Under the teaching of Sensei : Student: Seiunchin “Storm within the calm”

4th Kyu Green 3

Brief History

制引戦 Seiunchin

Meaning: “Storm within the calm” or “to grab and pull in battle”

Seiunchin kata was developed in China and brought to Okinawa by Kanryo Higaonna Sensei in the late 1800s. History maintains that Kanryo Higaonna brought Seiunchin kata back from Fuzhou where he learned the form from Ryu Ryu Ko. Seiunchin origin lies in the internal system of Wu-shu & Hsing- I. Seiunchin is a unique kata because only hand techniques are used. Chojun Miyagi learned Seiunchin during his travels in China and from the teachings of Kanryo Higaonna in Okinawa. There is no true literal translation of Seiunchin’s meaning. Some believe the meaning is “Storm with in the calm.” The standard kanji of Seiunchin means “to control and pull in Gogen Yamaguchi battle.” This is said to be an Okinawan attempt to pronounce performing Seiunchin kata. the characters (pronounced "Zhi yin zhan" in Mandarin). Sei/zhi means "to control", un/yin means "to pull", and chin/zhan means"battle."

1. Seiunchin is performed at tournaments more than any other kata in . 2. It is possible that Seiunchin Kata was formerly taught as the first half of Sepai Kata.

Seiunchin General Information Training tips

1. Condition each technique outside of kata by The techniques of Seiunchin are well suited for practical, close-in utilizing training aids such fighting. All of the movements are hand techniques with no , a very as sand bags, sand buckets unusual feature. Seiunchin is a long and strength-sapping kata. It contains punching bags, wing chun pulling and gripping techniques, throws, hidden techniques and requires a dummy, bricks, trees, strong upper and lower body, good breath control and lots of stamina. makiwara, etc.

Seiyunchin differs greatly to all previous kata in appearance by 2. Make sure you are attacking and defending on angles. All previous kata follow the four basic stretching just as much as embusen (line of movements), which are North, South, East or West. you are practicing to ensure Seiyunchin, by contrast uses eight embusen (8 angles of movement). Its that your full range of timing is completely different from all previous kata and so, too, its use of motion, strength, balance, angles, introducing a number attacks and defenses on 45 degree angles. and energy flow are at maximum potential. This also is a must to avoid Seiunchin uses the ‘crane technique of vibration’ which involves injury. WARNING: delivering multiple of attacks in the same action (such as the uppercut, training without proper back-fist then groin , or elbow then back-fist strike all done with the warm up and stretch can same arm). The crane technique of vibration theorized that by executing result in severe nerve multiple attacks with one arm (and avoiding squaring the body off to a damage, joint damage, ligament tears and more. larger opponent), it is more difficult for this opponent to grab or seize you. On the other hand proper Furthermore, in the event of being grabbed or seized, the entire body was warm ups and stretching not committed to the technique. Therefore, one arm was still free to can help reverse these deliver a decisive blow. damages.

Gogen Yamaguchi Teaching Peter Urban Seiunchin Kata

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The Techniques of Seiunchin Combination and Creation: Seiuchin Technique List By the time a student begins practicing Seiunchin they have Blocks: began to brush the surface of kata interpretation. At this point they must look for the hidden meaning behind the morote gedan uke amazing principles of Kata Seiunchin. sukui uke chudan uke Here are ways to dig further into the hidden gems of yoko uke Seiunchin: gedan uke joge uke Break Seiunchin down into segments and analyze those soe uke segments. Try to figure out what would happen if you archers block? attacked or defended with the techniques in those segments. shotei uke Not everything that looks like a block is a block. The Tesho geidan uke movements of the body can be translated into many different meanings due to the seemingly infinite amount of Strikes: situations you could find yourself in during a fight. To narrow your results, look for a repetitive principle being nukite uchi shown throughout the kata. This will add more direction reinforced seiken tsuki towards the learning of a techniques intended bunkai. age tsuki hiji ate Experiment with the bunkai and combinations by trying shotei uchi them any way you can. Find a fellow student, friend, uraken tate uchi punching bag, tree, wing chun dummy, or just do them to mae empi uchi your best ability in the air. You get the idea, now get after Stances: it! Shiko dachi Zenkutsu dachi Masubi dachi Heiko dachi Neko ashi dachi Kokutsu dachi dachi

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