Hangetsu (半月) (Japanese: "Half Moon") is an advanced kata practiced in

Shotokan is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" throug ...

karate. It originates from the

Naha-te Okinawan martial arts refers to the martial arts, such as karate, tegumi and Okinawan kobudō, which originated among the indigenous people of Okinawa Island. Due to its central location, Okinawa was influenced by various cultures with a long hi ...

school. The first part is executed slowly with strong breathing, stressing the development of the hara, or energy field. This sequence shares a strong similarity with

Seisan The karate ''kata'' (alternate names ''Sesan'', ''Seishan'', ''Jusan'', Hangetsu) literally means '13'. Some people refer to the ''kata'' as '13 Hands', '13 Fists', '13 Techniques', '13 Steps' or even '13 killing positions'; however, these names ...

. The second part of the kata is more dynamic in its execution, with an explosion of punches as well as graceful mae geri (front kicks). Due to the shared principles of expansion and contraction,

Gichin Funakoshi was a japanese martial artist who is regarded as the founder of Shotakan karate, perhaps the most widely known style of karate, and is known as a "father of modern karate". Following the teachings of Anko Itosu and Anko Asato,Funakoshi, Gich ...

substituted Hangetsu for Sanchin in the Shotokan curriculum. Mastery of this kata rests on mastery of hangetsu-dachi (half-moon stance) which is characterized by its semi-circular step movement of the back leg to the center, and then forward. The kata consists of 41 movements. The older Okinawan version of this kata is known as

References

Shotokan Karate kata {{karate-stub