Gojushiho
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| Gojushiho | |
| Other names | Useishi |
|---|---|
| Martial art | Karate |
Gojushiho (Japanese: 54 Steps) is a kata practiced in karate, which has its origin in the Phoenix Eye style. Its name derives either from the repetitive movements of a woodpecker pecking a tree-trunk, or from the staggering and hesitant steps of a drunken man. In some styles of karate, there are two versions of this kata - Gojushiho Sho and Gojushiho Dai. An advantage of the two versions of the kata is to better master the difficult techniques presented therein, but not without facing some confusion, for many sequences are the same and others only slightly different. The embusen of both Gojushiho Sho and Gojushiho Dai are nearly identical. Gojushiho Sho begins straight off with a wide variety of advanced techniques and, as such, is highly recommended for study. Gojushiho Dai consists of many advanced open-handed techniques and attacks to the collar bone.
Gojushiho-Dai and Gojushiho-Sho are two versions in Shotokan of the same, single Shorin-ryu style kata called Useishi (54) or Gojushiho. Originally, the names were reversed so that Dai was called Sho, and Sho was called Dai. The name change seems to have happened sometime in the 1960's or 1970's.
It should be noted that, within the Shotokan Karate Do International Federation of Kanazawa Hirokazu, the "Dai" and "Sho" forms are reversed.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- Redmond, R. Kata: The Folk Dances of Shotokan, 2006 (http://www.24fightingchickens.com/kata/)
