04/23/2026
Shorin Ryu!
Iha Sensei on the origins of kata
One time after class someone asked Iha Sensei how a certain kata came about. Yoshi, a Japanese graduate student in medieval studies, was in class, which meant that if Sensei felt like getting very detailed Yoshi would translate more complex ideas and concepts. Sensei discussed the details of the given kata (I did not write that part down) but went on to say that in general kata was like working backwards to what someone found useful in a fight. He said everyone has a few moves that they really like, and so after the fight he might be with his friends and act out the scene instead of just talking about it. Over time they either teach the moves to others, or want to remember them, and so they devised kata. In time they got more elaborate; sort of like a fighter’s greatest hits. (I couldn’t resist.) Then the kata gets passed down, but you don’t always know what the first fighter was thinking.
Sensei then gave his thoughts about Sanchin verses Shorin style kata. He said that Sanchin body conditioning was useful for merchants because they maybe [this was a guess on his part and he gave it as such] needed to be able to hold things while running away when getting hit by angry or drunk customers or even thieves and to not kill their attacker since they would need to sell them their wares when the attackers were not drunk. Sensei continued saying that maybe Sanchin was used to carry a baby or small child while being attacked, like a bodyguard to the wealthy.
Sensei said the Shuri kata were created by fighters who had to kill quickly, “like a soldier.” This meant the moves were not as defensive and you didn’t need to condition in the same way when doing kata.
After we changed it was just me and Sensei putting our shoes on. He said kata has to feel like someone wants to kill you but you have to kill them quickly. Then in a very uncharacteristic tone he chopped his hand three times and said “kill, kill, kill, like a soldier”. He added that if you use karate it should happen so fast that it would look like an accident, saying, “Oh waaah!!! What happen?” everyone nearby you would say.
