Goju-Ryu Kata – Sanchin

This page will help you to learn Goju-Ryu kata – Sanchin. The meaning of the Sanchin kata is “Three Battles”. For information on other Goju-Ryu Karate katas, please visit Black Belt Wiki’s main Goju-Ryu Katas section.

There are 12 official “core” katas for Goju-Ryu. However, the Sanchin kata is occasionally separated into two katas by some schools. Therefore, people are sometimes confused and think there are 13 Goju-Ryu katas. In addition, some Goju-Ryu schools and organizations borrow katas from other styles and they might use more than the official 12 katas. For the meaning of Goju-Ryu kata, please visit the section on Goju-Ryu kata meanings.

You should also read the Black Belt Wiki section on Is Kata Useful or Useless? as it discusses the pros & cons of kata. To learn other Karate katas (i.e. Shotokan), please visit the main Katas & Forms section.

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Demonstration of Sanchin – Goju-Ryu Kata – Front View

Demonstration of Sanchin – Goju-Ryu Kata – Side View

Demonstration of Sanchin – Goju-Ryu Kata

Written Kata Instructions

  • From attention stance
  • Move to Yoi stance with the feet together and hands in front left over right
  • Right foot steps forward into Sanchin dachi
    • The tension in the arms is released as right foot steps, they stay in contact and turn upwards with a double middle block with the right hand in front of the left
    • As the arms raise crossed in front of you you breath in
    • And as the blocks move out into the double block you breath out
    • The left hand pulls back chamber as you breath in
    • With tension in the arm it extends to a middle punch breathing out
    • With tension the arm pulls in slightly as you breath in
    • Then the the arm turns back to middle block breathing out

Related Pages – Goju-Ryu Katas