Empi
Empi ( Japanese 燕飛 ) is a kata in karate . Its original name is Wanshu .
origin
Sappushi Wanshu was one of the first Chinese to come to Okinawa ( Tomari ) in 1683 . A source says he was the envoy in charge of administering the Pacific Islands. He was the leader of a 500-strong delegation that consisted of important personalities such as: B. Chinese military officials. He taught a karate kata that was named after his name (wanshu). In doing so, she followed a similar path as the kūsankū. It is assumed that the Tōde master Sanaeda took care of its spread to Okinawa. The original Chinese name was Kuan Yin Yang Pao Lit .
The old Wanshu only existed in the Tomari area.
This fact is also confirmed by Gichin Funakoshi in his first book Ryu Kyu Kempo Karate . She got into the Shotokan branch through the Matsumura and Itosu Anko Schools ( Shuri ) . However, it is not known how this happened. In Shitō-Ryū , Wadō-Ryū and other styles of Shōrin-Ryū it is practiced under its original name.
Specialty
Empi means flight of the swallow and was a name given by Funakoshi Sensei in the 1930s when he changed all Chinese kanji for political reasons. The name refers to the Embusen (step diagram), as here a lot of abrupt changes of direction with a constant shift of the hip are required, similar to a swallow, which changes the altitude and the direction in flight suddenly and permanently. This seemingly effortless flight behavior should serve as an example for the practice of the kata.
literature
- Werner Lind : Karate, the classic kata . OW Barth Verlag, ISBN 3502644039
- Roland Habersetzer : Koshiki Kata Palisander Verlag 2005. ISBN 3-938305-01-0
