NAIHANCHI () or TEKKI () By Iain Abernethy with amendments/additions by Rowland Judge

The kata Naihanchi (Tekki) is practiced within the majority of karate styles. The word 'Naihanchi' is said to mean 'sideways fighting' due to the kata's distinctive embusen (floor pattern). This embusen often leads to many karateka incorrectly believing that the kata is for fighting on a boat, or when your back is against a wall etc. s we shall see later, the sideways steps in the kata have nothing to do with fighting on boats and everything to do with effectively incapacitating an opponent. !n "hotokan, the kata is referred to as 'Tekki', which translates as '#orse $iding or !ron #orse,' presumably named after the stance from which "hotokan practicioners perform the kata. !n the past, Naihanchi was often the first kata taught but today it tends to be introduced at brown belt level. Naihanchi is not visually impressive, there are no flamboyant techni%ues or fancy jumps, and as a result few students enjoy practising it. The kata is unlikely to win any trophies and is usually begrudgingly learnt and practised in order to satisfy grading re%uirements. ! personally believe this to be a great shame as it is my view that the kata has a great deal to offer the karateka. !t was "okon &atsumura ('()*+',)-) who is said to have brought Naihanchi into karate. &atsumura fused the indigenous .kinawan fighting art of Te with various methods of /hinese kempo to form what became known as "huri+te. "uch were &atsumura's fighting skills that he was appointed as both bodyguard 0 martial arts instructor to three successive kings of the $yukyu !slands. &atsumura fulfilled this role until the monarchy was dissolved in ',(). !n an additional recognition of his fighting prowess, &atsumura was often referred to as '1ushi (warrior) &atsumura'. s well as his body guarding duties, &atsumura occasionally visited /hina as an envoy on affairs of state. 2hilst on these trips, he would study kempo from the /hinese military attaches and visit local martial arts schools. !t is possible that &atsumura was first introduced to Naihanchi whilst on one of these trips. #e may also have received instruction in the kata from one of the many /hinese martial artists who visited .kinawa. mong &atsumura's students was ' nko' 3asutsune !tsou (',-4+')'5), who was also employed by "ho Tai (the last king of the $yukyus) in the capacity of a scribe. !tsou specialised in Naihanchi and believed that it was both, 6the easiest and hardest kata to learn6. !tsou developed and revised many katas and it was he who created the Nidan 0 "andan versions in addition to giving the original kata its "hodan suffi7. Today, some styles practice all three versions (e.g. "hotokan) and others just practice the original (e.g. 2ado+ryu). !t is said that the two Naihanchi kata created by !tsou were specifically designed for teaching to school children and hence do not contain the more dangerous techni%ues of the original. !t is more likely that the Nidan 0 "andan versions are variations on a theme and still contain many effective fighting techni%ues (if you know where 8 how to look). #owever, #ironori .tsuka (founder of 2ado+ryu) believed the Nidan and "andan versions to be, 'almost useless' and this is probably why they are omitted from the 2ado+ryu syllabus. !n contrast to his dislike of the Nidan and "andan versions, .tsuka stated that the original ("hodan) was his favourite kata. !t was in ')4' that !tsou placed 9arate on the :hysical education program for .kinawa's school children. !tsou believed that karate was far too dangerous to be taught to children and set about disguising the highly effective techni%ues the various katas contain. s a result of these changes, !tsou taught the katas to the children as mainly punching 0 blocking. This is significant when looking at Naihanchi (and indeed all the katas) as the majority of modern karate uses !tsou's terminology; hence the label given to a techni%ue has no bearing on its intended application.

