Seisan (Goju-ryu)

Quick Facts

About the kata

Seisan is a Goju-ryu kata that, according to English Wikipedia, Higaonna Kanryo learned in China together with the kata Sanchin, Sanseru and Bechurin. The same encyclopedia describes the Goju version as more complex than the others: it contains close-range techniques — short punches, low kicks and direction changes that unbalance the opponent — and alternates full-tension movements along their entire path with strong, fast techniques. According to Wikipedia, Seisan complements the kata Seiunchin. The GKR Karate school describes it as the slowest kata in its curriculum. It is practiced mainly in the sanchin dachi stance and with many open-hand techniques that often serve to seize and grip the opponent; GKR students learn it only at 3rd dan. Ikigaiway.com mentions that the Morio Higaonna version places emphasis on rooting and breathing. We have not been able to confirm the number of movements of the Goju version from the sources. GKR reads the characters of the name as ten hands and three: ten combat sequences in which most techniques are repeated three times. At WUKF tournaments (list of 7 April 2024), Seisan in Goju-ryu is a sentei kata, that is, a selective one.

The kata in different styles

Meaning of the name

The name is written with the characters 十三 and literally means thirteen. The names thirteen hands, thirteen fists, thirteen techniques or thirteen steps are used, but English Wikipedia notes they have no historical basis. The Australian branch of IOGKF states that the basic form of the kata contains eight defensive and five offensive techniques, and notes that thirteen is, in Chinese numerology, a number of luck and prosperity.

Creator and history

English Wikipedia ranks Seisan among the oldest kata widespread in the Naha-te schools and considers Yong Chun white crane from Fujian province its probable source, but adds that this origin remains entirely unproven. According to Wikipedia, Higaonna Kanryo obtained permission to travel to Fuzhou in 1870 and stayed there for the last time in 1898. The GKR Karate school attributes to his teaching three traditions of Seisan: in Goju-ryu, To'on-ryu and Shito-ryu. His student Kyoda Juhatsu, who named To'on-ryu after him, according to Wikipedia knew two versions – one from Higaonna Kanryo and another from his elder cousin Higaonna Kan'yu. The Okinawan expert Kinjo Hiroshi, according to fightingarts.com, found no evidence that Seisan was passed down in the Shuri lines; it was taught in Naha and Tomari.

Differences between styles

Uechi-ryu practices the kata under the name Sesan, and according to English Wikipedia its version differs markedly from the others: it stands on the sanchin dachi stance and adds knee kicks and a one-knuckle strike, shoken zuki. Isshin-ryu teaches Seisan as one of its first kata, but Tatsuo Shimabuku took it over from Kyan Chotoku, not from Miyagi, so it is not the Goju version. In Shotokan the kata is named Hangetsu, half-moon, after the stance that predominates in it; Wikipedia attributes the renaming most likely to Funakoshi.

Competition status

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

Related katas

• Variants: Seishan