Kata Focus - Taikyoku

The Taikyoku Kata are a series of training Kata devised by Gichin Funakoshi for beginners, to build up speed, power and accuracy.

These Kata are not practical or particularly effective to be used for as Bunkai, they are meant for Kihon training and building the strength of a beginner’s body. Some styles refer to these Kata as ‘Kihongata’.

The point of these Kata is to make all other Kata (and your Karate in general) faster, powerful and more effective. Many different Martial Arts styles have adopted these Kata, including some Goju styles and even Taekwondo, but Taikyoku is originally a Shotokan Kata.

 

There are many variations and differing versions of these Kata, using many varying Kihon. The thing that they all have in common is they have the same unique straightforward embusen. It's this that classifies them as 'Taikyoku'

 

Gichin Funakoshi originally came up with Taikyoku but the most commonly practiced versions we know today were standardised by Yoshitaka (Gigo) Funakoshi (Gichin Funakoshi‘s son). 

Gichin Funakoshi said that the meaning of the Kata’s name, First Cause, means: “In Karate, there is no advantage in the first attack”.
While Funakoshi named these Kata ‘Taikyoku’, the original translation for the Kanji 太極 is ‘Taiji’ (Tai Chi in Chinese).

Shotokan

Also Shotokan

Goju Variation

Shito-Ryu

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Thanks for reading.
Derm

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