Variable speed kata.

In one of my earliest posts on this blog, I mentioned some key differences between the major schools of Goju-ryu in the way that the kata Gekisai Ichi (or Gekisai Dai Ichi) is performed. This includes the height of the first punch (high vs. middle), the locations of the kiai (on the reverse punches vs. on the kicks and shutos), and the inclusion or omission of additional moves at the end.

One aspect of the kata that I did not realize varied substantially among schools within a style is the overall tempo. I have been struggling somewhat to slow down my performance of Gekisai Ichi to the pace expected in my current school (Meibukan), and I am coming to realize that, in part, this is because my muscle memory was trained to do it significantly faster in my old school (Jundokan).

Here are a few examples. Note that “total kata duration” below refers to the time from the first move to a return to the start position.

Here is the kata, as performed by Sensei Akihito Yagi, son of the current head of the Meibukan school:

Total kata duration: 51 seconds.

Here it is performed by an assistant instructor, Sempai Kakazu, at the Jundokan in Okinawa:

Total kata duration: 32 seconds.

And here is the same kata performed by a young Sensei Morio Higaonna, head of the IOGKF:

Total kata duration: 24 seconds.

It’s pretty amazing to me that the same kata performed by high-ranking students with direct links to heads of their respective schools can vary two-fold in overall duration.