Twenty-four

Niseishi translates to "twenty-four" in English. If you take a look at all of the steps in Chito-ryu Niseishi-dai, some of them can be a little hard to imagine that they are a single step, while other steps are simply just that; a step. I remembered reading an article a while back that said "Every move in Okinawan karate has purpose, no matter how small or trivial it appears". I'm paraphrasing, but you get the general idea.

So what are the steps? There are countless videos on YouTube to guide you through the steps, but a large majority of them are not for Chito-ryu. Even the ones for Chito-ryu are a little off. Granted, the performer is demonstrating the kata as a 4th kyu should practice it, and that is probably who the video is meant for. I'm a bit of a visual learner, but I still need the explanation to go along with it for better understanding. There is only so much you can learn from a video.

So, I present to you, in glorious Technicolor, my step-by-step guide to Niseishi-sho/dai. I'm assuming that you are starting the kata from the standard uchi-hachiji-dachi, with your right fist covered by your left hand at belt level.

1. Inhale through your nose, and then exhale through your mouth while performing kakewake-uke. Make sure to tighten your tanden muscles on the exhale. (Niseishi Bunkai, steps 1 through 6)
2. Move your right foot into migi-seisan-dachi (2nd kyu and above - sanchin-dachi).
3. Inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth. Inhale through your nose again, and at the same time, draw your fists back to your belt. Exhale through your mouth, and push your fists out into chudan level haiko-zuki. Your fists should be approximately one inch apart, which puts the contact points of your fists at about the same width as your eyes.
4. Move your left foot up into uchi-hachiji-dachi.
5. Inhale through your nose, and then exhale through your mouth while performing kakewake-uke.
6. Move your right foot into migi-seisan-dachi (2nd kyu and above - sanchin-dachi).
7. Inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth. Inhale through your nose, and at the same time, draw your fists back to your belt. Exhale through your mouth, and push your fists out into chudan level haiko-zuki.
8. Slowly draw your left fist back to your belt.
9. Oi-zuki (kiai).
10. Gyaku-zuki.
11. (Niseishi-dai) Turn your head 180 degrees to the right and look over your right shoulder, and shift back into shiko-dachi, uraken-uchi.
12. (Niseishi-dai) Turn your head 180 degrees to the left, move your right foot to the right into hidari-seisan-dachi, mae-te-zuki. When you perform the mae-te-zuki, shift backwards so that you thrust your ushiro-empi into the opponent behind you.
13. (Niseishi-dai) Gyaku-zuki.
14. Move your left foot over to the right so that your is almost directly in front of your right foot. This takes you off of the line of attack. At the same time, open your hands, draw your right hand back to prepare for a shuto-uchi, and bring your left hand to the center of your chest for a tekubi-kake-uke. Twist your whole body so that you end up in a kosa-dachi, shuto-uchi to the temple. The twisting action is what gives your shuto-uchi power. This all must be performed as a single action. (Niseishi Bunkai # 7)
15. Mae-keage with your right leg.
16. Step through the kick, and after landing, draw your left foot up into a kosa-dachi that is perpendicular to your line of attack (but keep your focus in front, on your embusen). Kosa-uke beside your right hip to grasp your opponents punch. (Niseishi Bunkai # 8 & 9)
17. Pick both hands up into an arc to draw your opponent off balance while moving your left foot back along your embusen into shiko-dachi. Once securely into shiko-dachi, and your hands are now on the left side of your body, heito-uchi with your right hand to your opponents ribs.
18. Turn your head 180 degrees to the left and move your right foot out so you can get into hidari-seisan-dachi (2nd kyu and above - pivot on the heel of your right foot into hidari-chokusen-seisan-dachi) and shuto-uchi to the temple.
19. Mae-keage with your right leg.
20. Step through the kick, and after landing, draw your left foot up into a kosa-dachi that is perpendicular to your line of attack (but keep your focus in front, on your embusen). Kosa-uke beside your right hip to grasp your opponents punch.
21. Pick both hands up into an arc to draw your opponent off balance while moving your left foot back along your embusen into shiko-dachi. Once securely into shiko-dachi, and your hands are now on the left side of your body, heito-uchi with your right hand to your opponents ribs.
22. Turn your head 180 degrees to the left and move your right foot out so you can get into hidari-seisan-dachi (2nd kyu and above - pivot on the heel of your right foot into hidari-chokusen-seisan-dachi) and shuto-uchi to the temple.
23. Bring your right foot up into musubi-dachi and slowly perform haishu-uke with your right hand. Your focus still remains straight ahead. The haishu-uke should finish slightly behind your head. The purpose is to move off the line of attack and slightly push your opponents punch behind your head. (Niseishi Bunkai # 10)
24. Cross both hands (still open) in front of your face. (Niseishi Bunkai # 11)

That's it. The twenty-four steps of Chito-ryu Niseishi-dai (or twenty-one steps to Niseishi-sho, whichever floats your boat).

Things to watch out for?

1. Know your embusen. If not, then there is a lot of places where a small error in your line of attack will result in stances being off more and more.
2. When you kick after the shuto-uchi (steps 14 & 18), make sure to bring your knee up on the inside of your elbow. I know it only makes sense, but you would be surprised how many people don't, and then all of a sudden, the elbow is an obstacle for the kick.
3. The kosa-uke, in my opinion, should be performed like you're grasping a punch, not like you're gently laying your hands in flowers, one after the other.

