Embusen on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
is a
''Best Embusen: Shotokan''
is a Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
term used in martial arts like karate
(; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...
and judo
is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...
to refer to the spot where a ''kata
''Kata'' is a Japanese word ( 型 or 形) meaning "form". It refers to a detailed choreographed pattern of martial arts movements. It can also be reviewed within groups and in unison when training. It is practiced in Japanese martial arts ...
'' begins, as well as its line of movement. Though it is not stressed in Okinawa, nearly all Japanese-influenced ''kata'' start and end on exactly the same ''embusen'' point (Kiten). This word is also commonly romanized
In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...
as ''enbusen''.
The ''embusen'' line varies for each series of ''kata''. It is always perpendicular to the battle line of an engagement and is the line one travels back and forth in battle. So it is, for example, a straight line for the Shōtōkan '' Tekki'' series of ''kata''. It follows the form of a capital letter ''I'' for the ''Heian
The Japanese word Heian (平安, lit. "peace") may refer to:
* Heian period, an era of Japanese history
* Heian-kyō, the Heian-period capital of Japan that has become the present-day city of Kyoto
* Heian series, a group of karate kata (forms)
* ...
'' series of ''kata'', as well as for the '' Taikyoku'' series. More advanced ''kata'', such as Shotokan's '' Kanku-Dai'' and '' Gojūshiho Dai and Sho kata'', as well as the Gōjū-ryū
, Japanese for "hard-soft style", is one of the main traditional Okinawan styles of karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques.
Gō, which means hard, refers to closed hand techniques or straight linear attacks; jū, which me ...
'' Seipai and Kururumfa kata'', for example, have increasingly more complex ''embusen'' to train the practitioner in more advanced defensive angles and footwork. For any ''kata'', the ''embusen'' is fixed and must be followed exactly for proper mastery of the style.
The rule of embusen
Japanese Kata are mostly arranged to start and end on or around the same point. Many were modified from their original Okinawan versions to accomplish this feat. The purpose of this is simply to allow the movements to be practiced in a small training space. The rule of embusen is that any movements in one direction should be symmetrical and countered by an equivalent number of movements in the opposite direction. In Okinawan karate the maximum number of steps in any direction is normally three.
Further reading
* Marius Podeanu''Best Embusen: Shotokan''
References
Karate kata {{karate-stub