Tekki Shodan

Tekki Shodan, the first of the Tekki series of kata (Shodan, Nidan, Sandan), was initially the 'introductory' form for many practitioners of the Shorei stream of karate on Okinawa. Certainly Funakoshi sensei learned this kata (and Nidan and Sandan) first but they were later replaced in the Shotokan syllabus by the easier Heian series of kata and the Tekki forms thus became pre-intermediate level patterns.

The Tekki kata (also known as Naihanchi) are at first glance perplexing when compared to the other forms popular on Okinawa which cover a comparatively wider area with more complicated footwork and stance shifts. The Tekki series require the practitioner to simply move from left to right and appear to only deal with an opponent attacking from the front. The most credible history is that 'Bushi' Matsumura created the first kata and Itosu added the second and third variations. Most likely the original form originated from Fuzhou, China.

Author Nathan Johnson has suggested that the original techniques (not necessarily the form) could date as far back as the Chou dynasty (1122 - 221 BCE) based on a highly suggestive bronze statue from that period that shows two wrestlers engaged in stand-up grappling. The same author has some very unique and original ideas on the application of this kata and maintains that the movements are a catalog of escapes and reversals from a cross-handed grip and that these movements are best applied and 'witnessed' through Chinese pushing hands practice. This is part of a wider point that he has tried to make in the past that karate was originally intended to be a grappling / pushing hands combat system. The shift to a striking / ballistic combat system, he argues, has led to changes in the kata that now make it incomprehensible. For example, Johnson argues that the kicks / knee raises we see nowadays are not to be understood as leg techniques, but necessary counter-balancing movements while performing stand up wrestling. He also argues that the three forms were originally joined together and were not intended to be performed separately.

Funakoshi changed the name from Naihanchi to Tekki while also making the stance deeper and wider from the more upright and natural Naihanchi dachi and Hachi ji dachi. The Tekki kata series may also be known as Naifuanchin.

I am also adding a vintage video of Funakoshi sensei performing Tekki Shodan in 1924. Already you can see the deeper stances, but looking at Kanazawa sensei you can also see that other changes had not yet been implemented.

Masters Kanazawa performing Tekki Shodan