Gekisai Dai - 撃塞大

Gekisai Dai and Gekisai Sho were developed from Sosai Masutatsu Oyama’s training under Nei-Chu So sensei short after the WO II. Master So was a top student of Chojun Miyagi sensei, founder of the Gōjū-ryū 剛柔流, one of the main traditional Okinawan styles of Karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques. Chojun Miyagi developed Gōjū-ryū from the Naha-Te - 那覇手 system of Okinawan Karate, which originated from Southern Chinese Kempo.

Gekisai Kata were orginated in Okinawa by Soshin Nagamine and Chojun Miyagi sensei from Fukyu Kata Ichi and Fukyu Kata Ni. Chojun Miyagi adopted Fukyu Kata Ni as Gekisai Dai Ichi and went on to develop Gekisai Dai Ni with its Naha-Te influence as a training Kata into the Gōjū-ryū curriculum in 1940 for school children and adolescents.

Essentially, the two Fukyu Kata were Pinan equivalents in that they were designed to be summation of the Karate that went before. They are new Kata (made in the 1940s). The idea was to create standardised Kata that would cut across all the various streams of Karate, that were suitable for novices, and would provide a common grounding in the basics of Karate. The Pinans were considered to be a summation of Shuri-Te line alone (quite rightly) and hence were lacking the Naha-Te side of things.

The name Fukyu - 普及 translates in something like 'universal', 'popular' or 'widely spread'. So the name of the Kata matches the intention behind their creation. The revised name of Gekisai - 撃砕 translates as 'Pulverise' or 'Attack and Destroy' which would seem to be more reflective of the intent of the applications; as opposed to the former name which reflected the political intent of the Kata. Gekisai is derived from the characters Geki - 撃, meaning to 'fight, attack or 'strike', and Sai - 塞, meaning 'to smash or break'. The name reflects to the period in history when they were created, i.e. WW2 and its inference was 'attack and smash the enemy', i.e. the American soldiers. The original upper punch taught was higher than head height, reflecting the height difference between the Okinawans and the Americans. In post war years many Gōjū-ryū schools have changed these punches to standard upper and middle punches.

Gekisai Dai - 撃塞大, where Dai - 大 means 'majer' or 'larger', teaches strength through fluidity of motion, mobility and the utilization of various techniques. When performing Gekisai Dai, one should remember that flexibility of attack and response will always be superior to rigid and inflexible strength. Gekisai Kata was strongly influenced by the Shuri-te techniques from Master Anko Itosu.

Gekisai Dai is known as a Southern Kata within Kyokushin Karate, developed from Mas Oyama's training under sensei Nei-Chu So. Sensei So was a student of Gogen Yamaguchi (Goju-ryu) in Japan. Chojun Miyagi developed Goju-ryu from the system of Okinawan Karate, which originated from Southern Chinese Kempo.

Gekisai Dai - 撃塞大

#	Explanation step by step	2e Kyu
	Begin the Kata in FUDO DACHI. Move into MUSUBI DACHI and MOKUSO on the command MOKUSO. On the next command Gekisai Dai, open eyes and wait until the command YOI. Then start perform a slow YOI DACHI with IBUKI that ends in HEIKO DACHI
1.	On the command HAJIME/ICHI turn at 90° counterclockwise to the left into left SANCHIN DACHI, moving the right foot behind and block left SEIKEN JODAN UKE.
2.	Move forward into right SANCHIN DACHI and punch SEIKEN JODAN OI TSUKI.
3.	Move the body 90° clockwise with the right foot back into KIBA DACHI and block left SEIKEN GEDAN BARAI.
4.	Turning the body 90° clockwise on the right foot and close with left foot and circle back into a right SANCHIN DACHI and block right SEIKEN JODAN UKE.
5.	Move forward into left SANCHIN DACHI and punch SEIKEN JODAN OI TSUKI.
6.	Move the body 90° clockwise with the left foot back into KIBA DACHI and block right SEIKEN GEDAN BARAI.
7.	Turn your head to the front at 90° counterclockwise, keep your right foot in position and move 90° counterclockwise into right SANCHIN DACHI and block right SEIKEN UCHI UKE with IBUKI (1).
8.	Move forward into left SANCHIN DACHI and block left SEIKEN UCHI UKE with IBUKI (2).
9.	Move forward into right   SANCHIN DACHI and block right SEIKEN UCHI UKE with IBUKI (3).
10.	Retaining the hand positions, kick left CHUDAN MAE GERI, place the foot into left ZENKUTSU DACHI and strike left HIJI AGE JODAN ATE follow immediately with left URAKEN OROSHI GANMEN UCHI and position for and block left SEIKEN GEDAN BARAI and punch SEIKEN CHUDAN GYAKU TSUKI.
11.	Still looking straight ahead, bring the right foot to the left knee, slightly in front as if to sweep someone in front of you, and position the right fist closed adjacent to the left ear. Turn your head 180° clockwise and place the right foot back into KIBA DACHI and strike SHUTO YOKO JODAN UCHI to the neck keeping the left fist closed in the ready punch position and KIAI.
12.	Turn 90° clockwise bringing the left foot to the right into left SANCHIN DACHI and block left SEIKEN UCHI UKE with IBUKI (1).
13.	Move forward into right SANCHIN DACHI and block right SEIKEN UCHI UKE with IBUKI (2).
14.	Move back into left SANCHIN DACHI and block left SEIKEN UCHI UKE with IBUKI (3).
15.	Retaining the hand positions kick right CHUDAN MAE GERI place the foot into right ZENKUTSU DACHI and strike right HIJI AGE JODAN ATE follow immediately with right URAKEN OROSHI GANMEN UCHI and position for and block right SEIKEN GEDAN BARAI and punch SEIKEN GEDAN GYAKU TSUKI.
16.	Still looking straight ahead bring the left foot to the right knee, slightly in front as if to sweep someone in front of you, and position the left fist closed adjacent to the right ear. Turn your head 180° counterclockwise and place the left foot back into KIBA DACHI and strike SHUTO YOKO JODAN UCHI to the neck keeping the left fist closed in the ready punch position and KIAI.
17.	Move forward at 90° counterclockwise into right ZENKUTSU DACHI and punch left SEIKEN AWASE TSUKI (SEIKEN MOROTE TSUKI): left fist JODAN / right fist CHUDAN URA (1).
18.	Move forward into left ZENKUTSU DACHI and punch right SEIKEN AWASE TSUKI, right JODAN, left CHUDAN URA (2)).
19.	Move backward into right ZENKUTSU DACHI and punch left SEIKEN AWASE TSUKI, left JODAN / right fist CHUDAN URA (3).
20.	Move the right foot back into MUSUBI DACHI and the MOKUSO position is retained.
	The Kata is completed on the command NAORE the FUDO DACHI position is taken. At the command YASUME relax and at ease. Back to Top