Pinan Schmidan

 Pinan Schmidan

The Pinan 平安 are a mentally painful set of kata for students to learn and more particularly, retain.  Itosu, Anko apparently carved up at least two larger kata to form these smaller versions.  They were introduced to the Okinawa school system in the early 1900’s.  So if school kids can do them, why do they torment so many people?  The kata all have very similar or exact motions in the other seven introductory (kyu) kata in our system.  Thus, when students reach the Pinan, their bodies have trained the other motions so much that when they get to a point in a Pinan which is familiar, they side launch into a different kata.  This requires a little more attention and focus when performing the Pinan.  Students it seems, are always concentrating and rarely seem to feel natural when they perform these.  I see students get to the point in the other seven where they can do them in their sleep, but rarely so with the Pinan.  I have even seen yudansha, trained in this art for years, completely forget their Pinan.  Thus I continually tell my students, you have to really spend some time analyzing them, dissecting them, and coming up with interesting pneumonic devices to retain them.

Unlike most people in our art, our school teaches the Pinan as the last five kyu kata.  We feel that the student should have more years of experience in Passai, Kusanku and Niseishi by the time they reach their shodan test, than in the five Pinan.  We therefore place the confusion on the Pinan, not on the ‘higher/longer’ kata.

A note on the descriptions below: First off, we don’t use the term BLOCK.  We use FOREARM STRIKE.  Tony and I have both blogged on the why of this so dig deeper for an explanation if you desire.  Also, if you have trained in some other system on these same kata, there is enough difference that the written explanations will probably not make sense.  The purpose of this blog is to help my students.  The terminology will be familiar to them.  If this aids or spurs some thinking by others, then great.  Also, the names of the kata are different in other systems (or sequence) so that might also confuse those that are not in this style. This is a quest for patterns and analysis.  Note exactly best formatting options for me with the blog tools online, so I apologize if this isn’t as ‘pretty’ as I’d like it to be.  And my apologies for any typos, I’m sure there is something in there though I’ve gone through each section several times comparing to kata video and comparing to kata in my head. (At least there is something in there).

