Wankan Kata

What is Kata?

In Karate, kata is a sequence of moves organized into a pre-arranged fight against imaginary opponents. The kata consists of kicks, punches, sweeps, strikes, blocks, and throws. Body movement in various kata includes stepping, twisting, turning, dropping to the ground, and jumping. Kata is not a performance or a demonstration, but is for individual karateka to practice full techniques– with every technique potentially a killing blow (ikken hisatsu), while paying particular attention to form and timing (rhythm).

The standard kata in (Shotokan) Karate are:

Wankan Kata

Wankan (Kings crown), like Ji’in, is the other kata that no longer is an official JKA kata, although this kata is still quite widely practised throughout the world. Many in fact believe, and have presented evidence that the very short Wankan that we practice today is in fact only portion of the original kata.

This is one of the shortest kata in Shotokan, but is a very complex kata, formed by the Tomari-te instructors. Because of this Chinese origin, this kata is much lighter and smooth flowing than many of the other Shotokan kata.

This is also a close-quarters kata, and although some perform the opening sequence in kokutsu-dachi,and others use neko-ashi-dachi, this kata is perfect for defence at a close proximity from the attacker, using effective seizing of the opponents legs and the subsequent throw employed to destroy the attacker.

Although short, this kata emphasises the use of the neko-ashi-dachi, which is important, particularly for a close-quarters defence situation. Training in this kata will develop this stance, and your ability to easily move, defend and counter from proximity rarely encountered in Shotokan.