Instructions for Wado-Ryu Karate Kata - Pinan Shodan

This page will help you to learn Wado-Ryu kata - Pinan Shodan. This is the second Karate kata used in the Wado-Ryu system.

Written step-by-step instructions for Pinan Shodan are provided below. However, if you have any questions about a particular kata movement, please check with your instructor because kata instructions can vary by school and organization.

For additional Wado-Ryu Karate katas (i.e. Pinan Nidan), please visit the main Wado-Ryu Katas page. If you are searching for other katas (i.e. Shotokan), please visit the main Kata & Forms section.

Written Instructions for Wado-Ryu Kata - Pinan Shodan

• From masuba dachi (atten­tion stance), rei (bow), then open to hachiji dachi (ready stance).
• Drop your body, set­ting your left foot to your left, into a 90 degree left mahamni neko ashi dachi (side fac­ing cat leg stance) while doing a soto uke (mid­dle block) to your left with your left hand and doing an agi uke, (described by Mr. Everett as a “bump block” — the arm will come up in front of your head rolling over, at the end, palm out across the top of your head with a slight upward angle toward the hand), with your right hand.
• Keep­ing your feet and legs as they are (in mahamni neko ashi dachi), turn your shoul­ders 90 degrees to your left, pulling your left hand back across the front of your body (not touch­ing your body), with the hand in front of your right shoul­der, while your right hand drops to the front side of your stance, as a tet­sui uke (ham­mer fist block), at solar plexus level.
• Turn your shoul­ders back 90 degrees (to your orig­i­nal front line) as you pull your left foot back to it’s orig­i­nal posi­tion, hachiji dachi (ready stance). As you are pulling back, pull your right hand back in hikite and let the left hand strike out to your left in a hor­i­zon­tal tet­sui (ham­mer fist) toward the back side of your body just above shoul­der level.
• Drop your body, set­ting your right foot 90 degrees to your right, into a right mahamni neko ashi dachi (side fac­ing cat leg stance) while doing a soto uke (mid­dle block) to your right with your right hand and doing an agi uke, (described by Mr. Everett as a “bump block” — the arm will come up in front of your head rolling over, at the end, palm out across the top of your head with a slight upward angle toward the hand), with your left hand.
• Keep­ing your feet and legs as they are, turn your shoul­ders 90 degrees to your right, pulling your right hand back across the front of your body (not touch­ing your body), with the hand in front of your left shoul­der, while your left hand drops to the front side of your stance, as a tet­sui uke (ham­mer fist block), at solar plexus level.
• Turn your shoul­ders back 90 degrees (to your orig­i­nal front line) as you pull your right foot back to it’s orig­i­nal posi­tion hachiji dachi (ready stance). As you are pulling back, pull your left hand back in hikite and let the right hand strike out to your right in a hor­i­zon­tal tet­sui toward the back side of your body just above shoul­der level.
• Drop your arm to your side as you pivot your feet and body 90 degrees to your right. Then throw a right soto uke (mid­dle block) and a right mae geri (front kick) simul­ta­ne­ously, to your right (to the rear as related to your orig­i­nal front line), as the kick snaps back, set it down directly beside your left foot, and turned at a 115 degree angle to your orig­i­nal front line. Then drop your body, set­ting your left foot to your left, into a left mahamni neko ashi dachi (side fac­ing cat leg stance) toward your orig­i­nal front line and exe­cut­ing a left shuto uke (open hand block) to the front.
• Step for­ward into a right mahamni neko ashi dachi (side fac­ing cat leg stance) and exe­cute a right open hand block.
• Step for­ward into a left mahamni neko ashi dachi (side fac­ing cat leg stance) and exe­cute a left open hand block.
• Step for­ward into a right jun­zuki dachi (front stance) and throw a right ver­ti­cal yohon nukite (spear hand) to the solar plexus.
• Set your left (back) foot around behind you 45 degrees, and let your body fol­low (turn­ing around to the left 225 degrees)setting into a left mahamni neko ashi dachi, end­ing with a left shuto uke (open hand block).
• Step for­ward into a right mahamni neko ashi dachi (full side fac­ing cat leg stance) exe­cut­ing a right shuto uke (open hand block).
• Turn 90 degrees to the right into a right mahamni neko ashi dachi (full side fac­ing cat leg stance) and exe­cute a right shuto uke (open hand block).
• Step for­ward into a left mahamni neko ashi dachi (full side fac­ing cat leg stance) exe­cut­ing a left shuto uke (open hand block).
• Turn 45 degrees to your left into a left gyakazuki dachi, and throw a soto uke (mid­dle block) with your back hand.
• Do a kette gyakazuki (right kick and left reverse punch) set­ting into a right gyakazuki dachi.
• Throw a soto uke (mid­dle block) with your back hand. (There is no foot move­ment on this move.)
• Do a kette gyakazuki (left kick and right reverse punch) set­ting into a left gyakazuki dachi.
• Your hands will drop relaxed to your left side as you step into a right jun­zuki dachi (front stance). As the step ends throw a soto uke (mid­dle block) with your right hand and a left chu­dan ude uke (the left lower arm will end up pointed toward your right elbow, but not touch­ing it, the left upper arm is straight down at your side).
• Set your left (back) foot around to your left 45 degrees and let the body fol­low turn­ing 225 degrees, end­ing in a left jun­zuki dachi (front stance) and a left gedan uke (low block).
• Step for­ward into a right jun­zuki dachi (front stance) and throw a right jodan uke (high block).
• Turn 90 degrees to your right end­ing in a right jun­zuki dachi (front stance) and a right gedan uke (low block).
• Step for­ward into a left jun­zuki dachi (front stance) and throw a left jodan uke (high block).
• Pull the front foot back and let the arms relax to your sides as you turn your body 45 degrees to the front, end­ing in hachiji dachi (ready stance).
• Close into masuba dachi, then bow.

Help­ful Hints & Reminders

• This is the first kata you have run that uses the back side of the body for a pri­mary tech­nique. The first six tech­niques to the rear (as it relates to your orig­i­nal front line, the direc­tion you were fac­ing when you bowed), are all done with the back side, as well as other moves in that use both sides at the same time.
• Up to this point your katas have all used a pos­i­tive body motion (the tech­nique is thrown with the turn of the body) to throw each tech­nique. This kata starts using reverse body motion to gen­er­ate power. Of the 26 moves described above, 15 use reverse body motion.
• Every open hand block is thrown from a mahamni neko ashi dachi (full side fac­ing cat leg stance).

References

1. The written kata instructions were kindly provided by Dojo Update, Pinan Shodan Kata, http://www.dojoupdate.com/wado-ryu-katas/pinan-sho-dan, Added - 10/20/14