Seiyunchin
制引戦 · Seiyunchin
Literally: „To control, to pull, to fight“
Also known as: Seienchin, Seiunchin
A Naha-te kata without a single kick: grips, pulls and strikes with the back of the fist and the elbow in a low stance. Practiced in Goju-ryu, Shito-ryu, Isshin-ryu and Kyokushin.
Quick Facts
About the kata
Seiyunchin is among the kata where the practitioner never kicks. According to the English Wikipedia, instead of kicks it relies on strikes with the back of the fist and the elbow and on the low shiko dachi, also called seiunchin dachi in Isshin-ryu. The article on Isshin-ryu adds that the only hint of legwork is a raised knee, and that each part of the kata has its own breathing and muscle tension. The kata builds strength and endurance mainly through breath and muscular tension. GKR Karate adds to shiko dachi the stances sanchin dachi, neko ashi dachi and heiko sanchin dachi, and points out that the kata moves in eight directions, whereas the earlier kata in its curriculum know only four lines. Among the techniques it names, besides the back of the fist, the hammer fist to the groin and the vertical fist. The Goju-ryu Karate-do Kyokai regards the kata Seisan as a continuation of Seiyunchin. In grading syllabuses the kata holds different places: GKR Karate places it at the 3rd kyu brown belt, while in Kyokushin Jaap Kooman lists it at 2nd dan. The official WUKF kata list from 2024 lists it among the optional sentei kata for Goju-ryu, Shito-ryu, Isshin-ryu, Sankukai, Nanbudo, Shukokai and Shisui-ryu, and among the tokui kata for Kyokushin.
The kata in different styles
| Style | Name in the style | Movements | Kiai |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kyokushin | Seienchin | 31 | 4 |
| Goju-ryu | Seiunchin | — | — |
| Shito-ryu | Seienchin | — | — |
| Isshin-ryu Karate | Seiunchin | — | — |
| Sankukai | Seienchin | — | — |
Meaning of the name
The name is written in two ways. The English Wikipedia gives the characters 制引戦 (in katakana セイユンチン, also pronounced Seienchin) and the readings "pulling" or "to control, to pull, to fight"; Meibukan karateka read it as "marching quietly far away". Jaap Kooman starts from the spelling Seienchin 征遠鎮, whose characters mean "to subjugate", "distant" and "to pacify"; he translates the whole as "a conqueror who subjugates from afar", or alternatively "an attack on a rebellious outpost". GKR Karate gives the translations "to seize and pull down in battle" and "calm within the storm".
Creator and history
The English Wikipedia derives the kata from Kanryo Higaonna of the Naha-te school, from whom it was taken over by Chojun Miyagi, the founder of Goju-ryu. According to it, Meibukan karateka look for its roots in Chinese xingyiquan; Jaap Kooman writes of roots in Bai He Quan, the Fujian white crane style, and states that the kata reached Okinawa around 1883 as an exclusive form of Naha-te. Some Isshin-ryu researchers, on the other hand, believe Miyagi composed it himself based on his experience in Chinese Fuzhou, and GKR Karate dates this version to 1920. We have not been able to establish unambiguously who created the kata. According to Kooman, it was brought to Japan by Kenwa Mabuni when he moved there in 1920; that is how it reached Shito-ryu. Tatsuo Shimabuku learned it from Miyagi and carried it into Isshin-ryu.
Differences between styles
Goju-ryu and Isshin-ryu practice the kata in shiko dachi, while Kyokushin, according to Jaap Kooman, uses a very low kiba dachi. The Kyokushin version, he says, came from Masutatsu Oyama's training under the teacher So Nei-Chu, a pupil of Gogen Yamaguchi. Kooman breaks it down into 31 numbered steps with four kiai shouts, and states that it brings the age tsuki strike and, right at the end, hiji barai with both elbows at once. The name also differs: the WUKF list gives the kata as Seiunchin in Goju-ryu and Isshin-ryu, and as Seienchin in Shito-ryu, Sankukai and Kyokushin.
Bunkai – applications
GKR Karate describes the kata as an answer to an attacker who keeps holding onto us: it is meant for fighting a bigger, stronger opponent who grabs repeatedly, and so it favors a firm anchoring in the stance over agility. It also mentions the crane's "vibrating" technique, in which one arm delivers several strikes at once. The Spanish site Rincon del do sees in the kata numerous grips, by which the practitioner seizes the opponent, pulls him in and breaks through his defense.
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) – Isshin-ryu Karate — Sentei (selected) · valid from 4/26/2024 ↗
- WUKF (World Union of Karate-Do Federations) – Kyokushin — Tokui (free choice) · valid from 4/26/2024 ↗
- WUKF (World Union of Karate-Do Federations) – Nanbudo — Sentei (selected) · valid from 4/26/2024 ↗
- WUKF (World Union of Karate-Do Federations) – Sankukai — Sentei (selected) · valid from 4/26/2024 ↗
- WUKF (World Union of Karate-Do Federations) – Shito-ryu — Sentei (selected) · valid from 4/26/2024 ↗
Key Tip
For the initial slow palm block in the Kyokushin version, Jaap Kooman advises imagining that you wrap your hands around a ball and slowly push it down under water to the level of the lower belly, seika tanden.