In this live karate class recording, we are breaking down the moves of black belt kata Chinte.
If you are a Dojo member, these live karate class recordings are all accessable in one area inside the Dojo.
This is a black belt shotokan kata and we are going to cover moves 16, 17 and 18 of kata Chinte. Here is a link to the full Chinte kata tutorial.
Chinte (珍手) (Unusual Hand)
Chinte has many circular movements, which many shotokan karateka have problems with with as most of the Shotokan kata moves are very linnear.
The kata Chinte, is a great kata to work one circular karate techniques, which are few and far between within Shotokan karate kata.
Many Shotokan Dojo have streamlined the circular movements within the kata Chinte and made them more direct.
The opposite is also true, where many Dojo exaggerate these circular karate movements, making them really big and flowing.
Kata Chinte
Move 16
Starting from move 15, which is feet together in Heisoku Dachi, with the right tetsui uchi arm extended.
Extend both arm straight down and to the left with both hands open and fingers straight.
Drive off the left leg and start to step back with the right leg, whilst at the same time circling the arms in a clockwise direction.
As the arms circle, keep the palms facing down.
Perform yori ashi by pushing off the left leg, making a long distance, then as you land the right leg, the left leg shoots into a correct kiba dachi.
Exactly the same time you complete the yori ashi and finish the kiba dachi, you also complete the double open hand techniques.
There are a few different variations of these open hand strikes/blocks/grabs.
1. Right hand is open in the shuto hikite position in the center of the body and the left hand is in the shuto uke position, with the thunb bent and left arm extended long and low to the left.
2. Right hand is open in the shuto position, with the right arm extended long and low to the left. The left hand is in the heito uchi position, with the thumb folded accross the left palm and left arm extended long and low to the left.
So with number 2, both arms are extended long.
I know there are a couple of other variations, but these are the two we cover in the accompanying Chinte video tutorial.
So now you are in kiba dachi, with the arms as in number 1, 2, or another variation.
Kata Chinte
Move 17
Extend both arm straight down and to the right with both hands open and fingers straight.
Drive off the right leg (yori ashi), whilst at the same time circling the arms in a anticlockwise direction.
As the arms circle, keep the palms facing down.
Perform yori ashi by pushing off the right leg, then as you land the left leg, the right leg shoots into a correct kiba dachi.
Exactly the same time you complete the yori ashi and finish the kiba dachi, you also complete the double open hand techniques.
As we explained earlier, there are a few different variations of these open hand strikes/blocks/grabs.
Kata Chinte
Move 18
Once more, drive off the right leg (yori ashi), whilst at the same time crossing the arms low and in front of the body.
As you complete the yori ashi land with a double arm uchi ude uke in kiba dachi.
Some of the history surrounding the origins of kata Chinte are a little cloudy, with some shotokan historians saying it originates in China and some even saying it originates from an Okinawan dance.