TENSHO

HAKUCHO
PAPUREN

The Aiki of Karate

The Kata Step by Step

Shihan Tony Annesi

Kata Tensho, Hakucho, Papuren: The Aiki of Karate

Bushido-kai Seminar with Tony Annesi, April 25, 2010

TENSHO/ROKKISHU

Common areas in BOLD

HAKUCHO

PAPUREN/HAPPOREN

meaning

Turning Hands

100 Birds/White Bird

8 Steps at a Time

style

Goju-ryu/Shito

White Crane/Shito

White Crane/Shito

origin

Chojun Miyagi, inuenced by Ba-gua, or

Miyagi, applying the Rokkishu (6 hand
postures) lesson from the Bubishi, in
collaboration with Kenwa Mabuni (may
have been inspired by Papuren)

Gokenkis (Wu Hsien Hueis) Kingai-ryu:

this kata may or may not be related to
Shaolin White Crane in the history below

Gokenkis (Wu Hsien Hueis) Kingai-ryu:

this kata may or may not be related to
Shaolin White Crane in the history below

pattern

Straight line forward, retracing

backwards, 3 steps forward:
3 steps back = 6 steps

Short form: straight line forward,

retracing backwards: 4 steps forward, 3
slides back;
Long form: straight line N & turn to face
S, 7 steps forward, 7 returning; both
versions have 90 & 45 wings

Straight line forward, retracing

backward (with 45 wings):
4 steps forward, 4 steps back =
8 steps

mood

Moderate speed, some deep breathing;

some slow muchimi (dynamic tension) &
many fast hand rotations

Moderate/normal speed

Very slow hand speed, fast footsteps

stances

sanchin

sanchin, neko-ashi

sanchin, neko-ashi, shilkko/kiba

techniques

Double inside forearm blocks, single

and double hand hooks,
palm-heels, wrists, horizontal presses,
roundhouse block

Double inside forearm blocks, wide

wing hooks, ridge hands, lifting front
kicks/knee, palm-heels, wrists, eaglebeaks, roundhouse block, reinforced
forearm block

Wide knife-hand wings, middle outside

forearm blocks, hand hooks, tiger
mouth strikes, lateral knife-hands &
ridge-hands, wrists, single inside
forearm blocks, down blocks

applications

Soft receptions, short strikes, off-balancing, throws, locks, inghting

Hakutsuru
history

Obviously, the common denominator in these kata is the White Crane style of Chinese martial arts, said to be the method that
synthesized the 5 animal sts and may even have been related, strange as it seems, to Wing Chun. The history is long and
complicated, but the highlights appear on the reverse side.

From The History of Matsumura By Ed Goble, www.hgweb.nl (edited & abridged for this publication by Tony Annesi)
There are several Chinese forms of the name Hakutsuru; in different dialects, they are: Pai Hao Quan, Peh Ho Kuen, Peh Hok,
Bak Hok, Bai He Quan and He Quan. Other names are the Southern Five Elder Style (Wu Zu Quan or Five Ancestors Fist), and the Yong
Chun Style, pronounced Weng Chun in Cantonese.
Hakutsuru was probably formed right around the time of the 1673 destruction of the Fukien Shaolin Temple. It was essentially
Hakutsuru that the original Shaolin Five Animal style developed into, having been rened and modied by the remaining practitioners of
the Shaolin Temple during the remainder of the Ching Dynasty. Many of them probably had to go into hiding or ee, but many also stayed
around the Fukien aea trying to organize their forces.
Other temples from the area had input into the Hakutsuru system, including Taoist ones. Hakutsuru became strongly inuenced by
Monk (Lohan) Fist and Tiger Boxing. In contrast to Hakutsuru, which became the mainstream Shaolin style, there were many other branch
styles from it such as Hung Gar and Choy Li Fut.
Haktusuru and Wing Chun are two separate styles known by the name of Yong Chun (Always Spring/Always Green). Yip Mans
Wing Chun is not Hakutsuru, but it does have its roots in it. Much legendary material that present day practitioners of Wing Chun, Hung
Gar, Mok Gar, Choy Li Fut, and other revolutionary period styles attribute to the origins of their respective styles actually have more to do
with the origins of Haktusuru. Most practitioners of Hakutsuru during the revolutionary period were rebels. Some people believe that the
originators of Hakutsuru may have chosen the name Yong Chun for various reasons:
(1) It was the name of a village near Fukien Shaolin that apparently had a lot to do with the Fukien Shaolin. The monks named
their training hall Yong Chun.
(2) The name Shaolin means Small Forest, and pine trees are evergreens. So the name served as a way to hide the Shaolin
origins of the art, but still show the essential symbolism of Shaolin.
(3) The rebels had mottos and phrases such as Overthrow the Ching and restore the Ming! Spring, in this case, refers to the time
when the Ming would be restored.
The combat systems taught in the temple at that time were based on animal movements. The Shaolin grandmasters recognized
that this approach was unsuitable for the rapid development of an effective and efcient ghting force. A new training method made to t
the needs of the rebellion was necessary. In the South, the terrain was different, and there was a need for close range ghting tactics.
Also, they needed a way to ght more effectively against and exploit the weaknesses of the ghting arts of their enemies. They came
up with a radically new approach based on human biomechanics by rening and modifying the existing animal systems and movements
into an essential core of techniques, keeping the basic principles that were good, and throwing out what was not good. The techniques
still copied animal movements, but were engineered to t the way the human body works. They engineering their style with the express
purpose of destroying the ability of the opponent to ght without hesitation the moment a weakness presents itself, and to make that
second nature. Everything was simplied and pulled in closer. Little circles were used in place of big circles. Stances were shortened
tremendously, and the acrobatics were thrown out.
In the new training method, they were taught three forms that could be learned in a few months, and took only three years
to master them. We can see this 3-kata training method in Five Elder systems such as Wing Chun and Mok Gar. Because of these
new revisions, there became a split between the Northern and Southern Shaolin styles. The North retained the original exaggerated
movements and form, and the South adopted the new streamlined and efcient form.

