Sanchin - AbsoluteAstronomy.com


Japanese Japanese language is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an... :	sanchin
Mandarin Standard Mandarin Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China , and is one of the four official languages of Singapore.... Pinyin Pinyin Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into... :	sānzhàn
Min Nan Min Nan The Southern Min languages, or Min Nan , are a family of Chinese languages spoken in southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan, and southern Zhejiang provinces of China, and by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora.... POJ:	saⁿ-chiàn
Literally	"three battles"

is a kata

Kata

is a Japanese word describing detailed choreographed patterns of movements practised either solo or in pairs. The term form is used for the corresponding concept in non-Japanese martial arts in general....

of Southern Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

(Fujian

Fujian

' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...

ese) origin that is considered to be the core of several styles, the most well-known being the Goju Ryu

Goju Ryu

, is one of the main traditional Okinawan styles of karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques. Both principles, hard and soft, come from the famous martial arts book Bubishi , used by Okinawan masters during the 19th and 20th centuries...

and Uechi Ryu

Uechi Ryu

is a traditional style of Okinawan karate. The founder of Uechi Ryū was Kanbun Uechi , an Okinawan who went to Fuzhou in Fukien Province, China to study martial arts when he was 20 years old. Uechi-ryū means "Style of Uechi" or "School of Uechi"....

styles of Karate

Karate

is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...

as well as the Chinese martial arts

Chinese martial arts

Chinese martial arts, also referred to by the Mandarin Chinese term wushu and popularly as kung fu , are a number of fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families" , "sects" or...

of Fujian White Crane, Five Ancestors

Five Ancestors

Five Ancestors Fist is a Southern Chinese martial art that consists of techniques from five different styles:* the breathing methods and iron body of Da mo * the posture and dynamic power of Luohan...

, Pangai-noon

Pangai-noon

Pangai-noon was a style of Southern Chinese kung fu taught by Shu Shi Wa which formed the basis for Uechi-ryū karate. The name Pangai-noon indicates that the art's techniques are half-hard, half-soft, and is derived from the Okinawan pronunciation of the original Chinese.Shu Shi Wa was a teacher...

and the Tiger-Crane Combination style associated with Ang Lian-Huat. Tam Hon taught a style that was called simply "Saam Jin" (Cantonese for "Sanchin"). The name Sanchin, meaning three battles, is sometimes interpreted as the battle to unify the mind, body, and spirit; there are other interpretations of it, however.

The version of Sanchin used by most styles of Karate was developed by Goju Ryu founder Chōjun Miyagi

Chojun Miyagi

was an Okinawan martial artist who founded the Goju-ryu school of karate.-Early life and training:Miyagi was born in Higashimachi, Naha, Okinawa on April 25, 1888, the adopted son of a wealthy businessman. He began his study in Karate-do at the age of nine . He first learned martial arts from Ryuko...

and uses a very strong, tense closed fist "push". In Uechi Ryu and in Ryusei, the practice of Sanchin is closer to the Chinese version with faster spear hand strikes a little snake like.

General information

Only one stance is used—the sanchin (meaning "three battles") stance, from which a name of the kata is derivative now (initially it was named as Peppuren 1. Sanchin-dachi is a practical stance, and yet is the most difficult stance to master. The legs protect the body from sweep kicks, the thighs are to trap low kicks. According to a tai chi manual ("Zhengzi 13 postures"), the punch draws its power from the earth through the legs—the flip of the hips enables the strength of the whole body to be channeled and focused into one punch.

Properly employed, Sanchin kata follows the "hard" style of karate—all the muscles are to be flexed and tensed throughout the kata—actually making it the most strenuous kata. This type of strength training, is only recently understood in Western science and is known as "isometric training

Isometric exercise

Isometric exercise or isometrics are a type of strength training in which the joint angle and muscle length do not change during contraction...

" in bodybuilding

Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding is a form of body modification involving intensive muscle hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. In competitive and professional bodybuilding, bodybuilders display their physiques to a panel of judges, who assign points based on their...

.

In Chinese training, Sanchin kata also introduces the student to the use of "qi" (Japanese "ki") for training and fighting applications. It can be understood to be a form of "qigong" as employed in Chinese Wushu. In Qigong the hands are not closed into a fist as it would be deemed as restricting the flow of Chi. The focus in Qigong is on the controlled breathing to generate Chi in the body. Many western interpretations of qi/ki explain it as an enhanced understanding of internal body dynamics and muscle control through repeated and strenuous training.

In Gōjū, there are two sanchin kata: the first one, Miyagi's sanchin (or "sanchin dai ichi"), the most widely taught as initial and Kihongata, was created for such purpose by Chojun Miyagi

Chojun Miyagi

, and has no turns so the karateka goes forward and then backwards. The second sanchin, Higashionna's sanchin (or "sanchin dai ni") is a full-version Sanchingata and is older and was taught by Higashionna Kanryo. In this kata the karateka always goes forward, but turns 180 degrees twice. Initially it was taught with open hands, as sanchin-kata still is in Uechi-ryu, but later it was also revised to closed fists by Miyagi's co-student Juhatsu Kyoda, founder of To'on-ryu, and adopted by Chojun Miyagi

Chojun Miyagi

as well.

