Heian yondan

Shotokan Kata: Heian Yondan (Long Peace)

Heian Yondan is the fourth in the series of five Heian katas. Like the other Heian kata, it is a product of Ankoh Itosu's effort to streamline several kata, into forms suitable for teaching the gross body movement skills of karate to school age kids. The most obvious sources for much of the Heian kata content are Kanku-dai, Gojushiho and a few others. The movements have, of course, been rearranged and reinterpretated, so linking all five Heian kata together will not result in some complete form of the older katas.

The Heian kata were introduced into the school systems on Okinawa in the early 1900's, and were subsequently adopted by many teachers and schools. Thus, they are present today in the curriculum of the Shorin/Shorei styles, Shotokan, Matsubayashi ryu, and several others.

These ARE NOT 'ancient' kata, nor are they 'training' kata- very effective principles and strategies are found in all of them, as effective (or 'deadly') as the kata that they were drawn from.

See also

Bunkai, Kata, Shotokan