Seipai Kata

Lately I’ve been working on perfecting the Seipai kata which I had learned years ago from Shuri-ryu stylist Gene Williams when I was living in Milledgeville, Georgia.

It is a beautiful kata which has its origins in White Crane kung-fu. A nice short history can be found here.

There are quite a few video’s featuring the kata on youtube.

Seipai translates to eight teen hands or techniques. Though I have also heard it called “The Spirit of the Dragon.”

There are many interpretations of the kata done by all the major Okinawan karate schools. Though many of the techniques are sometimes quite different, the pattern of the kata is the same.

Here is an interesting variation of the kata preformed by Ryuuji of Shinkyokushin; http://eadro.blip.tv/#798258

In anyways, each time I perform the kata, I find deeper meanings in its movements which makes it one of my favorite kata.