Sanseiru/Sesan combination in Goju Ryu

One of the key techniques in Sanseiru is the Uchi Uke/Mae Geri/Empi/Gyaku Zuki (outer block/front kick/up elbow/reverse punch) combination that is repeated 4 times. I started looking at bunkai for it but haven't found too much material on the internet (my primary research source) beyond the Higaonna bunkai and the Goju Kai bunkai for this combination and I so broadened my search from Goju bunkai on Sanseiru to other styles. Here is the Goju Ryu version for reference.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kdosSNtzZ0

Uechi Ryu has a kata of the same name, but which visually looks quite different. However it does have a similar technique combination in it: Kake Uke/step forward/Empi/knuckle strike/ippon ken sen (grabbing block/step forward/elbow/knuckle strike (or backfist)/ single knuckle strike). The technique is not however repeated 4 times like in the Goju version. See Kanei Uechi do the technique at 38 seconds.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey_dIRzffNc

The next thing that I did was look at the video of Uechi Ryu Seisan because it looked interesting to see this old footage.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd5YdEkmQxo

I was surprised to see that at 50 seconds the same combination appears!

Going back over Goju Ryu Seisan at a similar part of the kata, albeit facing the opposite way, the combination step forward/ura zuki/uraken/gedan barai/gyaku zuki appears (step forward/uppercut/backfist/lower block/reverse punch). There is even the left hand in a blocking/deflecting/checking position before the combination is done.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMxnKhAJby8

What that lead me to think is that perhaps the 'Goju Sesan' combination and the 'Goju Sanseiru' combinations are actually from the same source and were once performed more similarly. Looking at the combinations they are quite similar in their nature:

First: a block or check with the left hand in a manner that would usually block from inside to outside and which could also be a grab (ie Kake uke).

Second: mae geri or stepping forward with the right leg.

Third: upward strike

Fourth and Fifth: Sesan only

Sixth: Gyaku zuki

While the fourth and fifth techniques of urken (backfist) and gedan barai (lower block) only appear in Sesan, the combination also appears in other kata.

Looking at Superinpei a similar combination appears at 1.38 and 1.57: Kake uke/mae geri/empi/uraken (grabing block/front kick/up elbow/backfist)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF_pfELVkhA

The Goju Superinpei combination appears much closer to the 'Uechi combination', being different only in the omission of the ippon ken sen (single knuckle strike) at the end (done with the right hand). Supposedly there was a fourth Uechi kata named Superinpei, although Kanbon Iechi did not have time to learn it. For those who are not familiar with the theory that Kanryu Higaonna only tought Miyagi Sanchin-Sanseiru-Sesan-Superinpei, published in an article a in the Journal of Asian Martial Arts (16:4, 2007) entitled “A Preliminary Analysis of Goju-Ryu Kata Structures” by Fernando Camara and Mario McKenna have a look at the following summaryavailable online.

http://dandjurdjevic.blogspot.com/2008/05/origins-of-goju-kata.html

That the three Kaishugata (kata with open hands: combat application reference kata) from the same system had a similar combination that appears in each would not be surprising - there are several other similarities between the three kata such as the opening using the 3 'Sanchin' punches, asymmetry, finishing with either mawashi uke or morote ko uke (double wrist block) etc. If the Goju Sesan, Sanseiru and Superinpei 'combinations' are actually derived from the same combination, I would think that the version that has survived in Superinpei would be more original for the simple reason that less people learn the higher level kata and so there are less people for it to evolve through. Perhaps also with higher level kata peope learn them much later into their practice and are less likely to change the kata at this stage (though this is just a quick postulation/musing).

If you look at a more 'modern' kata in the manner of Gekisai, you can see the following combination: uchi or kake uke/mae geri/uraken/gedan barai/gyaku zuki (outer or grabbing block/front kick/backfist/lower block/reverse punch). Because this kata was created by Miyagi it exposes his thinking on how the style of Goju Ryu fits together. He could have easily not have included a Gedan Barai and Uraken and made the 'Gekisai combination' simpler and more like Goju Sanseiru. Alternatively he could have switched the empi (elbow) for a ura zuki (uppercut) and made the combination more like Goju Sesan. I think that the choice of techniques in Gekisai shows the crossover in the combinations: that they are essentially the same thing.

One thought though is that in Gekisai Dai Ni, where the Uchi Uke (outer block) are exchanged with Kake Uke (grabbing block) and the Yama Zuki (double punch/mountain punch) is exchanged with a Mawashi Uke (circular block) to make the Kata more 'Okinawan' perhaps that 'Gekisai combination' could have been changed as well? It could have been made into the 'Superinpei combination' or the 'Uechi combination' perhaps. Say with the empi done into the left hand, or the gedan barai exchanged for an ippon ken sen.

In other Goju kata the 'Goju Sesan combination' appears in Seienchin and the 'Goju Sanseiru combination' appears in Shisochin and Kururunfa, although there is no Gyaku Zuki (reverse punch) at the end in any of these three kata. However the other hand is cocked and rotated ready to do a punch. A gyaku zuki (reverse punch) can very easily be implied into bunkai at the end of these combinations.

Interestingly Saifa and Sepai are the only 2 Goju Ryu Kaishugata (note Sanchin and Tensho are Haishugata: kata with closed hands - training kata) which do not have this combination. I think that the absence of the combination in these two kata is an additional factor of support for theory (see McKenna article, above) that Sanchin-Sanseiru-Sesan-Superinpei are 'H1' kata, ie passed down from Kanryu Higaonna to Miyagi, and that Saifa-Seienchin-Shisochin-Sepai-Kururunfa are 'M1' kata, ie kata that Miyagi derived from another source.

However on the basis of the inclusion of the combination one might further differentiate the M1 kata. Perhaps the exclusion of the combination signifies that Miyagi learnt Sepai and Saifa from a totally different source as all the other Kaishugata, say on his travels to China. Following through that line of thought one can see that the combination appears in some other Okinawan kata, such as Niseishi. There is a discussion that Nisheishi is a forerunner of Goju Sanseiru here:

http://cyberdojo.ning.com/group/gojuryu/forum/topics/how-much-of-aragaki-seishos?page=3&commentId=2954669%3AComment%3A4882&x=1#2954669Comment4882

Personally I agree, and by looking at Niseishi it seems to me to be a bridge between the otherwise very different Goju and Uechi versions of the kata. At 35 seconds and 41 seconds the 'Gekisai combination' appears in Niseishi.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjsJJ4xqxKY

There is written record of Seisho Aragaki performing a kata named "chisaukin" at a demonstration in 1867 and this could quite likely be the kata Shisochin. In his book “Okinawa kempo” Choki Motobu mentions the kata seisan, seiunchin and naihanchi as kata that were in existence in Okinawa long before Kanryo Higaonna’s trip to China.

“Among those styles or katas which have been used in Ryu Kyu from ancient days are:
Sanchin, Jo-Ju-Shi-Ho, Seisan, Seiunchin, Ippakku-Re-Hachi, Naihanchi (Ichidan, Nidan, Sandan), Passai, Chinto, Chinte, (bamboo-yari spear style), Wanshu, Rohai and Kusanku.
And especially the three styles Nai-Hanchi, Passai (great and small), and Kusanku which are very widely known to many islanders." http://dandjurdjevic.blogspot.com/2008/08/origins-of-goju-ryu-kata-part-2.html


Therefore one can deduce that the kata Shisochin and Seienchin have Okinawan histories, even if they were not passed on by Kanryu Higaonna. They can be contrasted with the Saifa and Sepai which have different sources. It is difficult to say where Kurununfa fits in: that is a discussion for another post (when I know more about it!)