Kata Saifa – Analysis

Introduction
It’s interesting, given the fact that we rarely practice or even acknowledge grappling in GKR, that the first bunkai kata in our syllabus is entirely based upon grappling, and is so rich in useful bunkai. However, I would like to point out before we go any further, that I'm not particularly singling GKR our for criticism during this essay - most modern karate styles have lost touch with the significance of kata, and very, very few, even among the traditional styles, still retain detailed knowledge of their meaning.

I’ve heard this kata taught hundreds, if not thousands of times, in GKR, Goju, and other styles and there are so many possibilities that it seems as though no one can claim a definitive bunkai. Hardly surprising as the kata has been passed by word of mouth from Chinese to Japanese to English, and has been subjected to over 125 years worth of potential distortion, revision, and misunderstanding.

According to Sensei Mario McKenna the kata seems to have derived from a form of Chinese Boxing called Lion Fist, which is one of the Southern Shaolin styles from Fuzhou. As such, many of the moves draw their inspiration from the animal the style emulates.

I’ve spent many, many hours thinking about this kata, and here are my thoughts about the bunkai, which are numbered to link them to the footwork chart, and the most common performance count.

There are at least two different versions of this kata performed in Goju – a version almost identical to ours which seems to be the one practiced in Goju Kai, and a slightly different one practiced in Goju Ryu. Where I refer to differences, I’m obviously referring to the one that is not virtually identical, before all you Goju masters start emailing me with your complaints! My reference source is the acclaimed Goju Technical volume 1 DVD as demonstrated by 9th dan hanshi Morio Higaonna. The only reason I choose the Goju version is the fact that we have the closest links to the Goju lineage for this kata.

I hope that some of you may find my analysis helpful.



1.

Step up to avoid a punch

The attacker is in front of you and grabs your right wrist with his left hand, either to prevent you from escaping, or in readiness for a punch with his right hand.

In GKR the response to the grab is usually a 90 degree turn to the left and a big step up to grab your own hand. In Goju, the step is performed diagonally to the right. Either way, you could interpret this first movement as classic tae sabaki to avoid a punch. The Goju version moves both the head and body out of the way, provided you assume that the attacker is delivering a straight punch. In the GKR version you appear to just move the body, however, if you assume a hook punch or haymaker, then neither version moves you away from the arc of the punch. If performed as tae sabaki, the first step should probably be executed quickly, however, you could argue that rather than quickly moving out of the way of a punch, you’re slowly moving towards an attacker, and the slowness of your movement is designed to lull them into a false sense of security so that the subsequent escape is even more explosive and surprising to them.

In moving closer to the attacker, you also re-enforce your arm in preparation for an escape. If your arm is far from your body, it is weak. If it is close to your core, it’s much stronger. In ideal circumstances, you’d pull your arm towards you, overbalancing your opponent as you do so. However, if he is naturally stronger than you, or his arm is close to his body, you’ll need to move towards him to bring your fist close to your core.

This is how we do it in the kata		This is how to do it in real life

As you move close, you are already preparing for the grappling move that will pull your arm free. On the assumption that he is stronger than you, you’ll use two arms to break free, thus, you clench your right fist to make a better gripping head for the other hand, then you grasp it in your left hand. Remember, you never grip one hand witrh the other by threading your fingers through each other, as this risks breaking your fingers, especially when, such as in this case, there will also be a twisting motion and resistance from the opponent. Some Goju practitioners say that at this stage, you should bend your right fist backwards at the wrist as this loosens the attacker’s grip before you start. They also suggest placing the thumb of your left hand into the fist of the right hand, for further reinforcement. In the kata form, in GKR, we simply place the palm flat against the front of the fist.

	This is an alternate wrist escape...		concluding with a better use of the teisho.

If you roll your fist underneath the attacker’s wrist, before grabbing it, this makes a far more effective breaking action when you wrench away. However, if their grip is very powerful, you may not be able to roll your fist in this manner. If you do use this variation, you'll see that it turns the attacker's wrist over, and gives meaning to the subsequent teisho strike.

By adopting high stance (heisoku dachi), we give ourselves a greater variation in height when we perform the subsequent escape. Thus, as we pull away, we are able to drop our weight, thereby adding our maximum body weight to the arm pull.





2.

	This is a more powerful escape using your body weight at the same time as the arm pull

Strangely, we pull just using the arm whilst standing tall - it's like punching without using your hips!

