Sochin Kata

What is Kata?

In Karate, kata is a sequence of moves organized into a pre-arranged fight against imaginary opponents. The kata consists of kicks, punches, sweeps, strikes, blocks, and throws. Body movement in various kata includes stepping, twisting, turning, dropping to the ground, and jumping. Kata is not a performance or a demonstration, but is for individual karateka to practice full techniques– with every technique potentially a killing blow (ikken hisatsu), while paying particular attention to form and timing (rhythm).

The standard kata in (Shotokan) Karate are:

Sochin Kata

Sochin is one of the strongest, and most physically demanding kata of the Shotokan Syllabus. This kata, despite not being very fancy and overtly showy, it is a very popular kata amongst competitors, and at most competitions you will see many performances of this kata.

Although there is much evidence that this kata was created by Master Aragaki, the Sochin we practice today, formally known as Hakko, seems to be much to the credit of Master Yoshitaka Funakoshi’s influence.

The dominant feature of this kata is the prominence of the stance fudo-dachi, the ‘immovable stance’. Many believe however that the kata should be performed in sochin-dachi, while others believe that fudo-dachi and sochin-dachi are the same thing.

Fudo-dachi, commonly believed to be the most powerful stance in shotokan, is a very rooted stance; with many feeling the stance is deeply rooted to the earth, enabling the karateka to be immovable in the face of danger. With deep and powerfully slow movements, and strong and co-ordinated breathing, you should aim to harmonize the breathing with the action, which helps solder the mind with the technique.