The Kanku Kata (To View the Sky, or Looking Into the Sky)

The Kanku kata contain several fast punches, blocks, and kicks, making for an excellent workout. However, they are not the easiest kata to master. The two kata are:

Kanku Dai (To view the sky, major): 65 moves.

Kanku Sho (To view the sky, minor): 48 moves.

To legendary sensei Funakoshi, Kanku Dai was one of the most crucial kata to master. According to him, it included every essential element of Karate, and he often used it in demonstrations. It’s likely that the other form, Kanku Sho, was developed by his teacher, Ankō Itosu.

Kanku Dai is the second-longest Shotokan Karate kata you can learn, and you’ll likely spend several hours trying to master its many moves, including a few tricky jumps and spins. Perfecting the kata is critical since you may be requested to perform it until your sandan black belt grading.

Kanku Sho contains several powerful kicks and punches, but it also has a few techniques that can make it slightly harder to master. However, it’ll feel extremely rewarding when you’re finally able to execute the Kanku Sho kata without making a mistake!