We pull our arm across our body, keeping it close to maximise the power of both arms. As we pull the arm, we twist the forearm to release the attacker’s grip. Only then, once we’ve loosened his grip, do we step back into a low sumo stance to over-balance him. As we sink down, we bring the left arm round in a circular motion and deliver a palm heel strike to remove the attacker’s hand once and for all. Then we deliver a backfist to the nose to finish him.

Or so we’re told. Only it doesn’t make sense. Why would you use your body weight (applied through the low stance) after you’ve tried to escape? Wouldn’t it make more sense to synchronise the pulling, stepping away, and sinking motions to create a more powerful single escape? Why practice an escape that you know will fail (as evidenced by the need for the subsequent teisho)? Furthermore, a circular palm heel is far less effective than one delivered in a straight line. At that angle, the left arm is more powerful delivering a cross-body punch with the palm heel, than a descending smack.

9^th dan Goju master Morio Higaonna shows the bunkai differently. He still steps before he pulls, which is pointless, but at least in his bunkai, the arm pull is successful in dislodging the attacker’s grip. If you try it with a partner, you will find that that is usually the case too.

According to Higaonna you could use the teisho to deflect a punch

In Higaonna’s bunkai, his attacker follows up with a mid-level punch, which is then deflected downwards with the palm heel. It looks nice, but weren’t we always taught never push a mid-level punch up or down without moving it to the side too? So now the punch becomes a groin strike! Unless the punch was delivered to the right sideof your body, at the full extent of the attacker's reach...

A far more useful bunkai would be as follows:
You pull and twist your arm, whilst at the same time, stepping back into sumo stance. This adds your body weight to the disengagement, overbalances your opponent, and moves your head away from any punch he may have wanted to deliver with the other hand.
You break free, so you use the left arm to grip the attacker’s gripping hand in order to prevent his escape. You pull him forwards... onto your back fist!

	You can see how the attacker's body is in the perfect position for an ura ken strike

Which we perform vertically. How often have you performed a vertical back fist in kumite? Once? Ever? It’s not a very wieldy technique to perform is it? Nor is it the optimal technique. At a 45 degree angle, the backfist will hit the temple or the jaw, both of which are more effective targets. Furthermore, standing sideways on, it’s harder to perform a vertical backfist, because you have to move your elbow across to do it. That puts you in danger of a very nasty shoulder-lock which the opponent could achieve by simply pulling your right elbow even further forwards with his other hand. But let’s assume for now that you’ve caught their right hand. It’s a far more natural, far easier technique to perform a diagonal side backfist, than a vertical one. The only possible reason to go with the front backfist, is because at this stage, you don’t want to use serious force, which might fit in with the developing themes of the kata – namely that it teaches increasingly severe response to close-quarters situations. Also, in overbalancing the opponent during the arm escape, you might assume that he’s leaning forward, which makes his nose an easier target to strike.














3-6

These steps are repeats of 1 and 2 using the opposite arms. Why the repeats? Perhaps because the concept of using your body weight is so important?

7 & 8.

This is the commonly taught GKR bunkai to this set of moves, but it's illogical

This is the most contentious part of the entire kata. Superficially, there are many obvious bunkai, but you don’t need to think about them for long before you dismiss them as improbable. One of the most commonly taught bunkai, is that you are blocking a low kick as you step away from the kicker, and at the same time blocking a face punch from a different attacker. However, as Bill Burgar reminds us in his insightful book, “Five Years, One Kata”, any bunkai that assumes attacks from multiple attackers, is implausible. Given all the innumerable possible ways that two people could attack you, why assume this particular combination? And if it is so vital to work on defences against two people, why don’t we work on all the other common permutations too?

In all versions of the kata, this sequence starts with a sharp head turn to the right, and therein lies the problem. This indicates turning your attention to an attacker in that direction. This implication is further reinforced by the step to the left, which suggests moving away from a big kick. This part of the sequence is what makes it seem as though you are dealing with two attackers.

However, Morio Higaonna demonstrates in his bunkai, that you are in fact dealing with a single attacker, who kicks you with a left leg mae geri and then punches you head level with his right hand. This is a classic combination, and seems entirely plausible, except for the head look.

