Promotional Kata No 12

 I have written previously on the 1937, the Karate-do Promotion Society who commissioned the twelve kihon kata which were developed.

The result of this meeting was two fold:


1) That the classical kata of each tradition should be preserved
2) That new kata should be established.


The specifics of these newly established basic karate-do kata included six fundamental points:


1. Young and old, men and women should be able to train in karate-do and to develop at a suitable level. Therefore, specific teaching material should be developed for training.
2. Karate-do should be made easier to acquire.
3. Practice using the basic kata should be easy to remember
4. The movements of the classical kata should be taught correctly and accurately.
5. Karate-do as a form of physical education should train each part of the body in a balanced manner.
6. Physical exercise and development of martial spirit should be combined together.


Interestingly, these kata were never adopted by mainstream Okinawan karate schools. One can only speculate as to why, the most obvious reason being the interruption of life on Okinawa due to W.W.II.


Within a few short months after the conclusion of this meeting, the group formally established a series of twelve basic kata which were ultimately published in Nakasone Genwa's (Ed.), 1938 "Karate-do Taikan".


This book, with great effort, was translated into English by Mario McKenna. It was pulished under the name of "An Overview of Karate-Do".


Personally I feel the idea for these kata could have been imitating the Chinese development of Tai Chi Chaun as a group exercise for the Chinese people. A way to promote better health for the Okinawan people and a chance to educate them about what karate could become.


Perhaps to give a better feel of what was published let me present Promotional Kata No 12 from Mario's translation of" Karate-Do Taiken".