THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN “SHO” AND “DAI”
OF
Author: Master VU TRINH
As a person who loves to practice martial arts, I spent a lot of time observing the characteristics not only of all the branches of martial arts but also the forms of each style to build up my ideas about them. When I encounter certain techniques that I was interested in, I normally went to the martial art room at my house to practice those moves in front of a large mirror (see 7). More than often, I was very interested in those forms that have more than one version, among them Gojushiho Sho, and Gojushiho Dai of Shotokan. Actually, the concept of “twin versions” in a martial art is not new, especially in Shotokan. Besides the Gojushiho, there are at least other two forms of Shotokan that have their siblings, Bassai and Kanku. There are two versions for each of these forms. Bassai Dai and Bassai Sho, and similarly, Kanku Dai and Kanku Sho.
Since the terms “Sho” and “Dai” have been mentioned quite often in this article so far, I want to slightly explain the meanings and concepts of these two terminologies. In general, Dai means large or major while Sho means small or minor. As a result, Gojushihai Dai is longer than Gojushiho Sho. Gojushihai Dai has 67 movements compared to 65 for Gojushihai Sho.
Normally, the principal objectives of creating the second version of a martial art form are to improve the original one; or at least to characterize the other important perspectives. The creation of the second version of Gojushihai had served the same purposes. Gojushiho Dai has been incorporated with several animal-related techniques such as “Washide” or “eagle-hand”, and “Hotaku” or “knocking of a woodpecker” The beaks of these two animals also have been clearly demonstrated during the form to emphasize their effectiveness. The eagle hand describes the use of all five fingertips squeezed into the shape of a large bird’s beak to precisely poke on or into the opponent’s vital points such as the collarbone, face, or throat (see 1).
Furthermore, there are a series of movements from the Gojushiho Dai that resembled the use of the woodpecker poking its beak into a tree looking for food as “one finger strikes” and the “Chicken-head block” to successfully either block or deflect the opponent’s attacking techniques as well as to accurately deeper damage the opponent’s vital areas (see 2). These techniques allow you to use the tip of your index finger to accurately strike your opponent’s eyes, behind the ears, collar bone, or middle of their throat (see 4).
The emphasis on “Hotaku” or “knocking of a woodpecker” and its resemblance once made Master Funakoshi (1868-1957) want to change the name of the kata (Gojushiho-Sho) to Hotaku, meaning "woodpecker," due to the frequency of woodpecker-poking or one finger-strikes found within the kata.However, for unknown reasons, the name Hotaku has never taken place and the form, as of today, has maintained its original name, Gojushiho Dai. Another important remark of Gojushiho Dai was the insertion of the Koko Uchi or Tiger Mouth (the curving area between the thumb and index finger) strike, intended to, most likely, block the shin bone area or the opponent’s front kicks (see 3). However, when applying the Tiger Mouth block technique through a strike, the Tiger Mouth blocks can also control or deflect a punch from the opponents. Furthermore, I strongly believe this technique will effectively destroy the opponent’s other vital areas, such as the throat, nose, chin, or neck (see the front)
The Gojushiho-Dai (五十四歩大) and Gojushiho-sho (五十四歩小) are usually classed as advanced kata. Originally the creator of Gojushiho, Master Sokon Matsumura (1809 - 1899) one of the key founders of Okinawan martial arts named the form Useishi which means 54 ways of moves or techniques in Chinese. He intended to develop this unique form for his high-ranking students or at least the 6th-degree Black Belt in Shotokan to perform. Soon after, Gojushiho became famous in the martial arts world and martial artists frequently performed this form in competitions.
Regarding the reasons for the twin of the Gojushiho, there was at least one story has explained why. It was said, during a martial art tournament in Japan, a high-ranking black belt from Shotokan Karate Association responded to the call from the judges. He stepped up and prepared to perform his Gojushiho kata. Before performing his form, he informed the judges that there were two versions of his competition kata, and he will perform both, one after the other, and the Judges hesitantly approved. Once completing the first version, he went on and perfectly presented the second version of Gojushiho, which contained many similarities compared to the first one. So impressed with his performance in this twin-katas situation, the judges decided to award him the first-place winner. According to the sources within the Shotokan Karate Association, the mentioned competitor was Master Anko Itosu (1831-1915), a high-ranking student of Master Matsumura. Although there weren’t concrete proofs to confirm this rare martial arts-related story, many readers and martial arts lovers seemed to enjoy and believe the details of this unconfirmed Gojushiho fond story.