Patterns in the Midst

Pinan Shodan	Pinan Nidan		Pinan Sandan	Pinan Yondan		Pinan Godan
All five start the exact same way, they all start with your standard Attention, then move with the right leg to a Ready Position.  Taika would explain that traditional kata moved the left foot first, non-traditional moved the right.
Next, all five perform their opening strike to the left.  Only the second one starts with a different stance.
		Beginning
·       4 Start with Cat Stance – 1 with Side/Horse Stance ·       4 Start with Left Outside Forearm Strikes (of sorts) – 1 with Down Forearm
CAT	HORSE		CAT	CAT		CAT
Right Cat Stance for the old school or Hourglass - Left Outside Forearm Strike, vertical fist to the side with Right Upper Forearm Strike	Left Side Stance (horse stance looking left) - Left Down Forearm Strike		Right Cat Stance for the old school or Hourglass - Left Outside Forearm Strike	Right Cat Stance for the old school or Hourglass - Left Outside Forearm Strike, vertical fist to the side with Right Upper Forearm Strike both Open Hand		Right Cat Stance for the old school or Right Hourglass - Left Outside Forearm Strike then Right Middle Punch
	CAT		Attention			Attention
	Right Cat Stance – Left arm circles around and down forearm/hammer fist		Step up to Attention (though flexed knees) – Two Double Forearm Strikes			Bring Right foot to Left to Attention (Flexed) – Left cross forearm
				CAT		CAT
				Left Cat Stance for the old school or Hourglass - Right Outside Forearm Strike, vertical fist to the side with Left Upper Forearm Strike both Open Hand		Left Cat Stance for the old school or Right Hourglass - Right Outside Forearm Strike then Left Middle Punch
	Forward		CAT
	Right Forward Stance – Right Punch		Turn Clockwise to Left CAT – Right Outside Forearm Strike
			Attention
			Step up to Attention (though flexed knees) – Two Double Forearm Strikes			Attention Bring Left foot to Right to Attention (Flexed) – Right cross forearm
			CAT
			Turn Clockwise to Left CAT – Right Outside Forearm Strike	Left Cat Stance for the old school or Hourglass - Right Outside Forearm Strike, vertical fist to the side with Left Upper Forearm Strike both Open Hand
			Attention
			Step up to Attention (though flexed knees) – Two Double Forearm Strikes
All do a series of attacks left, then turn 180 degrees right and repeat them.  They then turn 90 degrees left to face the original direction you were when at attention and enter the Straight Phase
Straight Phase
·       1 Starts with Attention – 4 Start with Forward Stance
Attention/Cat	Forward		Forward	Forward		Forward
Stand and Tuck, then back kick, then land in right Cat or hourglass	Left Forward stance with down forearm strike		Left Forward stance in Seisan style pose	Left Forward stance with cross double forearm strike		Right Forward stance in Seisan style pose
Two c-steps with double knife hand	Three steps with upper forearm strike		Forward stance, with spear hand.	Right Forward stance in Seisan style pose		Left Forward stance with cross double forearm strike
Fourth c-step into spear hand.			315 Degree counter clockwise spin to left side stance (horse) with left down forearm strike.	Stand Up Right with Tuck, Side Thrust Kick and backfist, Land in Left Forward Stance, Smash		Pull back, crossed hands to right side, right back stance.  Open, flip, roll, left punch
			Three Forward Stances with Middle Punches.	Stand back Left with Tuck, Side Thrust Kick and backfist,  Land Right Forward Stance, Smash		Right forward stance, right punch, wrap with left foot behind.
				Chi ball, Kick, wrap, two punches
Back Corner Phase
·       3 have Back Corner Sections – 2 have no Back Corner Section
Two knife hands to left 45, two to right 45, all forward stances.	Turn Counter Clockwise, One down forearm strike to left 45		No Back Corners	Turn Counter Clockwise, Left Forward stance with cross double forearm strike at left 45, then open.		No Back Corners
	C-Step to Right Forward Stance - One high punch (Repeat at right 45)			Right kick to forward stance, left then right punch (Repeat at right 45 – opposite)
Return Trip
Return to middle line - Left Forward Stance, Right Arm Wrap	Left Foot Returns to Mid-Line, Left Forward Stance, Left Down Forearm Strike		Turn 180 Counter Clockwise, pulling right foot to left, to Attention (Flexed) – Hands to Hips	Return to middle line – Left Forward Stance – Seisan Hand Positions		Turn 180 Counter Clockwise to Right Cat – Left Down Forearm Strike with Right Outside Forearm Strike (Behind)
Right Kick to Right Forward Stance – Left Punch to Left Wrap	C-Step to Right Forward Stance – Right Middle Punch			C-Step to Right Forward Stance – Seisan Hand Positions
			Right foot forward, turning Counter Clockwise to Side Stance (Horse) – Right Fist to Belly, Outside Forearm, Inside Forearm, Return
						Right step to left 45 corner, dropping Left knee to ground – Double Cross Strike at 45
	C-Step to Left Forward Stance – Left Middle Punch			C-Step to Left Forward Stance – Seisan Hand Positions
Left Kick to Left Forward Stance – Right Punch to Right Wrap
	C-Step to Right Forward Stance – Right Middle Punch			Hands up, pull down with Right Knee Strike – Land Temporary Cat		Right up and C-Step to Right Forward Strike – Seisan Hand Positions
Right C-Step to left Corner, Seisan Arm Position			Left foot forward, turning Clockwise to Side Stance (Horse) – Left Fist to Belly, Outside Forearm, Inside Forearm, Return
			Right foot forward, turning Counter Clockwise to Side Stance (Horse) – Right Fist to Belly, Outside Forearm, Inside Forearm, Return
			Remain in Side Stance – Chamber Fists
			Left foot crosses to Left Forward Stance – Left Middle Punch.
			Right Foot up to Ready Position
Turn Around
·       2 Forward – 2 Cat – 1 Side/Horse
Forward Stances	Cat Stances		Side Stances (Horse)	Forward Stances		Cat Stances
180 Degree Turn Counter Clockwise, to Left Forward Stance – Left Down Forearm Strike	Turn Counter Clockwise to Left-45 into Right Cat Stance – Double Knife Hand Low		Turn Counter Clockwise to Side/Horse Stance – Right Elbow Strike, punching over left shoulder.	Step Forward to Left Forward Stance – Middle Double Knife Hands		Turn Counter Clockwise to Cat Stance – Leave Right Arm in place, Left Down Forearm Strike
Continue at 45 angle with C-Step to Right Forward Stance – Right Upper Forearm Strike	Step forward to Left Cat Stance – Double Knife Hand Low		Right Straight Kick to Left Knee, Shuffling Right to Side/Horse Stance – Left Elbow Strike punching over right shoulder.	Step Forward to Right Forward Stance – Middle Double Knife Hands		Pull Left Foot to Right for Attention Position (Flexed)
Pull Right Foot back, turn 90 angle clockwise to Right 45 to Right Forward Stance with Right Down Forearm Strike	Pull Right Foot Back Slightly then Turn Clockwise 90 to Right-45 in Left Cat Stance – Double Knife Hand Low					Open Left Heel to make room for Right Foot to come forward at 45 to Left Cat Stance – Right Down Forearm Strike, Left Outside Forearm Strike (Behind)
Continue at 45 angle with C-Step to Left Forward Stance – Left Upper Forearm Strike	Step forward to Right Cat Stance – Double Knife Hand Low
Ending
·       3 Left Foot Returns – 2 Right
Pull Left foot back to line right is on, end in Ready Position, then Attention	Pull Left foot back to line right is on, end in Ready Position, then Attention		Pull Left foot sideways towards right, end in Ready Position, then Attention	Pull Right Foot Back to Ready Position, then Attention		Pull Right foot back to line, end in Ready Position, then Attention

I could stand to do a lot more analysis, but will leave some for another day.  The formatting alone has worn me out.