Bassai Dai - 抜塞大

Bassai, also Passai 拔塞, is a very old Okinawan Kata of unknown origin and practiced in different styles of Martial Arts. The roots of the Kata can be traced back to the Chinese Wuxing Quan (Five Element Fist). It was passed down by Okinawan master Sokon Matsumura and his student Anko Itosu. Itosu is thought to have created this from a version of Passai practiced in Shuri City. Fact is that Anko Itosu’s teachings made the Kata popular when he introduced them to the Okinawan school curriculum. One of his students, Gichin Funakoshi (Shotokan), would later take them to Japan and make some adaptations, including changing the name from Passai to Bassai.

Bassai Dai - 拔塞大 is most often translated as 'To Extract From a Fortress or Remove an Obstruction', meaning that one must exhibit the power and spirit required to break through an enemy's castle. The word Dai - 大 means Big, describing the Kata's larger movements. This is thought to be in reference to the power with which the Kata should be executed, emphasizing energy generation from the hips and waist.

Bassai Dai is characterized by the idea of changing a disadvantage into an advantage by strong and courageous response, switching blocks and differing degrees of power (switching of strikes to blocks and blocks to strikes). The feeling of the Kata should be precise, with fast execution of technique and attention given to appropriate balance between speed and power. It uses a lot of hip rotation to generate this power. The repeated attacks such as the three consecutive Yama Tsuki represent penetrating a strong defense. Much of the Bunkai focus is on breaking the opponent's balance and defenses against grabbing attacks. One notable point is that some Bunkai describes it as a defense against a Bo.

This is an important Kata for many styles and is often chosen as the Kata to test Black Belt students to become Sensei. It therefore resembles a ‘rite of passage’ for many Karate students and so becomes a much coveted Kata.

Bassai Dai was introduced within Kyokushin Karate, by Sosai Masutatsu Oyama. He learned it from Gichin Funakoshi sensei (Shotokan). It was originally removed from the Kyokushin syllabus in the late 50^s, but was reintroduced after Mas Oyamas death by Shihan Shigeru Oyama (IKO) and Shihan Hatsuo Royama (KIKO). It was taught to me in different periods by Shihan Henny Ruberg, Shihan Fernando Alonso and Shihan Peter Voogt and finally I adapted some input from Shihan Ishijima (KIKO), who brought back some tradition of Shuri City (Okinawa).