Heian Shodan Practice Guide
Mat Manual companion guide to "Heian Shodan in Depth." Print it, keep it with your training notes, and use the cards to learn the kata in sections before you join it together. Movement numbers, counts, and kiai follow t…
| Art | Shotokan Karate |
|---|---|
| Family | Karate |
| Level | beginner |
| Format | deep-dive |
| Topics | fundamentals, forms, training-plans, safety |
Mat Manual companion guide to "Heian Shodan in Depth." Print it, keep it with your training notes, and use the cards to learn the kata in sections before you join it together. Movement numbers, counts, and kiai follow the JKA count used in the Shotokan Karate Quick Reference.
The Kata at a Glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name | Heian Shodan, peaceful mind, level one |
| Place in the syllabus | First kata of the 26 kata canon. Many schools teach Taikyoku Shodan before it |
| Creator | Anko Itosu, Okinawa, early 1900s, as part of the Pinan series |
| Name history | Shotokan's Heian Shodan was Itosu's Pinan Nidan. Funakoshi swapped the first two forms and renamed the series Heian for Japan. Styles that kept the old order call this form Pinan Nidan |
| Movements | 21 |
| Kiai | Movement 9 and movement 17 |
| Stances | Front stance (zenkutsu dachi) for movements 1 to 17, back stance (kokutsu dachi) for movements 18 to 21 |
| Kicks | None. Heian Shodan is hands and stances only |
| Floor pattern (embusen) | Roughly I shaped. A correct performance ends on the starting spot |
| Techniques | Gedan barai 6 times, oi-zuki 7 times, age uke 3 times, shuto uke 4 times, tettsui uchi once |
How to use this guide. Learn the kata in three sections, 1 to 8, 9 to 16, and 17 to 21, using the practice cards and section drills. Then join the sections with the linking drills. Use the directional error table whenever you finish facing the wrong way. Log every practice session. Run the grading readiness list only when the whole kata holds together at practice pace.
Heian Shodan Practice Guide
Mat Manual companion guide to "Heian Shodan in Depth." Print it, keep it with your training notes, and use the cards to learn the kata in sections before you join it together. Movement numbers, counts, and kiai follow the JKA count used in the Shotokan Karate Quick Reference.
What's Inside
- The Kata at a Glance
- Safety and Practice Rules
- Practice Cards: Movements 1 to 8
- Practice Cards: Movements 9 to 16
- Practice Cards: Movements 17 to 21
- Section Drills: Movements 1 to 8
- …and 19 more sections
The full guide is a paid Mat Manual product. Checkout is not connected yet — no payment is taken on this page.
Free companion article: Heian Shodan in Depth — the full article, free in full.