So, why the head look? Well, I see a few possibilities:





1. It was never in the original kata

This is quite possible - kata have had all kinds of twiddly bits added for competition, neatness, or simply because the practitioners didn’t know the proper bunkai

2. You are indeed avoiding a kick, but the subsequent head level block, is simply another stage. It’s not intended to denote simultaneous attacks, just another attacking principle.

Whether fighting two people simultaneously, or sequentially, you have to ask, “What happened to the kicker after he was blocked?” Also, does it make sense to move blind towards another attacker? It’s hard to find a plausible explanation for these two questions.

3. There is an entirely different bunkai that we are unaware of.

Possible, but to quote Ockham’s Razor, “One should not increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything.” In other words, don’t look for a complex solution when a simple one will do

4. The moves are symbolic, and are not meant to be taken literally.

I don’t believe there’s a single symbolic move in any original kata. Moves may ignorantly have been added, but as this sequence seems to bear a great resemblance to the original kata as brought from China in 1881, we must assume that all, or most of the moves are intentional and functional.

Looking at the evidence, it seems more likely that Higaonna’s bunkai against a single attacker is more plausible, even if it does leave the head look and big side step unanswered. So, just what IS going on here?

A side-step coupled with a deflecting block is a far more intelligent response to a mae geri, than a gedan barai, which is not nearly strong enough

Well, the side step is classic tae sabaki, and it’s easy to see it in terms of moving away from an attacker to the right, but I think that it’s simply side-stepping a big front kick from the front. We execute the step too large in kata, so it doesn’t make sense, but if you imagine the attacker is directly in front of you, taking a smaller step is enough to avoid the kick, whilst keeping you within retaliation range. It also better positions you for a right-legged knee to their groin.

Given the fact that a gedan barai is such a poor defence against a front kick, using a low level palm heel block to guide the leg past the body makes much more sense. After all, why meet force with force? My only reservation with this explanation, is the fact that we pull the right hand too far back as we block – after all, all we need to do is steer the kick past as a cover. Hopefully, we’ve already evaded. Perhaps we simply over-block in the kata, which is a bad practice.

Now the way that we perform this sequence in GKR, slightly muddles the next part of the bunkai, because we step, block and lift the knee at the same time. In Goju, they step, then block, then raise the knee. This makes more sense because you avoid the kick, guide it past you, then knee the attacker in the groin. Using the GKR timing, your counter-attacking knee, would get caught on the attacker’s leg as you guide it past you. I attribute this discrepancy to the tidying up of the kata that has occurred in the interests of sharp (bunkai oblivious) tournament performance.

In Goju, there is a distinct kneeing action, then a pause, followed by a kicking action. This makes absolute sense, because you can reasonably assume that the knee either bent the opponent over, in which case they get a kick in the face, or it drove them backwards, in which case the kick has the extra range to catch them before they escape.

	You can use the left hand to grab and trap the opponent's punch, kake uke style, so that he can't retreat from the kick. Only a woman would be smiling at a moment like this!

Of course, I haven’t forgotten the other arm. In GKR, this performs an open-handed uchi uke (which you might think of as haito uchi uke, or an incomplete kake uke).

In Goju, the palm of the left hand is facing upwards, rather inwards, and it’s more of a rising, less of a circular motion. In their version, the hand rises underneath an attacking punch performing teisho age uke according to Higaonna. This is a preposterous principle to practice, especially pre-black belt. It uses the most inappropriate block possible, giving you the least chance of successfully preventing yourself being hit. Worse still, you need to remember that you’ve just moved into the line of the punch! Okay, so in this version, the hand is grabbed at the same time, which is a useful control device, but it’s very risky.

The GKR version is much better. By swinging the arm vertically past your face, it gives you a far bigger blocking area (the length of the forearm), and it moves the punch away from your body, rather than trying to intercept it and stop it dead. If you wanted to, you could then seize the attacking punch, if needs be, to stop the attacker from retreating away from the kick.





9.

In Lion Boxing, the double grab symbolises a lion pulling down its prey, as in this painting by George Stubbs

The first part of this is a direct mirror image of steps 7 & 8. It’s sensible to assume that we’re not fighting a single determined attacker, so the sequence is probably repeated because it’s important for you to be able to perform it on either side.

However, this section finishes with a totally different sequence to the first time.