Gojushiho Dai was well-liked and practiced in many other martial arts styles. The Tang So Do, while practicing this form, named it "O Sip Sa Bo" in Korean. The Chinese martial arts have also adopted the form with some influences of Ng, Ying Kungfu. Nevertheless, Gojushiho Dai was also practiced in Goshin Kagen Goju Karate, which was a branch of Goju founded by Hanshi Gerald Thomson.
In performing the Gojushiho-Dai, the performers should pay special attention to those animal-related techniques such as the knocking of a woodpecker (Hotaku) (Kitsutsuki) with a one-finger strike (Hotaku), the chicken head block, the tiger-mouth strike (Koko Uchi), the eagle-hand (Washide), etc. Especially, the sequence of a group of animal-related techniques has been repeated four times during the form. This animal-emphasized sequence consists of five steps (see A1-A5) and their applications (see B1-B5). The first two steps are blocking and the last three are striking. It should be noted that these animals related sequences began with a right-hand chicken-head block (A1), horizontally deflecting or blocking a punch from the opponent with the back of the hand. The sequence is followed up with a double right high - left low chicken-head blocks against a double punches technique from the opponent (A2). The last three techniques of this sequence are striking, and while performing the last three, the chicken-head is now will be served as a woodpecker’s beak using the index finger, the so-called “one finger strike” (B3). The next move of the sequence will be the first right-hand strike that pokes as a woodpecker stroke its strong beak into a large trunk of a big tree looking for food, while the left hand was attached to the right forearm area to serve as a reinforcement (A3). The whole sequence is ended up with two separated, one after the other, single index finger strikes to the opponent's vital points area such as the eyes, behind the ears, throat, collarbone, etc. (B4, B5). There are approximately 5-6 moves for each sequence, resulting in a total between 20-24 moves or 35-40% of the techniques of the whole form (see 8). As a result, the performers should invest time into these sequences to comfortably perform them before learning the whole Gojushiho-Dai form.
As indicated from the series of pictures, one of the important modifications from Gojushihai Sho to Gojushiho DAI was the replacement of the ryuun (flowing cloud) with the kitsutsuki (woodpecker) set.
In many cases, while the Gojushiho Sho seemed to have a heavier weight on the right leg, Gojushiho Dai indicated that that weight should be focused on the left leg. As a result, at the end of this unique modification, when the Gojushiho Sho originally concluded the sequence with a right front kick, the Gojushiho Dai completed the sequence with a left front kick as illustrated in the group photographs (see 5).
The above group pictures are in the order of sequence. They have illustrated that the hands work, and the stances are not the same between the twin Gojushiho. In some cases, during the performances between the two, the back stance has been replaced by the front or cat stance. Or some spear hands have been replaced by one finger strike technique etc. (see 6). Although I am not currently a member of Shotokan, I still love to practice the Gojushiho Dai. Perhaps, because Hotaku (Woodpecker), Koko Uchi (the Tiger Mouth strike), the Eagle-hand, and the “Cat stances” reminded me of the fond feelings I had from those animal forms I practiced during the years I spent training in Shaolin Kungfu in Vietnam.
Regarding the differences between Gojushiho So and Dai, numerous changes between the two have been mentioned or illustrated. However, there are still many other changes that have not been discussed or indicated since the principal objective of this article is mainly to focus on the replacements of some techniques from the first one with numerous animal applications, focusing on striking with the fingers. As a result, the performers of Gojushiho Dai must have a good knowledge of the vital areas of their opponents while practicing this second version. Both Gojushiho-sho and Gojushiho-Dai are classed as advanced and considered long. As I have mentioned above, Sho at 65 counts, and Dai at 67 counts.
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