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It has been interesting for me to learn and study Unsu origins (Unshu is the original name) and how it progressed over the years as different styles placed their emphasis on the way it is done. From its early Okinanwan versions  to Mabuni’s Shito-ryu version (practiced in the 1920s and still by the Seito group today) then to the common Shito-ryu version practiced by WKF (Hayashi-Ha WUKO era in origin from the 1960-70s) through to the Shotokan version shows a development of the kata to more dynamic/athletic motions, higher kicks etc… All the things that score well in tournaments and promote physical athletic ability (not a bad thing). But it is a classic example of a kata evolving away from low kicks (groin, knees, back of knee joints etc.) and grappling emphasis to linear dynamic athletic motions – both sides of this approach have pros and cons in practice. Translation of the kanji is "Cloud Hands". I did place a video up which shows three versions of the Kata  including the Mabuni family line style of Shito-ryu (Seito Shito-ryu), the tournament style shito-ryu version and the Shotokan pattern. http://www.downloadkarate.com/index.asp?Sec_ID=156.

Last edited by jason (2009-04-10 18:18:28)