Kihon no Kata

Quick Facts

About the kata

According to Ashihara Karate International (AKI), Kihon no Kata is a set of three forms whose main point is stepping outside the line of attack. AKI attaches two ideas to it: entering toward the opponent, irimi, and absorbing the attack, kyushu. The Danish AKF club explains that while blocking, the defender moves sideways but stays on the front foot, not moving away. The AKI kata guide describes the first form, Sono Ichi, in ten steps, and its attacks come in the same order as in the beginner set Sono Ichi: straight strikes to the body and head, front kicks mae geri, and roundhouse kicks mawashi geri. Where the beginner form blocks with nagashi uke and pulls back the front foot, here the defender blocks with soto uke and both feet step outward, the right one by 45 degrees, staying face to face with the opponent. The form ends with a strike to the body, a roundhouse kick, and a return to the fighting stance kumite no kamae. AKI's grading syllabus requires Sono Ichi at 7th kyu, Sono Ni at 3rd kyu, and Sono San only at 2nd dan. We have not been able to document the sequence of Sono Ni and Sono San in publicly available sources.

Meaning of the name

AKI translates the name as "basic form." The Japanese organization NIKO (芦原会館) writes the set as 基本の型, read Kihon no kata, and numbers the forms Sono Ichi, Sono Ni, and Sono San. AKI itself glosses the two ideas it attaches to this set: irimi as entering, that is, weaving in toward the opponent, and kyushu as absorbing the attack.

Differences between styles

AKI places the first form already at 7th kyu, right after the first beginner kata. The Okayama branch of the Japanese NIKO, by contrast, places it among the advanced kata that come after the five forms of Kumite no Kata, alongside Nage no Kata and Jissen no Kata. In NIKO, the whole set is demonstrated and explained, including partner analysis, on a 2009 DVD from the publisher Quest by kancho Hidenori Ashihara. AKI also uses the shorter name Kihon Kata in its grading syllabus.

Bunkai – applications

According to AKI, in steps 6 and 7 of Sono Ichi the defender blocks a front kick, pushes the opponent's arm aside, and counters with a roundhouse kick to the body or the head. Steps 8 and 9, against a roundhouse kick to the body, begin with a double block by elbow and knee and continue with a knee kick, hiza geri. Step 8 continues with the throw maki komi nage; in step 9 the defender instead turns 180 degrees and pulls the opponent down by the shoulder or arm with the left hand, holding him.

Techniques in the kata