In GKR, we cross our hands in front of us and step back into forward stance, drawing our hands to our hips, before shooting them out in a double punch. In Goju, they simply perform the double punch (or kiraken according to some sources), without the initial crossed arms sequence. In Lion Boxing, this move apparently represents a lion pulling down its prey. That makes me wonder if maybe the kata has become corrupted or refined since its original creation – after all, lions don’t cross their legs when they pull down an animal...

Anyway, both the GKR and Goju versions makes sense within the context of their own bunkai, and for this one, I prefer the bunkai that you can extrapolate from the GKR move.

	This is the commonly-taught application of this move, but it's not optimal for lots of reasons...		This is by far the most powerful and reliable way to pull an opponent towards you

Now the common bunkai is that your crossed hands are used to grip the opponent by the lapels, pulling them forwards off-balance, before delivering a double punch to the clavicle bones at the front of the shoulders. However, I’ve got a real problem with that bunkai, which is this: why cross your hands to grasp someone? What is the benefit?

Crossed hands like that may be used to deliver a strangle, but it’s a very risky proposition because the opponent has both hands and legs free, and it’s highly likely that, with both hands at the opponent’s neck, you will be struck long before you complete the strangle. In any case, that type of strangle utilises the opponent’s clothing. If they’re wearing the wrong sort of clothes (such as a t-shirt or no top at all), it can’t be applied.

You can strangle someone like this, but they can easily strike you whilst both of your hands are occupied

Patrick McCarthy suggests that when you see crossed hands like this in a kata, the hands cross behind the opponent’s neck. This provides you with a very strong grip to pull them towards you, and reduces the likelihood of them escaping. It also requires less precision to apply.

So, now you pull the opponent towards you forcefully – which in itself can cause whiplash. You use the retreating direction and lowness of the zenkutsu dachi stance to add power to the pull. You could fairly argue that shiko dachi is a better pulling stance, but it’s risky front on because of the groin exposure.

Now, at this stage, if your hands are behind their neck and you’ve pulled them in close, you can apply an extremely unpleasant necklock by pulling their head against your shoulder. In real life, this could be the end of the fight, and the subsequent double punch is simply to dispense with the body. However, as the final move in the kata shows, we tend to push bodies away, rather than punch them, so let’s assume that we didn’t break their neck for now!

Whether you break the clavicles or strike the suprascapular nerves, your attacker won't be using his arms again for a while		In the Goju version, they strike upwards attacking the lung 2 nerve points below the clavicles. It's less permanant than breaking bones, and more in keeping with the theme of escalating responses to grappling situations

Instead, let’s turn to the double punch. The common bunkai for this, as a double strike to the clavicle bones. These are relatively fine bones, which, once broken, would immobilise an attacker’s arms. It’s a brute force attack, but it’s simple to perform and requires relatively little precision.

Higaonna demonstrates this move as a finger tip strike to the nerve points (lung 2 in pressure point terminology) just below the clavicles. These nerves are extremely sensitive, and generate a large amount of pain. The optimum angle of attack against them is in an ascending motion, and as the Goju version doesn’t precede the attack by pulling the opponent forwards, you’d be in the correct position to deliver such an attack. Such an attack would temporarily incapacitate an opponent without long term damage. However, a fingertip strike requires conditioned hands and precision to avoid injury to the person doing the strike, so I have to wonder about the wisdom of such an attack. If you wanted to attack those nerves, a bear paw knuckle strike would be safer. Returning to Bill Burgar’s book, he reasonably in my opinion, points out that kata moves that require years of conditioning are probably being misinterpreted. Thus, I tend to dismiss Higaonna’s explanation.

In the GKR version, the attacker is leaning forwards, which enables you to attack the suprascapula nerves above the clavicles, or indeed to smash the clavicles. It depends whether you are seeking to cripple or disable...




10.
lthough both versions of the kata use the same move at this stage, the bunkai will be radically different if you consider this stage to be a continuation of the previous attack.

Higaonna suggests that this is what an attacker is doing when you grab his head. In which case your opponent deserves all that he gets!		Sure, this bunkai works, but why not just knee him in the face?

In Goju, they interpret this stage by saying that the opponent has leaned forwards to grab your leg and applied a knee grapple to try to take you down – which is a pretty unlikely response to two paralysed arms. Perhaps this is supposed to be a new attack in its own right. If it is, then the Goju response, which is to grab the attacker’s head, and smash it, is a pretty good one, although I would have thought that a knee in the face was better and less complicated. In any case, what attacker would be dumb or desperate enough to reach forward to grab your leg?

