Great info from all.
Glenn wrote:
Although my understanding is that Higaonna started with Sanchin when he taught after returning from China. Modern Goju Ryu doesn't start with Sanchin because Miyagi (and others) added several new Okinawan-derived kata such as the Gekisai in front of it...you have to work your way up to the old kata that Higaonna brought back from China. Goju has given classification names to the "old" kata versus "new" kata, discussed in one of Seikichi Toguchi's books, but I forget the terms.
This is complicated.
The Goju forms are divided between the "classical" and the "instructional" forms.
Different Goju schools have different numbers of the instructional forms. They're all based more or less on Gekisai. But if my memory serves me well, my Shorei Kai branch of Goju had a mind-numbing 10 instructional forms that differed only by a move or two from one to the next.
There were several of each of the following, from most basic to most advanced.
- Fukyu
- Gekisai
- Gekiha
- Kakuha
The forms started very simple, and were very symmetrical in nature. In other words you generally did moves on both sides of the body. They were highly amenable to bunkai that flowed easily from technique to technique. They started simple, and evolved to a Seisan-like form, and ultimately to a form twice as complicated as Seisan.
The original original classical forms from Higaonna consisted of
- Sanchin
- Seisan
- Sanseiryu
- Pechurin or Suparinpei
More however were added, and it is belived they came from Higaonna's further studies in China.
When I started Goju, I did indeed start with some of the instructional forms. However my first classical form was Saifa. Then I did Seiunchin - the form seen practiced by Miyagi and Daniel in Karate Kid II. Sanchin came after that, followed by Seisan. Then the other forms were inserted. Suparinpei was the last taught. (I was never taught Goju Suparinpei, though I've judged it many a time at tournaments. Nice form...
)
Glenn wrote:
Here is the list of changes I have seen attributed to Miyagi that makes modern Goju Sanchin different from Higaonna's original Sanchin:
1. Higaonna performed open hand; Miyagi changed it to close fist
2. Higaonna performed 180 degree turns in his Sanchin; Miyagi changed this to moving backward instead of turning (although I believe some Goju teachers have added some turns as well)
3. Higaonna used more "natural" breathing and movements; Miyagi added the forced hissing and slow forced movements
Most of this comes from discussions on CyberDojo and other websites and I cannot attest to the accuracy of the info. If it is accurate then Goju Sanchin is quite different from Higaonna's Sanchin, which sounds from this to have been more like Uechi Sanchin.
To the best of my knowledge, this is correct.
There's nothing particularly un-Sanchin about what Miyagi did to Sanchin kata. He just changed the way you do it. He changed a study of movement into a warmup exercise.
I take the breathing and dynamic tension out of Goju Sanchin and run with it - all the time. I prefer using this to other methods for warming various body parts up. But I don't limit "it" just to the movements of Sanchin. I do overheads, rotator cuff cranks, trunk flexes in myriad directions, agonizingly slow dynamic tension kicks, etc., etc. Good stuff!
So what I'm saying is that Miyagi's Sanchin is a warmup overcoat clothed onto Sanchin. You can use the coat with other clothing, and you can wear your Sanchin without the coat. If that makes sense.
- Bill
..............I know that at the last Uechi club I went to I was appalled at how little they did to protect their heads, they kept their hands down and made all sorts of tstsing noices 
.............now if they ever got into a streetfight then the guy they were fighting wouldn't know that he was supposed to hit their body and he would go straight for the head 
..... ( between you and I the best Uechi style fighter that I have ever seen did Goju)
Has that all that ukemi without mats taken it's toll? 
