Karate – Kata talk – Bassai Dai

Back in training now for a couple of weeks, a young man’s thought naturally turn to karate in most his ev’ry waking moment. I thought I’d start a little series on the different Shotokan kata that I know and am learning.

For them as don’t know and might be half interested, I blathered on for a bit about kata in general in a previous post. For them as don’t want to take the time to follow the link, kata are pre-set patterns or forms, sequences of techniques performed against imaginary opponents. Learning the sequence is one thing; mastering the kata is quite another. It’s like anything – the more you learn the more you realise how little you know.

There are 26 Shotokan kata. I’ve learned eight, so I’ve got a long way to go.

Anyhoo, Bassai Dai is the one I’ll start with. This kata is a common requirement for the first-degree black belt test. Cory Searcy has an excellent technical description of it and for the more visually minded, here’s a neat little video (scroll down).

The name “Bassai Dai” I’ve heard translated variously as “to penetrate a fortress” or “to remove an obstruction.” I don’t speak Japanese, so I can’t say if these, or any other translation is right, but these two connote power, strength and solidity, qualities which are evident in the kata itself.

Karate historians have often classified kata as deriving from one of two styles of traditional Okinawan karate. The one was characterised by powerful, low stances and solid, crushing blows, whilst the other exhibited lighter, faster movements and higher stances.

Bassai Dai is clearly from the solid school. It contains deep, long stances with powerful techniques rooted in the firm connection of the karateka to the floor.  Remember the first few moves from the video?  They’re performed with the karateka turning in place, but generating every ounce of power he can muster from the floor to the hip twist, finally to the snap of the arms and wrists.

This kata presents a challenge to someone of my build.  I’m fairly lightly built (read – scrawny) and it can be hard for a small person to create the sense of imposing strength that Bassai Dai is supposed to convey in the minds of the viewers.  Someone with larger physical mass can project that in a certain degree just by virtue of their size.  I have to do it mentally by envisioning myself filling a larger space than I do and more importantly, by trying to demonstrate with timing, commitment and precision of technique a sense of larger presence.

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.  And of course, a large fella with timing, commitment and precision’s going to look better anyway.

But that’s okay.  I’ve got Kanku Dai.  It is my friend.  More on that later.