Aoyagi / Seiryu

Quick Facts

About the kata

Aoyagi is a Shito-ryu kata that, per the English Wikipedia, was compiled by the style's founder Kenwa Mabuni with Yasuhiro Konishi, founder of Shindo Jinen-ryu, and with help from Morihei Ueshiba, aikido's creator. Alan Godshaw's kata dictionary says it combines Mabuni's Shito-ryu, Konishi's jujutsu, and the principles of Ueshiba's aikido. Per him, Konishi's Shindo Jinen-ryu practices it as Seiryu. Per the English Wikipedia, the kata was meant for women: Ueshiba advised changes to fit the techniques to their needs, and the finished kata joined the training of female staff of the Japanese state railways. The BHKIRA dojo site says it lasts about 45 seconds. Per Jesse Enkamp (karatebyjesse.com), Mabuni's work on women's self-defense also produced a second kata, Myojo. In competitive karate, the official WUKF kata list of 7 April 2024 places it among Shito-ryu's sentei selection katas; for Shukokai, the same list gives it as Seriu.

The kata in different styles

Meaning of the name

The characters 青柳, per Alan Godshaw's kata dictionary, read Aoyagi or Aoyanagi and mean willow; the English Wikipedia and others translate the name as green willow. The BHKIRA dojo site explains Aoyagi and Seiryu are two readings of the same characters, Japanese kun'yomi and Sino-Japanese on'yomi, with no technical difference behind the name. Karatephilosophy.com reads the name as an image of flexibility: not meeting force with force, but yielding to it and turning it to one's advantage.

Creator and history

Per the English Wikipedia, around 1935 a commanding general of the Japanese Imperial Army asked Yasuhiro Konishi to develop self-defense for women on the Japanese state railways. From this commission, it says, came the kata, compiled by Konishi with Mabuni. The same Wikipedia, elsewhere in its Mabuni article, says the kata arose at the request of the government of the time, while Mabuni taught at a girls' school, but not explicitly for women; we have not been able to resolve this discrepancy. We found no year of creation in the sources; Alan Godshaw gives 1956 as the earliest mention.

Differences between styles

In Shindo Jinen-ryu, per the English Wikipedia, Seiryu is among the style's traditional katas, alongside the Tai Sabaki katas Konishi himself created. Genbukai (genbukai-pa.org), in its Shito-ryu kata overview, lists it under other katas. The official WUKF kata list of 7 April 2024 also has a Uechi-ryu entry named Seiryu; do not confuse it with Aoyagi, it is a separate entry of another style.

Bunkai – applications

The BHKIRA dojo site describes the kata as techniques needing little strength. It reads the opening crossed hands, moving from the upper body downward, as protective. Most blocks it calls deflections, as in escrime: the goal is not to stop the attack or break the limb. Strikes come mainly from elbows and a one-knuckle fist that, per the same source, need no conditioning and aim at soft targets.

Competition status

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