TENSHO

1- cross-hands
kamae, left hand on
top

2- bow

3- return to kamae

4- open stance and sts,

rst right heel and hand,
then left heel and hand

5- press sts
downward with
muchimi, strong
exhalation though the
mouth (ibuki breathing)

6- crescent foward to right

sanchin

7- double middle forearm

block with muchimi
and ibuki

9- right ourward hook block with little

nger edge
10- right inward hook block with little
nger edge
(9 & 10 in quick succession)

8- chamber left st with

sharp inhale

11- open hand chamber

16- palm heel to low

front

12- palm heel upwad

17- rising wrist

13, 14- loop hand clockwise to 6:00

18- descending
palm-heel

19, 20- right outward

wrist

15- draw open hand to

chanber

21- right inward palm-heel

22, 23- crescent forward to left sanchin,

left middle block

25- left inward hook block

26- left open hand chamber

24- left outwarrd hook block

27- left upward palm-heel

28- loop left palm counterclockwise to 6:00 and then

...

29- ...into chamber

30- left downward

palm-heel

34- left outward wrist

35- left inward palm-heel

31- left upward wrist

32- left downward

palm-heel

36, 37- right crescent to rt. sanchin,

double middle forearm block

33- left inward palm-heel

38- double outward hook

blocks

39- double inward hook

blocks

40- double st chamber

44- double open hand

chambers

45- double downward

palm-heels

41- double upward

palm-heels

46- double upward wrists

42, 43- loop both palms toward 6:00

47- double downward

palm-heels

48- double outward wrists

49- double inward

palm-heels

54- double
breast-chamber

50- step back to left

sanchin, double
breast-chamber

55- double palm-edge

push-away

51- double palm-edge

push-away

52- double
breast-chamber

53- double palm-edge

push-away

56, 57, 58- step back to right sanchin, mawashi uke and...

60, 61, 62, 63- step back to left sanchin, mawashi uke and mawashi uke push away

59- mawahsi uke push-away

TENSHOs theoretical
embusen
64, 65, 66- cross-hand kamae, bow, return to cross-hand kamae

HAKUCHO

1, 2, 3- cross hand kamae, left hand on top, bow, return to

cross-hand kamae

4, 5- step forward to right cat stance, left open

hand chamber with a right palm-heel block,
pulling right to left across the body

6- double crane wings

posture

7- withdraw right palm

8- extend right ridge hand

(thumb out)

10- left crane step forward

11- left cat stance, double

crane wings posture

12- withdrawn left palm

9- return to crane wings

13- extend left ridge hand

(thumb out)

14- return to double crane

wing posture

18- extend right ridge hand

(thumb out)

15- right crane step

19- return to double crane

wing posture

16- right cat stance, double

crane wing posture

17- withdraw right palm

20, 21, 22- turn left 90 degrees to left cat stance, cross arms horixontally
in front of chest, strike outwards with double wrist stike

23- double inward

crane beaks

28- double inward

crane beaks

24- turn 180 degrees

right...

