustrates this form.

 

[arnisador]

Originally posted by Shinzu

i believe it was developed by gichin funakoshi. i have one of his earlier books (karate-do nyumon) that illustrates this form.

Thanks, I have Karate-Do Kyohan ("The Master Text") and I now see that it has Ten-no-Kata, practiced alone ("Omote") or "as a kumite form" ("Ura") according to the text. It translates Ten-no-Kata as "The Kata of the Universe" and does credit it to Gichin Funakoshi, a fact of which I was unaware. It is essentially as I remember it from Goju-ryu.

 

[Shinzu]

i have only seen this form in pictures. i have not done it in my training. certain schools practice it while others dont. i guess it is just one of those things and who your teacher is.

it looks pretty cool though.

 

[arnisador]

Originally posted by Shinzu

it looks pretty cool though.

The version I learned was extremely simple and largely matched that in the Kyohan and Nyumon books. (I looked at the latter in the bookstore tonight.) I foun dit boring, but some versions, such as the Washin-ryu version, seem more interesting.

I was flipping through an Isshin-ryu book tonight and it said that some believe that of the eight kata, only sanchin and sunsu (the kata created by the founder) need be practiced after one has reached a certain point. Ten-no-kata seems very much a beginner's form to me.

 

[Shinzu]

indeed i see it as a beginners form also. when doing it with a partner it almost looks like one step sparring. i think the main purpose of this kata is to get down the basic blocks and strikes that one needs to advance to the next level of training. hand and eye coordination are being developed also, so it makes for a good novice exercise.

 

[GojuBujin]

Not heard that term used in a Looong time. During my brief training in the Goshinkai school of Goju I did it. It seems to have been some type of one step type kumite. I've trained in the I.O.G.K.F's school of Goju and now am in Goyu Kai, not practiced ten no kata.

Michael
http://www.inigmasoft.com/goyukai

 

[Shinzu]

it seems like this kata has been either pushed aside or lost in the shuffle... i don't know the reasoning behind schools not teaching it anymore. perhaps they felt it wasn't practical or irrelevant...hhmmmmm

 

[arnisador]

Originally posted by Shinzu

i don't know the reasoning behind schools not teaching it anymore.

As it's a kata developed by Gichin Funakoshi, I'm surprised that it was ever practiced in Goju-ryu!

It is a bit boring, but it does cover the basics.

 

[Shinzu]

even though gichin funakoshi did develop japanese shotokan, he was born in okinawa and trained from okinawan masters. and being goju-ryu is an okinawan art i can see the similarity.

 

[arnisador]

Originally posted by Shinzu

even though gichin funakoshi did develop japanese shotokan, he was born in okinawa and trained from okinawan masters. and being goju-ryu is an okinawan art i can see the similarity.

Yes, but if I understand correctly Gichin Funakoshi developed Ten-no-kata for Shotokan. I learned it in Gojur-ryu (Okinawan Goju-ryu Karate-Do Shobukan)--how did it get (back) there?

 

[GojuBujin]

Maybe they are two different exercises with the same name. In goju ten no kata, was not a formal kata like sanchin, saifa and others are.

26 katas in traditional shotokan, I don't recall seeing ten no kata on the list.

Now in the traditnal Goju school's I've been in there is no ten no kata, but the first one I was in had some influences of Shorin, Isshin, and who knows what else

Michael

http://www.inigmasoft.com/goyukai

 

[Shinzu]

im not sure how it got there. sometimes different teachers pull in different katas from different systems and incorporate it into their own teachings.

my old TSD school would teach koroyo, which is a TKD form, so perhaps this instructor did the same with ten-no-kata.

 

[arnisador]

I recently read that the JKA eventually dropped ten-no-kata and also no longer practice taikyoku. Is this so?

 

[Shinzu]

im not sure. i belonged to the JKA many moons ago. if they did it would be a shame. those kata are the foundation for any shotokan beginner.