Ananko

Quick Facts

About the kata

Annanko is a kata practiced today mainly by schools descended from Shito-ryu. The English Wikipedia's comparative kata table lists it under Shito-ryu, Shindo jinen-ryu and Shukokai. Shitokai, in its lineage-based division of Shito-ryu kata, places it in Kosaku Matsumora's branch, alongside Wankan. We have not been able to reliably determine who created the kata or where. Both the name's interpretations and the origin legends point south, to Taiwan. Sources disagree, however, on whether the kata belongs to tomari-te or Shuri-te, and on whether it may simply be the Okinawan kata Ananku under another name. Annanko holds a firm place in Sankukai, founded in 1970 by Yoshinao Nanbu on the basis of Chojiro Tani's Shito-ryu. Per the karatesankukai.co.uk syllabus it is compulsory for 3rd kyu, and at 2nd, 1st kyu and 1st dan the examinee may choose it instead of another kata. In the 2024 WUKF kata list it is a sentei kata for Nanbudo, Sankukai and Shukokai. The official WKF kata list, in force since 1 January 2026, lists it as Ananko.

The kata in different styles

Meaning of the name

The name is written in various ways. Kyoshi A. Tanzadeh of Shitokai gives the characters 安南光, translated as "Peace from the South" or "Light from the South"; Traditional Japanese Karate Network says the modern characters mean "Light from the South". The site budo-dojo-navi.com writes the kata as 安南硬, and Shitokai uses only the katakana アーナンコウ. Rob Lock of Sankukai translates the name as "Prince Annako"; we have not been able to confirm this elsewhere.

Creator and history

Two accounts circulate about its origin. According to Tanzadeh, Chotoku Kyan composed the kata after a trip to southern China, to present-day Taiwan, and it belongs to tomari-te. Traditional Japanese Karate Network gives another version, where the kata arose directly on Taiwan and reached Japan and Okinawa from there; it supports Kyan's trip by citing historian John Sells, who speaks of the kata Ananku. budo-dojo-navi.com likewise places the kata in tomari-te. The English Wikipedia, by contrast, counts it in the Shuri-te tradition in its article on Shukokai. Genbukai and karatephilosophy.com also attribute the kata to Chotoku Kyan; the latter also allows that Kyan took it from his father and modified it. The Tokyo club from Koto district, in its overview of Shito-ryu katas, places it in Kosaku Matsumora's line, with the katas Wankan and Anan.

Differences between styles

Whether Annanko is the same kata as Ananku remains open. The English Wikipedia lists them separately: Ananku (安南空) it attributes to Chotoku Kyan and links to Shorin-ryu and Matsubayashi-ryu, while Annanko it lists only under Shito-ryu, Shindo jinen-ryu and Shukokai. Yet the name's meaning, "Light from the South", and the trip to Taiwan are the same for both. We therefore believe some sources about Kyan concern Ananku rather than Annanko; we have not been able to confirm this. The 2024 WUKF list distinguishes them too: Annanko appears there under Nanbudo, Sankukai and Shukokai, Ananku only under Shisui-ryu. Traditional Japanese Karate Network, by contrast, merges both names and lists the kata under Shorin-ryu, Shorinji-ryu and several branches of Shito-ryu, among them Seito, Hayashi-ha, Shitokai, Tani-ha, Shukokai and Renbukan.

In competition

Traditional Japanese Karate Network wrote as late as 2009 that Annanko was missing from the WKF shitei kata list. The official WKF kata list in force since 2026 already includes it. Dojo Izumi Shitokai, a member of the Japanese Shitokai federation, classes it among the free katas, jiyu-gata. According to karatephilosophy.com it is an advanced kata that some Shito-ryu schools require for the 2nd dan exam; which schools these are, we have not been able to find out.

Competition status

• Sport karate (WKF) — Official kata list · valid from 1/1/2026 ↗
• WUKF (World Union of Karate-Do Federations) – Nanbudo — Sentei (selected) · valid from 4/26/2024 ↗
• WUKF (World Union of Karate-Do Federations) – Sankukai — Sentei (selected) · valid from 4/26/2024 ↗