!tsou was one of the teachers of both 9enwa &abuni (founder of "hito+$yu) and of <ichin =unakoshi (founder of "hotokan). !n his writings, =unakoshi informs us that !tsou re%uired him to practice each version of Naihanchi for over three years. !t is a good indication of the kata's importance when you consider that the first decade of =unakoshi's training revolved solely around Naihanchi. !t is my belief that Naihanchi contains many highly effective techni%ues 0 concepts that are of great value to today's martial artists. =ew modern day students value the kata due to its simplistic appearance and hence fail to give it the attention it deserves. s mentioned earlier, this situation is not helped by the fact that many instructors e7plain that the kata is for use when fighting on a boat, or on the raised land between paddy fields etc. "uch e7planations are unlikely to inspire the student to value the kata, as few are likely to find themselves in such bi>arre circumstances. ll the sideways steps in the kata are there, in order to position you to strike an opponent who is now off centre due to the preceding techni%ue, or to move you inside the effective range of an opponent's strike, and have nothing to do with fighting around paddy fields? !t must be understood that each kata was intended to be applied as a stand alone self+defence system and were not designed to be used in conjunction with the others (although there is no reason why they could not be). @ach kata records the fighting techni%ues and principles of the person who created it. !t is ridiculous to suggest that the creator of Naihanchi was a 'paddy field fighting specialist', that a warrior like &atsumura would be even remotely interested in such methods, that !tsou would specialise in these methods and then insist that his students spend a decade perfecting techni%ues for such a remote possibility. !t is far more probable that !tsou believed Naihanchi to be so effective that even if it was the only thing the student ever learnt they would be an able fighter. The proposition that Naihanchi was intended to be a stand alone fighting system is supported in the writings and teachings of /hoki &otobu (',('+')AA) who was one of .kinawa's most feared fighters. !n ')B* &otobu wrote, 'The Naihanchi, :assai, /hinto and $ohai styles are not left in /hina today and only remain in .kinawa as active martial arts.' The key word in the preceding %uote is 'styles.' This infers that &otobu believed all the katas listed to be systems in their own right. #ironori .tsuka (who received instruction on the kata from &otobu) points out the amount of knowledge contained within Naihanchi in his book, 'Wado-ryu karate. !n the book, .tsuka states that the kata would take more than one lifetime to master and that, 'there is something deep about it.' /hoki &otobu was his father's third son and as such was not permitted to study the family system (&otobu+ryu), as this was the sole reserve of the first born male. &otobu was keen to learn how to fight and would try to pick up what little he could by spying on his father and older brother. This proved frustrating and &otobu decided to train on his own using a makiwara and large rocks for weights. &otobu developed great strength and earned the nickname of '"aru' (monkey) due to his agility. &otobu was uncontrollable as a child and upon reaching adulthood would often pick fights in order to test and develop his skills. &otobu did gain some formal instruction from the likes of "oken &atsumura, Tokumine, 9osuku &atsumura 0 nko !tsou; however, his relationship was always strained with his teachers due to his constant desire to prove himself. !t was this aspect of &otobu's behaviour that led to him being e7pelled from !tsou's dojo. &otobu played a large part in publicising karate after he defeated a @uropean professional bo7er in 9yoto in ')B'. &otobu decided to enter after his landlord showed him an advert re%uesting challengers. !t is said that &otobu dodged his opponent's punches before %uickly moving forwards and knocking the bo7er out cold with a single strike. The audience was ama>ed at how easily &otobu had defeated the bo7er and news of the bout spread %uickly. The Capanese people were very keen to learn more about the hitherto unknown art of karate, and as a result &otobu became a full time instructor. Despite his reputation, it is said that &otobu was well spoken and instilled in his students the importance of good manners.

