Sanchin

Sanchin kata is an ancient physical and mental exercise. One of the three original Pangainoon kata brought from China by Kanbun Uechi, it lays the foundation for Uechi-Ryu by teaching and strengthening strikes and blocks and fostering fierce concentration, a strong stance, and vital reflexes like withdrawing a punch to a defensive position. Sanchin literally means "three conflicts," teaching the student both power and control, ferocity and restraint, strength and fluidity. Compared to other kata, sanchin is simple, repetitive, and abstract. Students who give up on it never learn how much information it really contains. Sanchin is more profound than tricky or flashy. Kanbun Uechi often said that all is in sanchin, which takes a lifetime of study to master. Because it is abstract, it gives students time to perfect fundamental motions before facing the distractions of real combat. Its abstract motions have multiple meanings, and sanchin is an invitation to think about varied applications for simple motions. The basic step can serve as a throw, the basic strikes can be aimed at a variety of targets, and the circular motions have many applications in grappling , joint locks and breaking holds. The mere presence of the specialized bushiken fist should inspire students to consider targeting strikes against a great many weak areas of the body. Although sanchin is a superficially simple drill, performing it correctly requires understanding on many levels. The details of body position and stance are easiest to learn; mastering the blocks and strikes or the steps and turns takes longer because all of them must be performed from one's center, with the participation of both the mind and the whole body. But sanchin performed with only perfect motions is only half a kata; the whole exercise involves the intense concentration of mushin and specialized sanchin breathing, which serves to protect the martial artist and clear the mind. Understanding, then integrating all these aspects of sanchin takes years; perhaps the most interesting thing about sanchin is that during those years it teaches itself. With a few words about the purpose of the movements, concentration or breathing, and occasional comments from an instructor, students' kata develop in all of their depth with practice. Once students have a solid understanding of the kata, it encourages them to think about the basics they have learned and apply them in many ways, in different situations, to meet a variety of needs (see sanchin exploration). But no matter how advanced a Uechi-Ryu technique is, it always draws from the basics learned in sanchin kata, so that whenever karate is needed for self-defense, a student is always performing the drill they learned in their first weeks of class, and know best. The sanchin foundation of karate thus helps a student face a confrontation with the most practice and confidence possible. How it Works: Uechi "Chi" Describing the way Sanchin teaches body mechanics is not easy. Students have to feel it in class to fully understand it; they have to do it a thousand times to replicate it. But the basics are these: Your center drives all motions. Your center, if one could capture it in a laundry list, is a tucked pelvis locked in place by strong abs and hip muscles, supported by spring-like legs, on the balls of your feet, balanced--and powered by the deadly intent of mushin. The torque, or energy, or impulse you generate in your center is the soul of any block, strike, joint lock, etc. Most of the applications of Uechi-Ryu use the arms, but while arm effort is clearly involved, the real power comes from the center, with the arms serving mostly as conduits. To serve this function, the lats must lock the shoulders down, and the elbows must be locked down and in. Once things are

Sanchin
properly positioned, a student using his or her center can joint lock and throw an opponent, absorb and redirect a powerful attack, or powerfully strike a foe, with the arms relaxed. Try this: stand in sanchin, with tension in the important places, but otherwise fluid and relxed; let your legs become fluid, and you will find they, and you, become heavy, centered, rooted like an oak. Keep your center strong, likea tire, solidly connecting upper and lower body. Find a partner, or wall. Place your halfway extended arm on an appropriate target so that the fingertips rest on it, relax, and all at once, feel a jolt of energy from your center as you strike with your palm (or fist). Then try this: have someone grab your wrist (left on left). Circle your left hand in a small wauke and grab their wrist, extending their elbow, as you bring your right arm in sanchin so your ulnar edge contacts their tricep just above the elbow; practice controlling them, driving them where you will, with steps and turns, using no effort from your hands. Then: take this feeling and transfer it into all your karate. Fundamentals of Stance Short stance: protects against kicks to legs and groin/ mobile/ both legs can kick swiftly Shoulders locked down: transfers power of body to strikes and blocks/ protects ribs Elbows in: transfers power/ guards body/ 90 degree bend is strongest position for arm Sanchin back: hips tucked under and spine straight: along with Sanchin stomach connects upper and lower