鉄騎三段 (Tekki Sandan): Part One

                                       鉄騎三段

Tekki Sandan

Practice of the three Tekki Kata consecutively on the spot. Shotokan's seika-tanden training.

The name Tekki: 鉄 means ‘iron’, whilst 騎 translates as a ‘cavalry horse’, which describes the extensive use of kiba-dachi. Some translate this kata as ‘Iron Horse’; however, the second kanji is not a regular horse 馬 (uma), it is war-horse. If you look at the kanji you can see ‘uma’ on the left and on the right side of it, additional elements. Please compare and contrast: 馬 and 騎

Origins of the kata and its renaming: Originally developed in China it became known in the Ryukyu Kingdom as Naifanchi. Needless to say, like many of the other kata, it was Funakoshi Gichin Sensei who named them as Tekki. I personally think that Funakoshi Sensei's poetics, even in his signatory  name 松濤 really made him 'the best man for the job' of renaming the kata.

It is said by some of my seniors that both Tekki Nidan and Sandan were developed by Itosu Anko Sensei and based on Naifanchi (Shodan). However, others claim that “…these three kata were originally one long formal exercise comprising of 79 movements”. Allegedly at that time, “the conclusive kamae (at the end of Tekki Shodan) was not done after movement 29 but, rather, after movement 36 (of the ‘Sandan section’)”. While this is not important, it implies the training of all three in succession, which is a common practice.

The purpose of Tekki: Each of the three Tekki primarily work on in-fighting skills ideal for practical self-defense. Their applications focus on a mix of percussive blows, locks, throws and strangulation techniques. A unique aspect of Tekki is that the movements can also be exclusively for grappling with an opponent.

Tekki Sandan kata at the Renshinkan Dojo, Nakatsu-Shi, Oita.

Command count and placement of the kiai: Tekki Sandan has a command count 36 movements with the kiai on movements 16 and 36 respectively.

 

Musubi-dachi (Rei).

Yoi: Hachiji-dachi, Ryoken-daitai mae.

 

Movement One:

Hidari chudan uchi-uke (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Two:

Migi chudan uchi-uke doji ni hidari gedan-uke (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Three:

Hidari zenwan chudan osae-uke doji ni migi zenwan chudan uchiotsohi (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Four:

Migi haiwan jodan uchinagashi-uke (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Five:

Migi uraken jodan-uchi (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Six:

Uken migi koshi doji ni sasho uken-ue (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Seven:

Uken chudan-zuki doji ni hidari-te migi hiji-yoko (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Eight:

Migi zenwan hineri doji ni kao migi-muke (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Nine:

Hidari ashi mae-kosa (Kiba-dachi).

Movement Ten:

Migi zenwan sokumen gedan-uke (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Eleven:

Migi zenwan migi sokumen gedan-furisute (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Twelve:

Uken migi koshi doji ni sasho uken-ue—kao shomen-muke (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Thirteen:

Uken chudan-zuki doji ni hidari te koko migi hiji-yoko (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Fourteen:

Migi chudan uchi-uke (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Fifteen:

Hidari chudan uchi-uke doji ni migi gedan-uke (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Sixteen:
Hidari haiwan uchinagashi-uke kara hidari uraken jodan-uchi doji ni migi zenwan mune mae suihei kamae (Kiba-dachi) (KIAI).

 

Movement Seventeen:

Kao hidari-muke (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Eighteen:

Migi ashi mae-kosa.

 

Movement Nineteen:

Hidari ashi-fumikomi—kao shomen-muke (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Twenty:

Hidari zenwan chudan uchiotoshi (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Twenty-One:

Hidari haiwan jodan uchinagashi-uke (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Twenty-Two:

Hidari uraken jodan-uchi (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Twenty-Three:

Saken hidari-koshi doji ni uken sasho-ue (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Twenty-Four:

Saken chudan-zuki doji ni migi te koko hidari hiji-yoko (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Twenty-Five:

Hidari zenwan-hineri doji ni kao hidari-muke (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Twenty-Six:

Migi ashi mae-kosa.

 

Movement Twenty-Seven:

Hidari zenwan hidari sokumen gedan-uke (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Twenty-Eight:

Hidari zenwan hidari sokumen gedan-furisute (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Twenty-Nine:

Saken hidari-koshi doji ni usho saken-ue—Kao shomen-muke (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Thirty:

Saken chudan-zuki doji ni migi te koko hidari hiji-yoko (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Thirty-One:

Migi sokumen migi chudan tsukami-uke doji ni saken hidari koshi—Kao migi muke (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Thirty-Two:

Uken migi koshi doji ni saken kagi-zuki (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Thirty-Three:

Hidari ashi mae-kosa.

 

Movement Thirty-Four:

Migi ashi-fumikomi doji ni hidari chudan uchi-uke—Kao shomen-muke (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Thirty-Five:

Migi chudan uchi-uke doji ni hidari gedan-uke (Kiba-dachi).

 

Movement Thirty-Six:

Migi jodan uchinagashi-uke kara migi uraken jodan-uchi doji ni hidari zenwan mune mae suihei kamae (Kiba-dachi) (KIAI).

 

Naore: Hachiji-dachi, Ryoken-daitai mae.

 

Musubi-dachi (Rei).

 

From kata we can improvise; thereby, make instinctive actions. Maximizing the informal via the formal.

 © André Bertel. Oita City, Japan (2021).