No Meaning? The Pinan Kata – A Complete Fighting System, Not Children’s Play.

 

Posted by ADAM CARTER on SEP 16, 2025

No Meaning? The Pinan Kata – A Complete Fighting System, Not Children’s Play.

(Approx 2 minute 55 second read)

The comments section on my articles reveals quite a bit about people’s knowledge, sometimes the lack of it, their dogma, and sometimes, just a way to put across an opinion.

It’s all good, but when a comment is wide of the mark it gives me impetus to write again.

On my recent article about getting into the mindset of the pioneers, the creators of kata, to disassemble and try to understand what they were thinking at the time they created them, someone sent me a message that said: “The Pinan kata were taken from advanced kata and taught to children so they have no meaning.”

Wow – no meaning? That shows a real misunderstanding of history.

Let’s see if I can throw some light upon it.

I think most people know that the Pinan kata were created by Anko Itosu in the early 1900s, around the same time he was introducing karate onto the curriculum of Okinawan schools.

They are often thought of as training methods for beginners or children and therefore undervalued by more experienced karateka or by those with a poor understanding of their history.

One reason for this is the belief that they are watered-down versions of advanced kata and were developed solely for children. But if that were the case, why did Itosu also teach them to his adult students? And why did he choose a name said to be related to the combative function of the kata if they had no combative function?

In ‘Karate-Do Kyohan’, Gichin Funakoshi, who was a student of Itosu, wrote that the name Pinan was chosen because once these kata had been mastered, the karateka could be confident in their ability to defend themselves in most situations.

If this is true, then they would need to include techniques for all ranges of fighting. In addition to the familiar strikes, they would also need to include throws, takedowns, holds, chokes, locks, and so on.

It’s my belief that the Pinan kata do indeed include all these methods and in fact do represent a complete fighting system in their own right. However, it would be fair to say that they are not widely practiced, are grossly undervalued.

Think about that opening message again: “The Pinan kata were taken from advanced kata.” If that is true, wouldn’t those advanced kata themselves have a combative template?

It’s far more likely that Itosu developed these kata over a period of time before karate was introduced into the Okinawan schools, and that he meant them to be a combination of his favored methods.

When karate entered the schools, they were the natural choice because they are relatively short. The main difference between the adults and childrens training was a matter of approach. The children were taught the solo forms without applications, performed as group exercise; whereas adults were taught the complete fighting system.

Unfortunately, as with much of karate, it is the “children’s approach” that has become the most widely practiced.

I believe that Itosu designed the Pinans as a complete fighting system and that the order of the kata reflects the order in which these methods should be taught, from strikes and attempted grabs, to grips being established, counters to these tactics, takedowns, locks, grappling, and throws.

The word “Pinan” (平安) is often translated as “peaceful mind”, but a more accurate rendering is closer to “peaceful and safe”. Itosu is said to have chosen this name to reflect the idea that once the kata and their applications have been mastered, the karateka can approach self-protection with confidence. I believe this to be the case.

Although often viewed as being for beginners and children, these kata truly do represent a logical fighting system that provides us with the skills we need for most situations. The amount of information contained in them is vast, and we shouldn’t discard them as having “no meaning”.

Written by Adam Carter – Shuri Dojo

With reference to Iain Abernethy’s work on the Pinan kata.