body, transfering power of the legs to the arms Sanchin breathing: tight stomach and quick breaths guard against contact to the gut, and provide connectivity between legs and arms Narrow stance: guards against kicks to groin Chin tucked: so it doesn't get knocked off Mushin: see surroundings and opponent from head to toe/ convey intent/ clear mind for combat Front leg turned in: for stability in striking or blocking Hind leg slightly turned in: powerful quadriceps push in direction of strike; with foot turned out they point 90 degrees from direction of strike Sanchin--just like any exercise in Uechi-Ryu--cannot be done by "going through the motions." If a student is merely worried about sticking out the correct arm or taking the right number of steps, he or she knows very little of the principles and information the kata contains. Proper breathing is important to both the mindset of sanchin (mushin) and the body mechanics of the strikes. Sanchin Breathing Sanchin breathing seems (and sounds) difficult at first, but it's actually very simple. One wants to be "hard on the outside" and tighten the stomach, to help connect the upper and lower body and defend against attacks. But one should also be "soft on the inside" and able to breathe

Sanchin
comfortably. Doing both simultaneously gets to the heart of what "three conflicts" means, and sanchin breathing will add to the meditation experience of the kata. To practice your breathing, forget imitating the hissing noises classmates make for a while. Simply push your stomach muscles out and down to make them hard but not quite rigid. Practice breathing in and out while maintaining this strength--have a partner press into your stomach with a fist while you breathe until you feel yourself breathing naturally against pressure. Your exhalations now can be made with a tight stomach; normal exhalations are relaxations of the diaphragm and vulnerable moments as far as getting hit in the stomach is concerned. Your final sanchin breathing will be just a modification what you've done. Now minimize your breaths. Shorter breaths mean even less vulnerability to a strike. Force your breath out through your mouth; inhalations will return through the nose almost automatically. Students make short hisses as they close off an exhalation in the mouth--it is NOT made by spitting out gusts of air or by the lips. Breaths are taken between movements (strikes, steps, blocks, drawing the arm back), and even during your breaths, you should hold your teeth tightly together, so you could more easily take a blow to the chin. The point of the hiss in Sanchin is to let observers know you can do this part of the kata; when you do the breathing in all your other kata, it need not be as loud. Sanchin breathing is modified during the nite (double) strikes. Here sanchin breathing is lengthened and the exhale and inhale are used to add power to the clenching (exhale) and withdrawing (inhale) of the strikes, much as a weightlifter exhales during the benchpress. This "Dragon breathing" is emphasized more by some dojos than others. Our local supervisor, Bill Glasheen, is a proponent, and treats it as a minimized "kiai!" noting that that the kiai is absent from many Uechi dojos. The reason is this: just as weightlifters exhale during their benchpresses, the Olympic lifters roar as they lift their huge loads. The kiai represents karate's roar, the all-out strike. Uechi-Ryu lacks the all-out strike; its more conservative motions use specialized weapons (like the shoken) against vulnerable areas and are meant to be more surgical than brutely forceful. Try dragon breathing during your sanchin opening too. You should breathe during your kata between, not during movements. If sanchin is performed as a whole-body exercise, breathing after each movement adds a meditative feel that clears the mind. If the kata is performed for power or speed, then breathing less frequently makes sense. Movement in Sanchin Uechi-Ryu is a leg driven style, even though upper body techniques predominate, because all of its arm motions are powered by the legs through a stable stance. Sanchin connects the fist and leg through a tight stomach, straight back, low center of gravity, and locked down shoulder. Students' leg strength thus doubles the impact of strikes and absorbs and evades the energy of attacks. For instance, steps drive the elbow strike and shuto in Kanshiwa kata, and the four-part tenshin steps can be used to dodge attacks or attack opponents from the side. Controlled motions are essential to defense because an off-balance student cannot block or strike well and is easily thrown. The steps in sanchin kata are crescent shaped, unlike ordinary steps which are a controlled fall, with the body's weight caught by the front foot. If a sweep takes that foot away, the result is a stumble or fall. The sanchin step has two parts; first, the front foot is turned straight out from its original pointed-in position. Second, the rear foot is pushed forward by the firmly planted front leg. If the step is made with the body moving as a unit from the center, it can protect you from sweeps and throws and power upper body motions. Leaning back while moving invites attackers to run you over and leaning forward invites them to throw you or attack your face.

