Hakutsuru

Quick Facts

About the kata

Hakutsuru means white crane, and the name refers to the Chinese White Crane style. Two documented lineages claim it in karate: Matsumura Seito Shorin-ryu, where the kata was passed down by Hohan Soken, and Shito-ryu, to which the crane forms were brought by Mabuni Kenwa from tea merchant Go Kenki. Whether it is the same kata we have not been able to establish; we believe probably not, since each lineage leads to a different Chinese teacher. According to worldbudokan.com, the kata takes a crane stance on one leg, and the wing, in Japanese hane, catches, covers, or deflects the blow in the block. The same text sets Hakutsuru's soft circular techniques against the forceful, linear technique of Okinawan katas, and cites practicing the kata on a pine trunk in a river as a balance exercise. With the reputation of a secret kata come doubts too. Motobu Naoki, on the Motobu-ryu blog, retold a second-hand story that Soken once improvised a Hakutsuru demonstration abroad; he says he cannot judge its truth. Fred Lohse of the Boston Goju-ryu dojo writes that the crane forms are practiced in Okinawa like the rest of the systems they belong to.

The kata in different styles

Meaning of the name

Itosu-kai España translates the name as white crane, placing it under the Chinese Hakutsuru-ken school. Per worldbudokan.com, the kata's techniques imitate the gentle movements of a crane or white heron. Okinawankarate.org spreads the crane across several Matsumura-lineage katas: Chinto uses the one-legged stance, Gojushiho the neck and beak movements, and Hakutsuru the wing; in Hakutsuru it sees the Chinese soft, defensive-fist principle combined with balance training.

Creator and history

According to Hohan Soken, as quoted by worldbudokan.com, Bushi Matsumura learned the White Crane style in China and brought it to Okinawa in the eighteen-sixties. The English Wikipedia writes of Nabe Matsumura that the secret White Crane system was taught only to the closest family; from Matsumura it passed to his grandson Nabe Matsumura, and from him to his nephew Soken. According to Wikipedia, Soken learned from his uncle Naihanchi, Pinan, Passai, Chinto, Kusanku, Gojushiho, Sanchin, and Rohai, and Hakutsuru last, at the age of twenty-three. The year of Soken's birth differs: Wikipedia and worldbudokan.com give 1889, Itosu-kai España 1891. The crane forms came to Shito-ryu by a different route. Mabuni Kenwa learned Hakutsuru-ken from Go Kenki, who, according to karatebyjesse.com, was born in 1886 in Fuzhou and traded in tea in Okinawa. According to webhiden.jp, these forms were then passed down separately, a few at a time, and only to holders of sixth dan and above.

Differences between styles

In Matsumura Seito Shorin-ryu, per worldbudokan.com, the kata is taught in two forms: the simpler sho and the very elaborate dai with many complex hand techniques. In Shito-ryu, Hakutsuru-ken forms, per webhiden.jp, a set of about twenty forms; the basic one is called Hakucho (白鳥, white bird), others include Papuren, Yantsu, and Kakuho. The Japanese Wikipedia lists Hakucho and Nipaipo among Shito-ryu's reference katas; it has no separate Hakutsuru kata. Kenny Johnson of Tani-ha Shito-ryu, per the Ryubukan dojo blog, learned two versions of Hakutsuru. We found no Hakutsuru in Kyokushin sources.