25, 26, 27- ...to right cat stance, cross arms horixontally in front of chest,
strike outwards with double wrist stike

29, 30- draw right foot to musubi dachi

facing forward, double middle forearm
blocks, ibuki breathing

31, 32, 33- while stepping forward into a right sanchin, perform
a mawshi uke

34, 35- mawashi uke push away

36, 37, 38, 39- turn 45 degress counterclockwise to left cat stance, right arms sweeps a
palm heel upward while the left sweeps a palm heel downward; left rising wrist with
right downward palm heel and then upward wrist at solar plexus height

40, 41, 42- turn 90 degress clockwise to left cat stance, right arms sweeps
a palm heel upward while the left sweeps a palm heel downward; left
rising wrist with right downward palm heel and then upward wrist at
solar plexus height (same as previous movement)

43, 44- withdraw left leg to musubi dachi,

hands in a prayer position

45- press hands sidewards in shoulder

level palm heel pushes

46- pull hands together

to front in a tiangle

47-54- while retreating in a series of right cat stances, perform

three double upward crane beaks

53, 54- settling in a right cat stance,

perform a double downward palm-heel,
followed by a double upward wrist

55, 56, 57- bring right vertical st to chambered left palm,

then perform a right palm-reinorced middle forearm block

58, 59, 60- return right foot to musubi dachi, cross-hand kamae,
bow, return to cross hand kamae

HAKUCHOs theoretical embusen

PAPUREN
1, 2, 3- from cross-hands kamae, bow, and
return to cross-hands kamae

4- step leftward to shikko

dachi, hands on thighs
5, 6- very slowly squeeze forearms together at chest height, then
press palms sideways at shoulder height (this is the rst half of the
Papuren Sequence repeated several times in the kata)

7, 8, 9, 10, 11- very slowly squeeze forearms inward at rib/solar plexus height, push open hands foreward then recoil to crane wing kamae
(this is the second half of the Papuren Sequence)

12, 13, 14, 15, 16- slide forward at regular speed to left sanchin; very slowly perform entire Papuren Sequence (continued on next page with 17 & 18)

17, 18 (Papuren Sequence concluded)

19-25- at regular speed step 45
degrees to left in left sanchin;
cross left forearm over right at
chest height and separate very
slowly, pausing briey when
palms face each other at solar
plexus; palms spread sideways
to wings, close very slowy into
sts as forearms approach each
other at rib/solar plexus height;
very slowly are into a crane
kamae, press to the front and
return to crane kamae
(this is a modied Papuren
Sequence, which is repeated on
the other side)

26-32- slight to a right 45 degree angle to a right sanchin; cross right

forearm over left at chest height and separate very slowly, pausing
briey when palms face each other at solar plexus; palms spread sideways to wings, close very slowy into sts as forearms approach each
other at rib/solar plexus height; very slowly are into a crane kamae,
press to the front and return to crane kamae
(this is the same modied Papuren Sequence as previusly performed
but on the other side)

33-39- return to baseline with a

quick lef-right step into shikko
dachi, hands on thighs; then
perform Papuren Sequence very
slowly

40- move quickly to the

front in a left sanchin
41-48- very slow drop
left open hand and swing
it upward to an open left
middle block, then downward to an open lower
block and then upward
again to another open left
middle block; press left
palm-heel forward and
return to crane kamae

49- move forward quickly to a

right sanchin
50-57- very slow drop right
open hand and swing it
upward to an open right middle block, then downward to
an open lower block and then
upward again to another open
right middle block; press right
palm-heel forward and return
to crane kamae
(same as previous sequence
but on opposite side)

58, 59, 60- quickly retreat to a left cat stance, parrying with the right
hand and raising the left wrist in front of it; the right hand then forms a
wrist near the solar plexus

61, 62- quickly retreat to a right cat sance

performing the same action: left hand parrying
inside the rising right wrist

63- quick left-right retreat to

neutral shikko dachi on base line,
hands on thighs

64, 65, 66- draw left foot to right into musubi dachi, assuming
cross-hands kamae, bow, return to cross-hands kamae

PAPURENs theoretical embusen

The Hand Formations

1- tensho cover (outside
hook block)
2- inside tensho cover
(inward hook block)
3- palm heel

4- wrist
5- palm edge press
6- crane wing

7- crane beak
8- inward
forearms
9- ridge hand
(thumb out)