Niseishi is the first kata learned in Chito-ryu where the karateka demonstrates Zanshin. You could read the Wikipedia article on Zanshin here, but I prefer this write-up at FightingArts.com. You know that part in the kata where you block a punch without even looking? Yeah, that part. That's Zanshin, which, by the way, is step number twenty-three out of twenty-four.

The many faces of Bassai

I'm a huge fan of Kata. I remember how I felt when I first learned Ne-Sei-Shi-Sho/Dai (recently renamed to Ne-Sei-Shi in the new Canadian Chito-ryu Technical Manual). It was the first kata I learned in Chito-ryu that did not involve a lot of repetition, like Kihon-dosa-ichi/ni or Shi-Ho-Hai, and it required much more attention to detail than previous kata.

One of the requirements for my 1st Kyu is the kata Bassai. The kata is quite difficult with respect to feet positioning, as well as the block and strike techniques at the beginning of the kata. While searching for more information about Bassai on the Internet, I found that the Chito-ryu version is a little different from the other styles of Karate, so I decided to research the kata more, and document what I discovered.

Passai (later renamed to Bassai when Karate was brought to Japan due to the different pronunciation of the kanji) is thought to be at least 400 years old. I won't get into the specifics of the kata as you can just read the Wikipedia article here.

Below is a video of Matsumora no Passai as done by Sensei Bud Morgan (USSKA). I especially like this version as it is slowed down and you can see the finer detail in the kata.

Matsumura no Passai, as you can probably guess, is the kata Passai as envisioned by Matsumura Sokon, who is the maternal grandfather of O'Sensei Chitose. This version of Passai is said to be very close to the original (if not the same), although I am having trouble finding anything that verifies that with the exception of some various comments around the Internet. More on this later. Matsumura Sokon is said to have brought this kata back after training Chuan Fa in China.

Kokan Oyadomari envisioned Passai slightly different. Oyadomari no Passai, also known as Tomari no Passai, has many similarities to Matsumura no Passai, which some say it is based on. Another theory is that Kokan Oyadomari learned Passai from a Chinese living in Tomari, possibly from someone with the same Martial Arts training as the Chuan Fa teachers of Matsumura (Anan?). Kokan Oyadomari's version of Passai has more "local flavour"  that Matsumura's.

Anko Itosu, a student of Matsumura Sokon, brought Karate to the education system in Okinawa. Itosu no Passai is another variation of Passai which is based on Matsumura no Passai.

Finally, here is Chito-ryu Bassai, as performed by Sensei Glenn Euloth from the Atlantic Karate Club in Halifax, NS.  There are a few minor errors in this video, but I believe it's mostly due to the fact that the kata has been refined slightly since Sensei Euloth learned it. You can see many similarities between Chito-ryu Bassai and Tomari no Passai.

While searching the Internet for Passai, I came across this video. Before you continue, let me just say that if you are not already reading the blog Karate by Jesse, you should be. OK, my fanboy plug is done. You may now continue.

You can see the similarities to Chito-ryu Bassai in the sequence of steps. This is an older version of Tomari no Passai, but Chito-ryu Bassai is said to have originated from Shuri-te. Well, it seems that the above video is of a Shurinji-ryu student demonstrating the Old Tomari no Passai for Nakazato Joen Sensei, who was a student of Chotoku Kyan, and in case you're forgetting, Chotoku Kyan was one of O'Sensei's teachers in Shuri.

I believe that Chito-ryu Bassai is as close to the original Passai as we're going to find in Karate today. When I began training in Chito-ryu last year (after a bazillion years away from it), I began to ponder on the possible origins of a lot of the kata in the style. Seeing so many kata with the same name but performed so differently, I thought that O'Sensei changed the kata to fit the style he was perfecting. It appears that O'Sensei preserved them, and the other styles changed things so much to fit their needs.

Yet another reason I love Chito-ryu.

No guarantee

I'm not sure if you are aware of this or not, but Chito-ryu went through a bit of a break-up a few years back. On one side is the International Chito-ryu Karate-do Association and affiliated clubs and National Organizations, which focus on continuing the teachings passed down from O-Sensei while attempting to modernize the style. On the other side are those clubs and National Organizations that wish to expand on the knowledge and teachings of O-Sensei while keeping with the traditions that helped define the style.

Now, I belong to a certain Yahoo group that is centered around discussion of the Chito-ryu style. This week, someone asked a question. The question was innocent enough.

What is the proper position for the Arms and Hands when standing in Hachi-ji Dachi, and why?

OK. Interesting question. Now, here is one of the responses sent to the list:

Do you mean by "proper", the antiquated style of Chito-ryu as was taught by the now deceased O-Sensei? Or "proper" by the up to date and more proper, living Soke Tsuyoshi Chitose?

Am I wrong to think that we, as Karateka, are supposed to be above this type of behavior? I'm sure that the others on the list will just ignore this person and answer the question.

I think what he means is the "old" way which is steeped I'm tradition and deeply rooted in his Okinawan training which provided us with a method of becoming not only better fighters but also better people in society. As opposed to, the new watered down, sterile, seemingly unconnected version that seems to be prevalent today.

Wait... What?? Are you kidding me? Can we not just answer the question without getting into why this style is better than that one? Every style has it's positive and negative points. Sure, there are watered down styles of Karate that have been born in the past twenty or so years, but so what? Crap eventually gets to the point where it stinks enough that someone will flush it.

I especially like this part of the response:

...not only better fighters but also better people in society.

Better people in society don't troll.

I'll finish with this quote which, I think, is quite fitting:

"Karate strives to build character, improve human behavior, and encourage modesty. It cannot, however, guarantee it."
- Ankoh Itosu

Word.