The attacker's arms have been disabled; now it's safe to do something more exotic. Personally I'd just punch him in the face!

In GKR, we say that it’s a head grab followed by a hammerfist to the face. I prefer our version because the opponent is rendered helpless within the bunkai of the kata, and it doesn’t assume that your opponent is a complete muppet in the way that they attack you.

So, in our version, we’ve just incapacitated both arms. The opponent is unable to defend himself, or counter with his arms. That means we have time to use a more time-consuming, finessed finish. So we reach up and grab the opponent by the hair, which produces immediate pain compliance, and enables us to control the position of their head quite effectively. Now, we pull the opponent in close to increase our leverage, then we force him down and turn his face towards the other hand, which we smash into the face using a hammer-fist.

It’s a strange finish, considering the fact that they’re helpless. A simple punch in the face would be faster and just as effective, except for the fact that this version also forces them to the ground, so you don’t have to worry about kicks once they’re down – but look out for knees on the way in. I would have thought that with both shoulders paralysed they’d already be completely ‘armless. Sorry.

I’m not happy with any bunkai to this move. It would make more sense to move into a right-leg back shiko dachi, which provides a more powerful downwards and pulling action. And of course, the whole face smash is less than optimal. If you have a better bunkai, let me know.




11 & 12.

In Goju they block as they turn which is a good habit to develop.

We turn around and do it all again. In Goju, they do an inside shuto block as they turn, which we seem to have lost. It doesn’t make a lot of sense in context of their bunkai.

Our way of turning (keeping both hands in contact with each other as you turn), doesn’t make any sense in the context of a behind the head grab, and it forces you back to that odd cross arm lapel grab. The only possible reason I can see for gripping somebody with arms crossed like this, is the fact that it tends to deter you from sticking your elbows out when you pull. It seems stronger that way, but I don’t know for sure.














13.

Now we come to the leg lift, turn and descending hammer fist. In GKR, we execute a very high leg lift, and turn 180 degrees. In Goju, the leg lift has been substituted for a sweep, and they only turn 90 degrees, so that they are standing sideways on to the opponent. Perhaps they do this to minimise body exposure, or to speed up the hammer-fist. By only turning 90 degrees, th

eir retailiation certainly comes quicker. In any case, in the context of the next move, this seems like an odd way to do it given that they use exactly the same bunkai as us.

As the arm comes across and down, it dislodges the attacker's grip.

	This is a surprisingly powerful strike, and you are able to bring your full body weight to bear in its execution.

So, to the GKR way, which I think makes more sense – kinda.

The attacker moves in behind us and grabs our hair. In an effort to bring us to the ground, he either kicks us in the back of the knee or stamps on the calf of the rear leg. This is a common jujitsu takedown, usually accompanied by drawing the other hand across the throat in a choke.

In response, we immediately withdraw that leg and lift it out of the way. At the same time, we raise our right arm high above our head so that our upper forearm is pressing down onto the top of the attacker’s wrist. Because his hand is in a fist shape, this acts as a lock, preventing him from pulling our hair. Furthermore, as we turn, it applies a mild wrist lock. More importantly, we ensure that our elbow is higher than his hand. Now, as we turn, our upper arm serves as a lever to pull his hand away from our head.

Why we don’t simply use the raised leg to deliver a back kick to the groin or knee, I’m not sure. Perhaps it’s because the opponent’s stamping leg acts as an effective cover for his groin, or possibly because we used a hair grab as a compliance technique in the previous technique, and now we’re learning how to deal with it if it’s used against us...

The Goju versions presents less of your body to the attacker, but places the left fist too far away for the next move.

Anyway, having broken free, we now perform our counter attack, which comes in the form of a descending hammer-fist to the top of the head. Although not particularly painful in my experience, this is an exceedingly powerful move that sends a shockwave straight down the spine and turns the legs to jelly.

As we deliver the hammer-fist, we bring our foot down hard and bend our knees, landing in sanchin dachi stance. This enables us to add the downwards motion of our body-weight to the strike. The stance is ideal for close in combat, because it enables us to quickly turn away to protect our groin. Incidentally, Kinjo Akio suggests that this movement represents the powerful steps of the lion.

