To date, you’ve been assessed on 1st kata and 2nd kata (Taigyoku Shodan and Taigyoku Nidan). Each of these kata were 20 counts long and comprised of only:

Having arrived at Green belt you will be introduced to kata Saifa. Once again, this kata is 20 counts long, however it consistently flows between a variety of different stances, strikes, blocks, escape and grappling techniques.

Saifa commonly uses four basic stances:

  • Sumo (shiko datchi)
  • Cat (neko ashi datchi)
  • Long forward (zenkutsu datchi)
  • Pigeon toe stance (sanchin datchi)
  • It also incorporates two advanced stances, one legged Heron stance (Sagi ashi datchi) and Reverse cat stance (kosa datchi).

Saifa’s most commonly used strikes are:

  • Backfists (ura uchi)
  • Both groin and head level Hammer fists (tettsui)
  • Simultaneous double punch (dan tsuki)
  • Short punch (shito-tsuki)
  • Stomach level punch (chudan tsuki)

GKR Karate – Saifa

Saifa Technical Tips:

The journey of Saifa should be to first develop all the right technical aspects, making sure you dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s. There is no point being fast or explosive if you have poor technical habits as these will not serve you well in self-defence.

Liken it to putting a lousy driver behind the wheel of the best Formula 1 car; they are not going to win the race. Too often students aim to impress with their speed, focus and effort. The problem is, their instructor wants to see they have a handle on driving the kata first and can successfully negotiate the course.

The best way to achieve this is to practise at home (you might also practise before and after class). When you practise, go through the kata in super slow motion,this enables you to really think about each and every aspect of each movement. It also allows you to perform it correctly, creating muscle memory and positive habits while identifying poor habits (and correcting them) that you may not have identified at regular pace.

Once you have practised it a few times in super slow motion, build it up to medium pace and then finally at regular pace.

The History of Saifa

After studying the Taigyoku kata, Saifa was the logical choice to follow. Compared to the simpler patterns of the Taigyoku kata, many kata can be very complex and often have well over 30 movements. Saifa has just 20 counts and follows a simpler embusen (performance line). This made for Saifa to be a good stepping stone from the Taigyoku to the more difficult kata.

Saifa is a world renown kata and hails from the Okinawan city of Naha. Like all kata from Naha, it has a heavy influence from Southern China. There is much speculation over who first introduced Saifa to Okinawa. Many agree that it was introduced by Kanryo Higaonna who traveled to Southern China in 1867 to study martial arts. Upon returning to Okinawa 13 years later he formed Naha-te, which blended techniques of Okinawa-te with Chinese Kung-fu.

Other scholars point out that it was more likely one of Higaonna’s top two students, Chojun Miyagi (founder of Goju karate) who developed the kata after traveling to China himself to study after his master’s death. They back this up by the fact that Higaonna’s other top student, Juhatsu Kyoda (founder of To’on Ryu) never taught Saifa.

Saifa kata is comprised of two kanji ‘Sai’ and ‘Ha’, (note that the Okinawan pronunciation of Ha is Fa). The kanji ‘Sai’, as in kata Geki-sai, is to ‘smash’. The second kanji ‘Ha’/’Fa’ means to ‘tear’. This can be translated as, ‘Smash and Tear’. The reasoning behind this name came from its bunkai (application). Most kata deal with a defence from a grab by reversing the grab with a lock. Saifa however deals with numerous situations where one tears themselves free from an attacker’s grip then counters with devastating punches, back-fists or hammer-fists.

Saifa Lineage

Chogun Miyagi (1888 – 1953)

Miyagi developed his style combining his studies under Okinawa’s Kanryo Higaonna and his travels and training to China.

Gogen Yamaguchi (1909-1989)

Gogen Yamaguchi was already a reputable karate-ka of Goju before he met its founder (Chogun Miyagi) around 1930. Miyagi became so impressed with Yamaguchi that he made him his successor for Goju in Japan.

GKR Karate

While many karate styles incorporate Saifa, GKR derives its version from Japanese Goju (not the more Chinese appearing Okinawan Goju version).