Sanchin
Uechi Ryu turns also involve firmly planted feet. One planted foot drives the motion of the other leg, so if you are attacked while you are turning, you are less likely to be thrown off balance. The sanchin turn has two parts, like the step, although both are executed smoothly: first look to your rear side and pivot the rear foot, turning 90 degrees. Second, as you complete the turn, drive your body directly sideways so your rear leg has become your front leg. Turns can be powerful as well. A wrist-lock driven by a turn is a powerful throw, and the last motion in Kanshiwa Bankai is a 90 degree turn which snaps an enemy's elbow without requiring any arm movement. Sanchin Blocks and Strikes The basic sanchin strike is broken into parts: an across-the-body drawing back motion, then the rear-hand strike itself--lightning fast, focused only at the end, when the martial artist can feel the power of the strike coming from the ground through the legs, stomach, and arm. An elbowdropping motion returns the arm to its original position. The motions are abstract: the striking surface is the fingertips, the target is just straight ahead, and the strike is not hurried as in sparring. This way the student concentrates on perfecting the basic motions, which will be organized into more advanced movements in other drills. It is necessary to concentrate on basics in sanchin so students learn, for example, that the withdrawal from a punch is not back but down; the first motion is feeble, the second virtually unstoppable. As the motions lack a single rigid meaning, other applications can be explored. The draw back serves as a block or an elbow strike to the rear, and as the basis for the two-handed blocks early in kanshu, seisan, and seiryu. The strike is used against many targets with different fists, and the elbow drop can be used as a yank, block, or strike. The circle block, or wa-uke, followed by double bushiken strikes, is the only other arm motion in the body of the kata. Performed fluidly, it too is a composite of smaller units. An across-the body motion can be used to block a kick; an upward component can be used against high punches, the sideways component against middle punches, and the downward yank can follow any block. With slight modification the wa-uke can catch a front kick or roundhouse kick or become a simultaneous block-strike. The double bushiken (open hand thumb and fingertip fist) strikes that follow can be used as a push or grab, or as pointed weapons against eyes, throat, floating ribs, groin, spleen/liver, etc, and the entire circle can be used to break holds or throw opponents in various situations. Sanchin--just like any exercise in Uechi-Ryu--cannot be done by "going through the motions." If a student is merely worried about sticking out the correct arm or taking the right number of steps, he or she knows very little of the principles and information the kata contains. Adding mushin (the karate student's state of mind) is essential. In a real confrontation, well-practiced motions are of little use unless they are driven by deadly intent and applied with a clear mind. This is mushin, the "glare" of glare in the eyes with fast hands, one of the names Uechi-Ryu karate has gone by. Mushin Mushin means "no-mindedness" or "empty mind." It involves more than just the glare of Sanchin kata which allows you to stare down an opponent, yet see all of his or her body and the rest of your environment. It also involves more than the swift but sure block, the lightning fast yet focused strike. And it means more than a calm mind which improves reflexes and allows rational thought.

