Speculations on the Chinese roots of Naihanchi

It is more than guesswork to suggest that the origins of this kata can be traced back to China. Cursory examination of the original Chinese Hsing-I (Xsing) Kung-Fu style which was popular amongst the Manchurian soldiers during the Qing Dynasty (17th to 20th century), will reveal that most of the techniques are practiced in what appears to be Naihanchi dachi.

Also, according to some researchers, Naihanchi has a strong similarity to a Chinese empty handed martial form practiced at least a hundred years ago called "Dai-Po-Chin" originating from the area south of the Yangtze River.

The reason given is that they developed techniques utilizing this stance to fight when losing their weapon from horse-back! Today, you can see in books and on video Bagua and Hsing-I Kung-Fu Katas that resemble Naihanchi, with some techniques which are exactly the same! Certainly the stance is also common in the above mentioned Chinese styles, as well as in others such as Wing-Tsun. But most importantly, in both the Hsing-I and Bagua systems, the Naihanchi stance was thought to be important to harness the Chi and to stabilize the mind. Bagua and Hsing-I are considered internal style of Kung-Fu.¹⁴


“Naihanchi” the name

Finding the origins of kata names is rather like trying to discover the root of ancient place names; sometimes the translations are fairly obvious, as they relate to simple descriptions, like the names of locations, or in the case of katas, the names of the master who created the kata, or made it his own. Or they may even be a basic description of the kata, possibly describing it as "24 steps", or "24 moves".

Although Motobu referred to the kata by its older Chinese name of "Naifuanchin", the generally used contemporary name is, "Naihanchi".

With Naihanchi it tends to be generally accepted that “Nai” means “inside” or “inner”. But the remaining characters that make up the name present some difficulty. In one version the middle kanji means to “walk” or “progress” in another version it suggests the strip of land between two rice paddies, while the final character means “battle” or “war”.

Shiomitsu Sensei puts his own spin on it; saying that he prefers an interpretation meaning “half inside, half outside” (“half” comes from “han”.) "Chi" meaning energy. By this he explains that we should not think that the outside form was the most important, or that this was all there was to it.

The origins of the name are lost in the mists of time; it is possible that all of the above is mere guesswork and wide of the mark by some considerable distance.

Gichin Funakoshi renamed the kata “Tekki”. Meaning “Iron Knight”, or “Steel horse riding”. Previously the locked knees position while executing techniques and twisting the body have been explained to Wado students by asking them to think that they are fighting a battle on horseback, weapons in hands and steering the horse with their knees. Cutting to left and right, to remain on a straight course with the horse keep the knees fixed whatever way your upper body turns. However, the dynamics and exact positioning of the stance as practiced by modern day Shotokan stylists are quite different from the Wado version, and it may be interesting to compare the inherent emphasis and practicalities of the two schools. But that in itself would be a separate study.


The Okinawan Naihanchi

There is much to be said for the innovative approach of the great Okinawan master Anko Itosu, but when looking for the historical root of the katas of Okinawan karate Itosu seems to be a barrier that one needs to get beyond to reach into the past. Here is an example that relates to Naihanchi.

Kenwa Mabuni, who was one of Itosu's students had in his employ a servant, one Morihiro Matayoshi. It is said that Matayoshi taught Mabuni a kata which he called Kiba-Dachi-no-Kata, it is not known where Matayoshi gained his knowledge of this kata, but although it was a version of Naihanchi it was not the Naihanchi that Itosu was teaching. Mabuni demonstrated this kata to Itosu only to have the master confirm to him that this was the original version of Naihanchi that he had learned from his master, "Bushi" Matsumura (1809-1901), and that he'd modified Matsumura's version of Naihanchi to suit his own ideas.

It has been suggested that it was Matsumura who brought the kata Naihanchi over to Okinawa from mainland China, but nobody knows for sure.

It has also been cited that Naihanchi Nidan and Sandan were possibly Itosu’s creations.¹⁵

But yet another shadowy Chinese master enters the story.

In the middle of the nineteenth century a Chinese Boxing master called Ason settled on the island of Okinawa. One stream of thought connects the introduction of Naihanchi to Ason. A theory suggests that Ason's Naihanchi was marked by its aggressive content and was much more complex than current derivations of Naihanchi, having over one hundred moves. (Chinese forms are noted for their length, in comparison to adapted Okinawan kata).

This idea of a longer, more complex Naihanchi concurs with Nathan Johnson's theory that the three Naihanchi katas were originally one long kata, which was taken apart. And split into three¹⁶. I have my doubts about his suggestion that it was broken up to save on Dojo/yard space. That may have been a minor practical consideration, but with Naihanchi taking primary position within the Shorin Ryu curriculum, and being the first kata taught, ease of transmission could possibly have been the main issue.

Johnson supports his theory of a divided kata by examining the discrepancies in the modern-day Shotokan versions of the three katas (renamed by Funakoshi, Tekki Shodan, Nidan and Sandan.). He cites the example of the opening movement, saying that Tekki Shodan has a formal opening which is not found in Tekki Nidan and Sandan. He also goes on to explain that Shotokan stylist seem unable to agree among themselves as to the exact sequence of Tekki Sandan.

In his own teaching Nathan Johnson "restores" the three parts, which string the three forms together on a long sequence to the left (beginning with the one step to the right, as in most variations of Naihanchi Shodan.) and then returns with the same sequence all the way back to the right, hence Naihanchi retains its ambidextrous nature. His research into the practical applications of the kata leads him to the conclusion that the whole sequence is a kind of "pushing hands" contact drill, which utilizes destabilization and two-man locking/tumbling sequences. While the results of his research present some very interesting possibilities, inevitably there arise more questions than answers. The biggest question being that there is no way of establishing, recognising and endorsing an original "antique" version of Naihanchi that will fit the intentions that he proposes for the kata. The Matsubayashi version that he has adopted as his "antique Naifuanchin" must have gone through so many generational mutations to be almost unrecognisable to its founder and creator. Having said this I have nothing but praise for Nathan and his creative approach to an in depth study of this most enigmatic of traditional katas.


credits, footnotes and sources
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© WadoWorld/Tim Shaw