&otobu was undoubtedly a most able fighter and what is interesting about him + with regards to this article + is that the kata he emphasised in his teaching was Naihanchi. This could be dismissed as unimportant as some say Naihanchi was the only kata he knew (others say he also knew :assai). The fact that &otobu only knew one or two katas is not unremarkable as at that time it was very common for karateka to specialise in this way. lthough the masters of old would only know a few forms, they understood them in great depth and had the ability to apply them. Today, of course, the situation is %uite different with even relatively low grades knowing several katas. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it ensures karate does not lose any of its heritage but it would be prudent to pick one or two favourite forms (Tokui) to study in depth. &otobu was undoubtedly a pragmatist who took his fighting seriously. 2hat must be considered is that &otobu's students studied under him to improve their fighting and he obviously regarded the study of Naihanchi as a vital part of learning how to fight. !f this were not the case it is e7tremely doubtful that a fighter like &otobu would have bothered to learn the kata in the first place and he certainly would not have taught it to his students if he believed it to be of little value. &otobu is said to have taught many grappling and throwing techni%ues e7tracted from Naihanchi. "uch techni%ues are rarely seen amongst the unrealistic applications often associated with the kata today. .ne techni%ue of particular interest is the 'Nami+<aeshi' (foot to inside of knee) or returning wave kick. The application commonly attributed to this movement is a blocking or deflecting movement in response to a kick, or the avoidance of a sweep. None of those applications are particularity effective or relevant to a self+defence situation against opponents who are e7tremely unlikely to be other karateka. lthough in some styles the foot comes higher, in the majority of styles the foot comes to the inside of the knee joint. The purpose of this is to show the kata's practitioner e7actly where the kick should be directed to upon the opponent's legs. !n some .kinawan karate styles, stamping to the inside to the opponent's knees is even referred to as 'Naihanchi+geri.' !t is said that &otobu once used the stamping kick from Naihanchi to break one of his opponent's legs. There should be no doubt that close range fighting skills are vital when it comes to defending yourself. Naihanchi provides instruction on close range fighting; the techni%ues are also direct and relatively easy to apply. 2e can also see the integrated use of striking and grappling, which is the key to success at close range. look at the applications from the opening se%uence of the kata reveals how effective the form is. @very single move has the potential to disable an attacker and when used in combination (as the kata teaches) may very well be fatal (this se%uence is illustrated on the 6Karate's Grappling Methods Vol.16 video 0 in the 1unkai+Cutsu 1ook). The first move of the se%uence positions the defender inside the effective range of the attacker's punch. The strike is delivered to the /arotid "inus (ST9), which will result in unconsciousness due to the brain misinterpreting the blow as high blood pressure and the body taking action to protect against cerebral haemorrhage. (@ven a violent push to this area can result in unconsciousness). The pull on the right arm will throw the attacker's left shoulder back and hence prevent the throwing of an effective follow up punch should the defender's initial strike fail to incapacitate. The pull will also increase the impact of the defender's strike. "hould the opponent only be da>ed the defender's right hand will secure the opponent's head so that an elbow strike can be delivered to the base of the skull (optical bone). The /erebellum will be concussed resulting in disorientation and lack of motor function. powerful blow could prove fatal due to the skull being dislodged from the spinal column. The opponent's head is then sei>ed and wrenched down to the left using the hair, or ear if the hair is short. This twisting of the neck in two directions at once can result in serious damage. punch is then delivered to the jaw which, should the opponent still be functioning, will shake the brain and knock the opponent to floor. s the opponent falls to the floor, the defender repositions themselves by stepping across (not a paddy field in sight?) before stamping on the felled opponent's skull. The stamp is greatly emphasised in "hotokan due to the high leg lift. The whole combination takes seconds to perform and contains a number of highly dangerous techni%ues. .bviously, each techni%ue can be effective in isolation but when used in combination the effects would be devastating (and would only be justified in the most e7treme of circumstances). These first few moves give a flavour of the effectiveness and severity of the applications of Naihanchi.

The methods and techniques of Naihanchi are highly otent and worthy of dee study! "hether techniques are #isually im ressi#e or not should ne#er be a consideration$ the only thing that matters is whether the techniques will inca acitate the o onent! Naihanchi was a art of the methods of %atsumura$ Itsou$ &una'oshi$ (tsu'a$ %otobu$ %abuni etc! all of whom were able fighters! If you only wish to im ress others with your 'ata then ractice of Naihanchi will bring little reward! )owe#er$ if you require effective close range fighting skills and you wish to follow in the footsteps of some of karate s greatest masters then Naihanchi and its applications should !e practiced relentlessly and studied deeply"