Sanchin
It has to do with the "closed gate" position of Sanchin--the covered fist which symbolizes great power and simultaneous physical and mental control. Mushin is a neutral but focused state of mind from which karate students faced with a real life attack can use the full power of their skills to deliver devastating strikes. Yet mushin is free of anger, rage or revenge- -hence "empty mind." Understanding mushin is one of the goals of karate training, which, as opposed to mere fighting, concerns itself with mental discipline and self-defense skills judiciously applied. 'How To' For Sanchin Kata How to open into sanchin stance The formal sanchin opening serves as a brief warmup and puts your body parts in the right place. It's the first thing judges see--make it strong. Begin in musubi dachi (heels together, arms at sides). Bow (eyes down, don't stick out your rear end). All at once: pivot on heels to bring feet into parallel stance (heiko dachi); sink (never bounce), bending knees and rotating pelvis up to fully straighten the back and assume a lower height for the kata; extend hands straight down below waist. Exhaling, slowly clench hands into fists. Unclench, straighten hands and draw them to your waist while inhaling, pointed forward. Step straight out (no crescent) with right foot so that the right heel is on line with the left toes and right foot is "toed in" 30 degrees or so (sanchin dachi). You should not be knockkneed. This will stress your knees and make you vulneralble to knee kicks. Avoid excess tension so you can feel the correct position. Thrust out (not down) with your fingertips, palms facing, lower chest high. Exhaling, clench hands into fists; then, inhaling, with your elbows drawn in front of you, use a "curl" motion to lift your hands palms up so fingers are shoulder high. Unclench--straighten fingers--so palms are up and slightly angled toward one another. The pinkie-side ulnar bone surface should be most forward. Proper elbow position is about a fist and a half from your ribs, with elbows in and in front. Proper position makes a front kick attack quite difficult. If shoulder tightness, mammary glands or muscle (check that you've adequately stretched your back in this case) restricts your elbow mobility, do your best. Check all positions and points of tension: legs like steel springs, but not as rigid as marble. Like a sports car suspension. Adductors--groin muscles--tight (should be able to stop kick up into groin). Pelvis locked under. Abdomen pushed out and down, kept constantly strong (pelvis rotation bunches muscles over solar plexus; this and strength guard against attack and connect legs to arms). Shoulders locked down with tensed latissimus muscles, arms relatively relaxed-strong but again not rigid. Remember half hard, half soft. Chin down to protect throat. See sections on sanchin breathing and mushin. Go through all your kata and check each position for accuracy against sanchin, and each motion for power, physical/mental focus, grace, and accuracy. Concentrate on the major issues, but be aware of smaller ones--such as, thumbs tucked onto palm to protect them. How to do a sanchin strike The sanchin strike teaches the basis of most strikes in uechi ryu and also trains the student to move powerfully, swiftly, and accurately whatever the actual motion. The strike can broken into three parts. First, from sanchin, draw your rear arm back to your side with your palm facing up. Don't reach out/up first. In this motion your elbow moves straight back, but your fingertips seek out the opposite elbow on the way back. Also, the rear shoulder turns back a bit--reflecting a slight cocking of the hips--to allow for a powerful strike. Some mistakenly consider this a mere preparation for the strike itself but the motion can serve as a block or elbow strike. Trouble

Sanchin
shooting: is your forearm parallel to the ground, your wrist and fingers straight and strong, your thumb tucked, your elbow pointed straight back? Did you keep your hand from dragging across your chest (you can't block there) and keep your shoulder from coming up (shoulder unlocked=no power). Was the motion graceful yet focused? Second, make the actual thrust. Start at the ground; with legs strong, like steel springs, torque powerfully (but not dramatically) at the hips and feel that torque come through your arm as you thrust straight ahead at lightning speed. The abstract target is straight ahead; focus only at the last second, stopping instantaneously, not decelerating gradually (don't fight your motion on the way out). Make sure your elbow moves against your ribs. You can't push a heavy package unless it's directly in front of you, your muscles don't work powerfully with the elbow winged out. Check: does elbow have just a tiny bend in it--not