In Goju, they execute a longer-range hammer-fist, which is certainly safer, especially in conjunction with their sideways-on stance. The stance also diminishes the risk of them receiving a knee in the groin. However, we perform ours closer, with a more acutely-bent elbow, which I think delivers more power. Given that it’s a brute force smashing technique, I prefer our version, although I certainly see how ours leaves us far more exposed to knees and other close-quarters counters.

However, given the speed and power of the sequence, and the fact that the opponent will soon be leaning forwards, his opportunity to use his knees is very limited.

14.

	We perform a short punch here, but in which case, why pull the head down which will make the opponenent automatically tense his stomach?

The next sequence is the same in both versions. The hand that just delivered the hammer-fist draws down to the waist, and the other hand performs a short punch.

The bunkai is easy enough to see; we grab the opponent’s hair, pull him down, and punch him. The theme of hair grabbing is continued, just to demonstrate what a useful control technique it is. Perhaps we should spend some time practicing the best way to grab the hair? I imagine it’s most effective if you grab close to the roots. It certainly enables you to control the head more directly.

In GKR, we call the punch shita tsuki, which actually means underneath punch. The way that we practice this punch in the basics is to tuck the elbow in to the body, where it acts as a brace against being pulled in. However, this is primarily done for defensive reasons. Using it like that when we’re on the attack, such as in this situation, it doesn’t make sense to do so.

Furthermore, because our short punch comes out parallel to the ground, it means that we hit the attacker in the stomach at right angles, which whilst delivering the most power, is also the least damaging angle because it spreads the force of the punch across the flat of the knuckle rather than using the seiken knuckles to deliver a more penetrating punch. The punch would be more effective rising up and hitting them in the face or solar plexus, which are both easier targets to damage. However, we don’t perform uppercuts in GKR until kata seiunchin, so a short punch it is...

The Goju bunkai makes more sense - pull the head on the hand - double the speed at which the two objects meet.

In Goju, they uppercut to the face, which is probably the optimal target. However, their side-on stance, and the fact that they strike with the back hand, means that they are punching across their body. The uppercut (ura tsuki) already has a short enough range, without hampering it still further. The stance means that you either have to pull the opponent’s head further, reach more with the upper cut, or twist your body 90 degrees – none of these are optimal solutions.

I think that the optimal execution of this move would be straight-on like we do it, but with an uppercut to the face.













15 & 16.

Simple inverted repeats of 13 and 14, presumably to remind us of the need to be ambidextrous.


17.

	Could this slow punch be used as a range finder prior to delivering a killer blow?

The slow closing of the left fist, and the slow chudan punch with the right arm. In Goju, this step doesn’t exist – they just step forwards and do a fast punch with the left.

In GKR, we’re told that the slow deliberate punch is simply pushing the opponent’s body away, and that’s conceivable. However, why would you practice slowly punching a lifeless body? I wonder if there’s more going on here than meets the eye.

Direct your attention to the left hand, which slowly closes into a fist. Now think about the reaction of an untrained person to the hair grab you did in the previous move – they probably reach up to grab that hand. Perhaps you’ve transferred grip on to their wrist and are now performing a wrist lock? Or maybe you’re still holding the hair and are re-securing your grip after punching them?

And what about the punch? Well, given that you were holding the opponent down at the time, it’s reasonable to assume that they are still in that position, especially if you delivered a punch to the stomach.

Now just because a move is performed slowly in kata, it doesn’t mean that that’s how you would do it in real life – slow movement in a kata usually denotes one of two things: that the move is technical and should be executed in a precise way, or the move requires strength. With this move, the latter may be true but why at that point in the combat? Perhaps we're deliberately creating distance ready for the next punch, but more likely, we're using the slow push, not so much to create distance, rather to judge it. Like fixing a sight on a target.

It could also be true that the punch is quite specific. Given the viciousness of the previous two moves, we’re clearly playing for keeps at this stage, so it wouldn’t be out of character to deliver a punch to the exposed nerves in the side of the neck. Or again, the clavicle bones on the opponent’s left side make a tempting target...

And why the funny sanchin step, with its exaggerated suri ashi sliding movement? Well maybe that’s simply a reminder that we’re still at close quarters and need to protect our groin? Or possibly we’re pressing our leg against the inside of the attacker’s left knee to further unbalance him?

18.

A knockout blow; or it would be if we delivered it to the head!

A simple punch. Delivered very hard! You could consider that this punch was designed to bring the opponent's head down ready for the next move if it wasn't for the fact that we turn our back to the opponent after this!



















19 & 20.

