Karate – kata talk – Kanku Dai

When last we met, I blathered about Bassai Dai. Now it’s time for the kata I’m currently learning, Kanku Dai. As before, here’s Cory Searcy’s move-by-move description and a video (scroll down) from www.natkd.com.

Kanku Dai is perhaps the longest of the Shotokan kata, weighing in at a hefty 65 moves. The name, which I’ve seen translated as “looking at the sky” comes from the opening moves, in which your arms are raised, hands together with forefingers and thumbs forming a triangle through which you look before breaking your arms apart in a wide circle.

Remember how I mentioned last time that there were two basic styles of kata, the one solid and powerful, while the other is lighter and faster? Kanku Dai is the definitive kata of the latter school. It contains several sequences of combination open-hand/kicking techniques, with rapid changes of direction and ends with a spectacular and extremely difficult two-level flying kick. Each change of direction indicates a new opponent, who is dispatched with a series of swift, sharp strikes.

It is also the kata from which the five Heian kata were developed. These are the basic kata learned as one moves from the beginner’s white belt to the intermediate blue belt. As a result, I’m finding many familiar techniques, often set into slightly different combinations, make this an intriguing form to learn. In addition, not having to concentrate on learning the actual techniques as much means that this is a good kata for training in application, form, timing and power.

It’s a hallmark of shotokan and I’m looking forward to further exploring it.