locking, not stopping short? Are wrist and fingertips strong and target correct? Does the energy come from your lower body like a bolt of lightning rising out of the ground through your arm? Observers should be able to feel the jolt of energy through a foot on your thigh; they should be able to see it in the swaying of your belt with the torque. Third, swiftly drop your elbow. The motion is down and in--NOT back. A back motion is weak; the down motion strong, and more useful as a block or strike. This can represent a grab as well. Check: final position ok? Did you fully complete the thrust before dropping the elbow? Did you avoid leaving the arm up and ribs exposed longer than necessary? Withdrawing a strike is a basic reflex. The timing is up to you as long as you STICK the thrust; you can thrust-drop rapidly so long as you do not "jab." Note: if you ever do a front arm thrust by mistake, you need work, because your body hasn't learned to properly hit from the ground-which it can only do on the rear. How to take a sanchin step This step moves you--safely, balanced, and strong. It also drives strikes, dodges, and can act as a throw or push--all as a crescent, which avoids the lifting and falling onto the front leg of an ordingary step, which is vulnerable to sweeps. First, on the ball of your foot, rotate your front foot so it faces forward. (Moving on the heel takes the calf muscle out of your "spring") Second, plant that foot and drive through, bringing the rear foot to the front, turned in the proper amount. Check: did you lengthen/shorten/widen/narrow your stance mistakenly? Were you off balance to front or back? Could you drive strongly yet retain control? Did you sink or bounce when you stepped? Your head should move straight ahead; a bounce indicates a cramped stance, or a weak, light moment where you can be thrown and cannot push. Did you make a crescent without overly undercutting your stance? How to do a sanchin turn (Mawate) This 180 degree turn serves as a block and can drive throws and joing locks as well as reorient you. Two parts, like the step; each completes half a turn and each therefore turns the torso halfway around, because the legs and torso are powerfully linked--don't spin around disconnected or no leg power reaches the arms. Each half is fully completed separately, so one leg is always rooted to drive and support you. First, looking over your rear shoulder, pivot your rear leg on the ball of the foot to the rear, locking it at the angle of a front foot in sanchin facing the direction you're turning to. This motion should turn the torso 90 degrees. Second, drive the previously forward foot to what used to be your rear side; lock it down facing front (what used to be the rear) as your torso completes the second 90 degrees. Check: did your upper and lower

Sanchin
halves move as a unit, through both parts as one fluid motion, without changing the final foot position or height of your stance in the turn? Did you avoid moving both feet at once? One foot pivots, the other drives sideways; it does not drag or follow. How to do double strikes (ni-te) Complete the last single strike, then draw both hands back simultaneously. Thrust out; make sure hands do not drift toward one another. (This should feel different from single strikes because you can't employ torque. Nevertheless you can thrust as if a bolt of energy connected arms to legs.) Now clench hands to fists, exhaling, as you start to withdraw them to the ready strike positions (think of bending an iron bar in your hands), then unclench and inhale as you finish this motion. On the third set do not clench, just strongly bring hands down into sanchin palms out ("fighting sanchin" as opposed to formal). Check: did your shoulder come up, or did you rush motionsdrawing back before completing a fist, thrusting without the proper fingertip forward position? Was your breathing powerful? Did you strike before your fingers were properly prepared as a striking surface? How to move between waukes After the double strikes, look left and step out with the left foot, driving off the right foot; follow the left with the right. Complete the wauke, then, look over your right shoulder, moving your right foot first, driving off your left foot; follow with the left foot. Wauke. The last step, to your left to the "front," is essentially the same as the first. Check: were you always driving solidly, without bouncing, moving in a good sanchin? Try "falling" between positions instead of driving--this is faster since you don't have to push one way to drive another; better for a dodge, not as good for driving a joint lock. Did you let your elbows spread? Note: the final position after waukes/bushikens is rear hand in sanchin, front hand waist high. Revert to normal, both hands in sanchin height as