Shotokan training is usually divided into three parts: kihon (basics), kata (forms or patterns of moves), and kumite (sparring).
Encoding
Kata is often described as a set sequence of karate moves organised into a pre-arranged or choreographed fight against imaginary opponents. In Shotokan, the historical purpose of kata was to turn human "dance" into a biological data storage system; the kata contain encoded information about the applications of basic techniques that reveal themselves gradually as the student progresses. This was less cumbersome than attempting to write everything down and has subsequently bestowed an air of mystery on the possible secrets that have been hidden in kata.
Kata names
Heian can be taken to mean "basic". The first 5 kata the shotokan student must study are the Heian kata: Heian Shodan, Heian Nidan, Heian Sandan, Heian Yondan and Heian Godan, with Heian Shodan being the simplest (first step of basic) and Heian Godan being the most advanced (fifth step of basic).
Philosophy
When developing his karate, Funakoshi laid out the Twenty Precepts of Karate, which are based heavily on Bushido and Zen, and within which lie the philosophy of Shotokan. It was Funakoshi's belief that through karate practice and observation of these twenty principles, the practioner, or karateka, would improve their person by uniting shin (mind), gi (technique) and tai (body). There are strong parallels here between this and the swordsman Myamoto Musashi's Gorin No Sho, (A Book of Five Rings). Musashi's book is divided into 5 chapters, each of which is named after an element. There is a speculation by some that the first 5 Shotokan kata also have a basis in the five elements of ancient Japanese belief.
Heian Sandan is less like technique practice and becomes more like real fighting, therefore the Fire kata. The picture shows nukite-uchi (spear hand strike with pressing block), a technique that is most effective against small soft targets such as the throat or solar plexus and features in the third Heian kata.
The Cache
The cache is a now a magnetic micro container. Please exercise extreme care when retrieving it and replace it exactly as you find it.
Pause
Training in karate is like trying to make fire with wet matches; after several times you may get some sparks, and if you are patient you will get fire that lasts forever. Contemplate the lives of those who felt the heat of battle before their flames were extinguished.