	This grip made more sense in the days when the men all wore top-knots and beards.

This next sequence is the most brutal, and could be seen as the final step in a series of escalating responses to a grappling situation. In the first few steps, we simply withdraw the arm and deliver a blow to the face. In the middle section, we disable the opponent, before delivering a very powerful smash to the face. Now in this final stage, we break his neck.

We start by turning 180 degrees into gyaku nekoashi dachi and grabbing the opponent by the top of the head and the bottom of the chin. It’s an odd grip, and perhaps the ears would provide better pain compliance, although, they may be harder targets to grip in a hurry. However, to see the value of the grip we use, you need to remember that this kata was devised in an age when males wore their hair in a kind of vertical ponytail style called a topknot. They also traditionally wore beards. This provides two robust “handles” that are both easy to grasp, and easy to hang on to.

In GKR, once we have taken a grip, we take a big step backwards, pulling the opponent with us. As we go, we allow the left shoulder to move back faster so that we are at 45 degrees as we move. As we move into a full nekoashi dachi, we draw the opponent’s head hard towards the left shoulder, and at the same time, we drive the shoulder forwards, delivering a shoulder smash to the face. This stuns the opponent just long enough, so that we can instantly break his neck with a two-handed twisting action.

In Goju, they don’t take the big backward step or use the shoulder smash. In fact Sensei Higaonna suggests that the pulling motion that we interpret as a head pull, is actually a block with the left hand and a haito with the right. I respectfully disagree. A haito to the ribs is powerful, but it’s such an un-optimal response to any situation, it bewilders me why anyone would want to practice it. Why wouldn’t you simply perform a chudan or jodan punch once your block has opened the opponent up?

Patrick McCarthy calls this action a "shoulder bump". It's a great way to stun somebody temporarily.		Then you can go ahead and break their neck without interference. How thoughtful of them!

I prefer GKR’s way of performing this last sequence, and our bunkai makes absolute sense.

One thing I did puzzle over, was the reason why we turn 180 degrees at the start. Does it signify a fresh opponent? I think it does. I have to admit, the hair and beard grab is a risky thing to attempt on an opponent who still has all his senses, but then the turn doesn’t make sense as a continuation to the previous moves.

The initial stance is interesting too. On one hand, it’s an unstable stance defensively when you’re that close to the opponent, but if you assume that the opponent is already in defensive mode, so you’re in control of the situation, then it works better. The stance seems well designed for a powerful backwards movement (which coincidentally, is also how the same stance is used in kata seiunchin). The flat front foot gives a strong, stable base from which to push away, whilst the bent rear foot provides a store of potential energy – the foot naturally wants to slide backwards, and all you have to do is lift the pressure from the toes to start moving in that direction.

It may look fierce, but in Saifa "Lion opens its mouth" is a colourful name for a shove!

Finally, both Goju and GKR finish with a kind of half mawashi uke, in which the arms push away from the body with open palms extended. In Lion Boxing, this move is apparently called “Lion opens its mouth”.

When pushing somebody away, you need two opposing points suchas the throat and groin...		But shoulder and hip works better for a lifeless corpse!	ds.

I know I said earlier that we don’t practice ways to push people away, but this is the exception. We learn in a particular way, because there’s an effective way to shove people away, and an ineffective way. If you put your hand on the opponent’s shoulder and shove, the shoulder drops back, and he maybe even takes a small step, but the other side of the body is still close (in fact it moves closer!) and dangerous. If you shove the hip, the hip moves back, and again, you might get a step, but the person is still dangerous.

In order to properly push somebody away, you need two opposing points of the body. By which I mean, two points, which, when pushed individually, make the other point move forwards. For instance, if you push someone in the throat at the dimple where the throat enters the sternum, the person leans backwards, thrusting their groin forwards. If you shove the groin, they lean forwards, bringing the throat closer. If you shove both points together, the counter-actions cancel each other out, and the person moves away.

So, at the end of saifa, you can either choose to press the throat and groin, or, you can push the opponent’s right hip and left shoulder. Now given the fact that the person is dead because you just broke his neck, you’re simply trying to move a dead-weight. Pain compliance won’t work, so there’s no point using throat and groin. So you go for the other option. Because the hip and shoulder are both bones, they provide a rigid structure with which to push the body away.

With very greatest thanks to Senseis Jane Manktelow and Chris Sayers for their help with the photos.