Karate was born
in Okinawa.

Sanchin is the foundation of Goju-Ryu karate, in which correct posture and correct breathing matter more than anything else. It is said that in the old days students trained in Sanchin alone for three to five years, and that Goju-Ryu begins with Sanchin and ends with Sanchin. Because Sanchin conditioning tightens every part of the body, the strength of that tightening is confirmed by touching the body directly.

Gekisai Ichi was created in 1941 by Chojun Miyagi. It rationally systematizes attacking and defending techniques aimed at the upper, middle, and lower levels, and incorporates many of the characteristic features found throughout Goju-Ryu kata.

Gekisai Ni was also created by Chojun Miyagi, and its form is nearly identical to Gekisai Ichi's. It contains more advanced techniques, however, such as the hooking block (kake-uke), the cat stance (neko-ashi-dachi), and the tiger-mouth strike (tora-guchi).

Saifa has the shortest performance time of any kata, yet it is filled with demanding techniques: the hammer-fist strike (kentsui-uchi), the double-fist punch (morote-zuki), escaping (release) techniques, the reverse punch (ura-zuki), kicks, and intricate footwork.

Seiyunchin is the only kata in the system with no kicking techniques. It includes back-fist strikes and applied variations, and makes heavy use of the straddle stance (shiko-dachi), making it a powerful conditioning kata for building the lower body.

Shisochin is built largely around open-hand techniques, including the palm-heel push, the spear-hand strike (nukite), the fingertip strike, reverse joint-locking techniques (gyaku-kansetsu-waza), the reverse hooking block (ura-kake-uke), and the vertical elbow strike.

Sanseru contains many practical attacking and defending techniques, such as the knife-edge kick (sokuto-geri), the chasing kick, leg-trapping techniques, and body shifting (tenshin), and it also teaches the subtlety of the circular block (ko-uke).

Sepai contains many effective self-defense techniques suited to close-range combat, including striking techniques such as the reverse punch (ura-zuki), the back-fist strike (uraken-uchi), and the hammer-fist strike (kentsui-uchi), together with escaping (release) techniques.

Kururunfa uses techniques such as the rolling block (kuri-uke), the crossing block (kosa-uke), and a hammer throw, blending movement as quick as a cat's with sticky, tenacious movement. Its distinguishing trait is bringing together, in a single decisive moment, actions that are otherwise difficult to finish with full commitment.

If Sepai can be called the soft (ju) kata, then Sesan may fairly be called the furthest extreme of the hard (go) kata. Its movements are extremely forceful, and it tends to be favored by practitioners who excel at punching.

This kata, Suparinpei, is also known by the name Pecchurin. It is said to have originally consisted of three kata (upper, middle, and lower), of which this is the upper form. It is the longest kata in Goju-Ryu, employing a wide variety of techniques in all directions, with frequent changes of speed and tempo, giving it great depth and subtlety. It is a kata that offers a glimpse into the inner secrets of Goju-Ryu.

Tensho was created by Chojun Miyagi after he studied the Rokkishu of Southern Shaolin White Crane Boxing from Fuzhou, Fujian Province, and he made it a Heishu Kata. Its aim is to train ki, breath, and body by concentrating power in the tanden below the navel. Through correct posture and breathing, practitioners master various open-hand blocking methods and ways of striking with the palm heel.