This kata was adopted by other styles such as Isshin-ryū

Isshin-ryu

is a style of Okinawan karate founded by Tatsuo Shimabuku 　and named by him on 15 January 1956. Isshin-Ryū karate is largely a synthesis of Shorin-ryū karate, Gojū-ryū karate, and kobudō. The name means, literally, "one heart method"...

and Kyokushin

Kyokushin

is a style of stand-up, full contact karate, founded in 1964 by Korean-Japanese karate master, who was born under the name Choi Young-Eui . Kyokushinkai is Japanese for "the society of the ultimate truth". Kyokushin is rooted in a philosophy of self-improvement, discipline and hard training...

.

Some say the meaning of Sanchin ("Three battles") relates to the three journeys of life; Developing body, mind and spirit. Through proper martial arts training, one properly learns to develop her or his body through exercise and practise of kata/forms. Later, one begins to understand the true meaning of one's training and develops an understanding of bunkai and history, developing the mind. Spirit is developed much later in life and is only understood by those who have achieved this.

Stance

The Sanchin routine uses only its namesake stance and is carried out with controlled breathing (ibuki breathing). Inhalation and exhalation are performed in unison with the various blocking and striking movements. In the most commonly taught versions, emphasis is placed on the tension of the practitioners' muscles, and movement of the body as a solid, stable unit. The Chinese and Uechi-Ryu version uses open hands while other Okinawan and Japanese versions tend to use closed fists. Certain schools of Five Ancestors kung fu, most noticeably those hailing from the Chee Kim Thong

Chee kim thong

徐金棟 Chee Kim Thong – Xu Jin Dong renowned traditional Shaolin martial arts grandmaster. Born 1920: died 2001Born 19 May 1920 in a village near to Putian, , son of You Yuan a Fujianese merchant, Grandmaster Chee Kim Thong’s apprenticeship to Chinese martial arts began as a child...

lineage, employ minimal tension during execution. This is intended to facilitate the correct training of qi

In traditional Chinese culture, qì is an active principle forming part of any living thing. Qi is frequently translated as life energy, lifeforce, or energy flow. Qi is the central underlying principle in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts...

(or ki).

The following description does not apply to the Chinese Sānzhàn stance.

The narrow (shoulder width) upright "pigeon-toed" foot position of the Sanchin stance balances stability in two directions (front and side) with the flexible waist rotation needed for strong punches and kicks. The toes attempt to "grip" the floor, attempting to turn the feet outward while actually turned inward, creating a rooted stance, whilst the pelvis remains tilted upward along with the turned-in position of the front knee and the bent back knee help protect the groin

Groin

In human anatomy, the groin areas are the two creases at the junction of the torso with the legs, on either side of the pubic area. This is also known as the medial compartment of the thigh. A pulled groin muscle usually refers to a painful injury sustained by straining the hip adductor muscles...

from kicks.

Shime

Some styles use Sanchin as a method of checking strength and posture, as well as concentration. All hits directed towards the karateka are done at the end of the punch, when they are in their most tense position. Most Goju-ryu schools use the following checking procedures:

Light to heavy slap down on the shoulders. This checks that the shoulders are in a natural position, yet tense.
Light to heavy strikes (generally a ridge hand) to the lats. This is to check if the lat muscles are tight. Light trapping of the elbows with a hand or fingers check that the karateka is holding proper form with their arms and elbows, and using full strength to strike.
Checking the legs. From behind, slapping the sides of the knees to make sure the legs and stance are solid.
Fingers to the back of the neck. This is a reminder to fix posture.
Groin and pelvic tuck(tilt). From the front or rear, kick or raise arm to the groin. If the karateka is in proper Sanchin stance and the pelvis is tilted, he will trap the kick or arm with the inner thighs.
Breathing check. Light to heavy striking of the stomach. This could be a standard punch or a ridge hand from the side. This will check for proper ibuki breathing.
Concentration check. The person performing shime should not strike in a specific pattern, allowing the karateka to anticipate the strikes. He should strike randomly, allowing the karateka to focus on the kata itself and not on the strikes. This may involve occasionally "faking" a strike in view of the karateka to check that he does not react to it. This is a portion of the "mind" part of "mind, body and spirit."
Posture. Check the strength and posture by hooking, open palmed, the wrists, and guiding the punch, while applying resistance.

In Uechi-Ryu, the practitioner stops the kata for each sequence of shime checks, then the kata starts up again - stopping and starting for each series of checks; as opposed to the kata being done continuously without regard to the person giving shime. Also in Uechi-ryu, the practitioner is open handed and the shime involves roundhouse kicks directed to the legs and occasionally the arms. Shin conditioning is checked by toe-kicks directly to the shins.

Traditional Okinawan schools will vary on their application of shime, but traditionally women do not take strikes (shime) mainly because of the inability to do a sanchin pelvic tilt which prevents a proper sanchin stance as well as the obvious lack of kicks to the groin.

General information

Stance

Shime

See also