Sunsu

Quick Facts

About the kata

Sunsu was created by Isshin-ryu's founder, Shimabuku Tatsuo; the English Wikipedia gives about 1947, while the dojo page Simply Isshinryu gives only the late nineteen-forties. The kata thus predates the style itself, which Shimabuku only named in January 1956 – until then he practiced it as a dojo kata and personal project. Of the eight unarmed katas in Isshin-ryu, it is the only one the style did not adopt from elsewhere, and outside it, it is practiced only rarely. It is not new material but a selection. Shimabuku drew techniques from katas he knew – Kusanku and Wansu have the greatest influence, per Simply Isshinryu, then Gojushiho and Passai – and added his own elements. The same source counts about 87 movements, two kiai shouts (on the last elbow strike and the last right front kick), and a cross-shaped embusen, defended in four directions. Don Bohan adds that it is practiced hard, Goju-ryu style, with heavy use of Sanchin elements. In Isshin-ryu, Sunsu is taught as the last unarmed kata before black belt. The Okinawan association Okinawa Prefecture Karate Kobudo Rengokai has recognized it as an Okinawan kata, and the WUKF, in its April 2024 kata list, lists it under Isshin-ryu among the tokui katas.

The kata in different styles

Meaning of the name

The name Sunsu was Shimabuku's nickname. It is most often translated as "strong man," though Simply Isshinryu also gives "old man's son" and "salt master" – the latter from a newspaper article about his firm stance. The English Wikipedia explains the origin differently: in the form Sun nu su, Shimabuku received it from the mayor of Kyan village, referring to a dance created by his grandfather. Which interpretation is correct, we have not confirmed.

Creator and history

Victor Smith (Bushi no Te) notes that twentieth-century teachers mostly composed katas for beginners – Itosu the Pinan series, Nagamine the Fukyugata, Miyagi the Gekisai. Shimabuku went the opposite way and created a complex kata. Smith analyzes where its parts come from: the opening from Sanchin, the section with knife-hand and fingertip strikes from Kyan's version of Passai, the side kicks from Wansu, the flowing fingertip strikes from Kyan's Gojushiho, and the ending from Kusanku. He regards the crouching kicks, the belt grabs before elbow strikes, and the sequences of elbow strikes he found in no other kata as Shimabuku's own contributions.

Bunkai – applications

Don Bohan describes Sunsu as a set of techniques for close-range fighting – simple, with multiple applications, workable even for someone smaller, older, or injured. He says Shimabuku stood about 142 cm and, when the kata was made, was middle-aged and in poor health. Bohan reads the opening as entering past the opponent's guard with the left forearm, a vertical fist strike to the exposed ribs, then the right arm crossing the opponent's body, with the left forearm bracing a lock on his arm.

Competition status

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