Channan vs. pinan/heian
Gichin Funakoshi in the 1930s The pinan or heian series of karate kata are among the most widely practised in the world today - largely thanks to the efforts of Gichin Funakoshi in popularising karate in Japan in the 1930s and onward and later that of his organisation, the Japanese Karate Association (JKA) in spreading karate (specifically, Funakoshi's shotokan style) throughout the world. The 5 heian kata of shotokan are substantially the same as the "original" series, apart from 2 main differences: they were "renamed" from the original "pinan" to "heian"; and the order of the first two kata was reversed. Other minor technical differences abound but, I would argue, no more so than as between any schools of karate in the shorin tradition today. So who created the "original" 5 pinan? Are they based on some traditional Chinese form? It is commonly agreed that the author of the 5 pinan was karate master Yasutsune "...