Jion is purported to mean ‘Temple’ and is named for its origin in a Shaolin temple.  It is claimed by many that Matsumura brought Jion and Jitte back from China and passed the knowledge on to Itosu.  As with all kata, Jion is another beautiful sequence of moves that helps us to remember fighting techniques.  This movie was shot on a 3-day course at the St Ives Shotokan Karate Club.

Apply urazuki, tatezuki, chokuzuki, gyakuzuki and oizuki.  Learn various attack and counter sequences in basic  form, jiu-ippon form and finally in simulation mode, which should be as lifelike as possible in a dojo, i.e., shouting, swearing, anger, piling in for attack.  Once a good grasp of the applications has been achieved,  there’s no mythology about the single-leg takedown simulated by manji-uke.  There’s no mysticism surrounding the step back-cover-uraken-grab-osotogari-finishing punches simulated by the opening sequence of Jion to the first sanbonzuki. 

It’s all about knowledge and technique, and kata is all about passing that knowledge down through the karate generations.  The JKA have standardized movements in the JKA kata; however, with real insight into the potential bunkai of any kata, one realizes that morote-uke in Jion is not morote-uke in Heian Nidan or morote-uke in Kanku Sho. 

Kata says that even though the hand positions may be standardised for dojo Kata, the application is not necessarily fixed.

Join Sensei Carroll in the dojo and uncover your meaning of Kata Jion.

Featuring: Sensei Mark Carroll
Format: DVD     Rating: 18(R)