Naihanchi

Motobu's Naihanchi

Naihanchi (or Naifanchi) is a karate kata, performed in straddle stance (naihanchi-dachi / kiba-dachi ). It translates to 'internal divided conflict'. The form makes use of in-fighting techniques (i.e. tai sabaki (body evasion)) and grappling. There are three modern kata in this series (Shodan, Nidan and Sandan). Some researchers believe Nidan and Sandan were created by Anko Itosu, but others believe that it was originally one kata broken into three separate parts (probably due to constraints of space). The fact that only Tekki Shodan has a formal opening suggests the kata was split.

Itosu is reported to have learnt the kata from Sokon Matsumura, who learnt it from a Chinese man living in Tomari. Itosu is thought to have changed the original kata. The form is so important to old style karate that Kentsu Yabu (a student of Itosu) often told his students ‘Karate begins and ends with Naihanchi’ and admonished his students must practice the kata 10,000 times to make it their own. Before Itosu created the Pinan / Heian kata’s, Naihanchi would traditionally be taught first in Tomari-te and Shuri-te schools, which indicates its importance. Gichin Funakoshi learnt the kata from Anko Asato. Funakoshi renamed the kata Tekki (Iron Horse) in reference to his old teacher, Itosu, and the forms power.

The oldest known reference to Naihanchi are in the books of Motobu Choki. He states the kata was imported from China, but is no longer practiced there. Motobu learnt the kata from Sokon Matsumura, Sakuma Pechin, Itosu Anko and Kosaku Matsumura.Motobu taught his own interpretation of Naihanchi, which included ti (Okinawan form of martial arts which predates karate) like grappling and throwing techniques.

In the 1960’s a kung fu practitioner, Daichi Kaneko, studied a form of Taiwanese White Crane Boxing, known as Dan Qiu Ban Bai He Quan (Half Hillock, Half White Crane Boxing). Kaneko, an acupuncturist who lived in Yonabaru, Okinawa, taught a form called Neixi (inside knee) in Mandarin. This form includes the same sweeping action found in the nami-gaeshi (returning wave) technique of Naihanchi. Neixi is pronounced Nohanchi in Fuzhou dialect, which could indicate Neixi is the forerunner to Naihanchi.

Sources

• Akari-ki Karate: Naihanchi
• Joe Swift - Roots of Shotokan: Funakoshi's Original 15 Kata; Part 2 - Pinan, Naihanchi, Kushanku & Passai Kata [1]
• Nathan Johnson – Barefoot Zen: The Shaolin Roots of Kung Fu and Karate, Weiser, York Beach, 2000.
• Shoshin Nagamine – The Essence of Okinawan Karate-Do, Tuttle, Boston, 1998.
• Mark Bishop – Okinawan Karate, Tuttle, Boston, 1999.
• Shoshin Nagamine – Tales of Okinawa’s Great Masters, Tuttle, Boston, 1999.