you turn, not before or after. How to do a wauke/bushikens This complicated motion has dozens of uses, described elsewhere. To perform a wauke, drop your leading hand straight down far in front so the palm faces out. Keep your elbow in front of you--don't let it slip to your side, or let your hand come in towards your belt at all; it should be as far out as you can reach. Next move the hand horizontally, fingers trailing (don't extend past the borders of your body) and at the limit of that motion circle upwards, palm out, so that your hand blocks toward your front side at head level; then pull down strongly so the hand comes to waist height, then pulls back to the top of your belt, so your thumb and fingertips are pointed forward at their targets, with fingers out to the side (hand horizontal). While this is happening, your rear hand also moves. When the front arm is circling up it meets the rear by the elbows (this is the position for the crossblock for roundhouse kicks) and at this instant the rear hand starts to move. Its path is the same as drawing back for a sanchin strike, except the hand flips from palm out, to pulling back palm up, then flips again so the hand is drawn back at sanchin strike height, palm facing forward, fingertips and thumb aimed forward for the thrust, fingers up (hand vertical). Check: did you reach outside your body to block, blocking attacks that would not have hit you? Did you complete the whole circle smoothly, without cutting off any parts of the circle (like crossing your face and pulling down), and staying out on a plane, never letting your hands fall toward your body or your front elbow move much at all? Did you smoothly complete the motions of both arms at the same time? To do this the rear arm motion, the much shorter motion,

Sanchin
must be slower than the circle motion. Think of it as calm like the center of a hurricane while the other hand whirls around it. People who can't yet move their arms at different speeds create new and wildly incorrect paths for the rear hand--reaching up and out, or dragging it along the circle hand--when all it does is pull back, briefly touching the other elbow on the way. Make sure the shoulders are locked down, but your elbows come out for the thrust. It has some benchpress motion in it, and has slightly different applications than the sanchin strike's thrust, which has greater acceleration but less force. Now thrust forward (double bushiken). Do not overreach, or your lower hand will sneak up; there is no power at full extension in this motion. Thrust forward so your rear hand finishes fingers up, wrist down, fingers high enough to barely fit over the clavicle of someone your exact size--no higher. Front hand finishes with fingers to the side, thumb at a height to break a floating rib or fit just under the rib cage, threatening the spleen. Check these in the mirror, especially for a tendency to raise the front hand and strike too widely. The inner border of both hands is are nearly at the body center line. Did you hit with fingertips and thumb or are fingers overcurled and thumb loose and floppy? Think of squeezing the thumb to the hand as if holding a penny between the surfaces. The nearer bone of the thumb, the one without the nail, should be parallel to the forearm so it can more safely transfer force. Withdraw hands--bring them straight back, keeping palms facing forward, and heights separate (rear hand in fighting sanchin). How to Finish the kata From the drawn-back finishing position of the final wauke, bring hands directly together (no wasted motion) with right hand in a fist and left hand curled over it, as you withdraw your left foot to a neutral stance (heiko dachi). Check: are both wrists straight? Arms strong, elbows in sanchin position so if you separated your hands arms would be in correct position for the kata? Hands shoulder high? Back still straight, stomach still strong, doing sanchin breathing, legs strong-enough to block a groin kick? Be prepared for sanchin testing at this point (and all others), not just at the start. Now open your hands and left over right, push them palm down to waist height while bringing your heels together (should just touch if you pivot on your heels) and bring you hands to your side. Bow. The covered fist represents power and restraint, and also serves as hand position for some lower-body-driven throws made with arms locked in place. The down motion can serve as a block--as for a knee strike. Remember, the only things that run the length of the kata are the stance, the breathing, and the focus and mushin. These are its themes. The sequence of motions is secondary. Also display professionalism in your precise actions before and after the kata, as well as in the finer points like tight, correct hand position on the bushikens.