Aragaki Sochin

Quick Facts

About the kata

Aragaki Sochin is the version of the kata Sochin practiced in Shito-ryu by the line of Aragaki Seisha (1840–1918). According to the English Wikipedia, Aragaki was born in Kumemura or on Sesoko Island, served as a Chinese interpreter, and traveled to Peking in 1870. His students included Kenwa Mabuni, the founder of Shito-ryu, through whom the kata entered the style. The kata rests mainly on the cat stance neko ashi dachi, which dominates it according to karatephilosophy.com; the English Wikipedia also lists the forward stance zenkutsu dachi. The rhythm is dynamic: series of explosive, powerful techniques alternate with slow movements. We have not been able to confirm the number of movements and kiai shouts of this version in the sources. It shares its name with the Shotokan Sochin, but according to karatephilosophy.com it is a very different kata. The official WUKF kata list of 7 April 2024 lists it under Shito-ryu as "Sochin (Aragaki ha)" in the tokui group, explicitly distinguishing it from the Shotokan Sochin.

The kata in different styles

Meaning of the name

The name is written with the characters 壯鎭, translated by the English Wikipedia as "calm strength" or "preserve the peace." Per karateyalgomas.com, the first character means strength or robustness and the second calm. Historyoffighting.com lists further translations used in various styles: "great value," "great battle," "strong and calm," and "immovable." Hirokazu Kanazawa's explanation that the kata was named after the sochin dachi stance concerns the Shotokan version; we believe it does not apply to the Aragaki line, since Wikipedia says it rests on neko ashi dachi and zenkutsu dachi.

Creator and history

The English Wikipedia states that Sochin was taught by Aragaki Seisho at the Naha-te school and passed from there into Shito-ryu. Wikipedia credits him with the katas Unshu, Seisan, Shihohai, Sochin, Niseishi, Shisochin and Sanchin, while karateyalgomas.com speaks of three katas he left behind: Niseishi, Sochin and Unshu. The sources disagree on how it reached Mabuni: karatephilosophy.com and karateyalgomas.com write that Mabuni took it directly from Aragaki, while historyoffighting.com, following a legend, places Higaonna Kanryo between them. The older roots are uncertain – historyoffighting.com mentions a possible origin in a dragon style of kung fu, while gkrkarate.com writes that Aragaki assembled it from Okinawan te and the Chinese white crane style. We have not found any link to the village of Tomari in the sources.

Differences between styles

Per historyoffighting.com, the Shotokan Sochin was created in the late nineteen-thirties by Funakoshi Yoshitaka; gkrkarate.com states he learned the kata from Kenwa Mabuni and, in adopting it, lengthened the stances and added high side kicks. While fudo dachi dominates in Shotokan, the Shito-ryu version, per the English Wikipedia, alternates neko ashi dachi and zenkutsu dachi. Per karateyalgomas.com, Aragaki's Sochin is also practiced in some Shorin-ryu lines, where its form is practically identical to the Shito-ryu version; we have not confirmed which lines these are. The 2024 WUKF kata list lists only "Sochin" under Shorin-ryu without further detail.

Competition status

• WUKF (World Union of Karate-Do Federations) – Shito-ryu — Tokui (free choice) · valid from 4/26/2024 ↗

Related katas

• Variant of: Sochin