Sanchin Stepping: What's Up with That?

[@PrinceAkaiVtuber]

In Kyokushin we adopted the Sanchin stance to the point we even use it during Kihon practice. Thank you for this informative video.

[@wanabdulhadi1268]

I'm glad I found your channel. I'm currently self-studying goju ryu karate from higaonna sensei's material as there are no local dojos in my area.

[@jorgemartinpellegrino6940]

Several years ago I was asked by a group of amateur MMA to teach them how to kick, since my style is goju ryu but my sensei also have a 2 dan in kyokushin I know how to kick well. I learn a lot of practical grappling and throwing. What surprised them is my stable stance. They have a lot of problem to put me on the ground. I think that sanchin help me a lot.

[@makenjikarate]

Great video, I really love Sanchin Kata. Definitely use this for clinch work. I read in Baki the Grappler that Sanchin Dachi was developed by fisherman to stabilise themselves on boats. Can't speak for that but it does work whilst standing on a moving train.

[@GojuRyuPhilosopher]

I also use Sanchin Dachi when I'm on the subway. It helps a lot, and it's really useful for stability in general.

[@zaneivy]

...hey Goju Ryu Philosopher; I ran across this the other day and thought you might find it interesting, as it relates to "sanchin" kata and is a somewhat different take than what you'll find with most other Okinawa-te lineages. I think he might have been influenced from some of his Chinese instructors in his take on the performance of "sanchin kata" - but of course the basic kata as it occurs in Isshinryu derives from Tatsuo's study of Gojuryu. The video I suggest you watch is entitled "Isshin-ryu sanchin kata & bunkai by Michael Calandra 8th Dan," and can be found on the "Michael Caladra" channel. Another vid (maybe you've already seen this one) of interest is "comparitive karate san chiem (sanchin) San zhan" on the "Martinpaulwatts" channel. Unfortunately the video isn't too clear, but it compares Gojuryu, Uechiryu, and two different Crane kungfu practicioners' versions of "sanchin."

[@bpindermoss]

I hold a brown belt in Goju Ryu with Sensie Lauri Winters of Perth Ontario, Canada. The circular step was a way, I was told, to protect one's groin. Essentially, since your feet are in a circular pattern, you can bring your knees together to protect your groin against a front snap kick. Also, by my observation, Goju Ryu is reactive. Our opponent attacks first, so to utilize our hips and do a half turn of our bodies to avoid the attack, our feet in sanchin dachi are already poised for such a move. Not as a rule, but our blocks tend to be circular in form with a rotary tai sabaki, and our attacks are linear. Placing one's feet in sanchin dachi is a form of preparatory body positioning for rotary motion. My old kyokushinkai instructors used to say that a spinning man was hard to hit.

[@ianfirth33]

I have never heard this explanation for Sanchin dachi, even though I was aware this stance generally was a training stance. The emphasises that I have always thought and was taught are that, sanchin dachi is primarily a high defensive stance. Turning the leading leg inward and dropping the hips, is for defence from groin kicks and also to create isometric strength, to make one immobile and heavily resistant to takedowns. That is the purpose of the testing in Sanchin Kata, whereby the instructor, strikes and pushes the student to see if every muscle is tensed and solid. My instructor made much of this and always emphasised the strength of this stance even though a high stance, he told us that with this stance, you should literally, "grip", the floor, I always felt a sense of this. Many Goju grand masters if not all, credit Sanchin Kata as the most important of the Goju school and recommend that the kata be done daily, saying that if your "Sanchin is strong your karate is strong", I also read somewhere that Sanchin kata, is performed by Shaolin practitioners, which makes this very interesting. Sanchin dachi stance, as well as Ibuki breathing is the core of Sanchin kata. From all of this it may be argued that Sanchin dachi may actually be one of the core tenants of Goju. As a personal note, the strengthening that Sanchin dachi provides to toes, ankles and legs, is beneficial to all stances, I am sure that my karate was much stronger because of it and also I was a lot less likely to end up on the ground or my attacks to fail as my stances were much stronger, as Goju practitioners we have much to say in the current period of MMA and Jujitsu. I thank you for you video, it really made me think and ponder things that I have not thought of for a long time and brought back good distant memories of my now deceased beautiful instructor.

[@crying_hippy]

Were you taught secondly after grip floor to rise and fall on your strikes and movements? God Bless

[@ianfirth33]

@@crying_hippy The emphasis in Sanchin Kata as I understand it is immobility. No matter what hits you or pushes you you do not move oe react. This combined with, Ibuki Breathing, hard strenuous deep breathing and tension of every muscle in your body, this Kata is literally the essence of the, "Go" in Goju, the hardness(GoJu means Hard/Soft). If you were not profusely sweating after this Kata, my instructor would have thought that there was something wrong. No exactly sure what you mean by your question, Sanchin Kata is conducted only in Sanchin Dachi(stance), you stay at the same level and do not rise and fall in strikes and movements.

[@crying_hippy]

MR Ian Firth stance is stance, correct you become the floor, before step drop at hip lower body slightly then when moving foot is planted you rise back, it's conditioning also for when you do strike you rise, defence drop down grip floor, rise strike spring off floor. Sanchin Kata is not to just test and have sensi pushing and testing you to not be moved.....it's for inner chi God Bless

[@crying_hippy]

MR Ian Firth do you know Ken Tallack?

[@stupidfrog2205]

Very interesting video to me seeing as how I've never encountered Sanchin in my training. Thank you. Also I liked the shorter video time. Any chance of a Sanchin tutorial?

[@geocyclist]

I study a rather obscure American mash-up of Shorin-ryu and Goju-ryu (called Shorei Goju Ryu) that was developed by Robert Trias before he went on to develop American Shuri-ryu. In our forms we almost ALWAYS bring our feet together when stepping. We call it a "crescent step" to indicate the shape it makes on the floor when stepping forward or backward. The ball of the foot is held close to the ground, if not actually touching the ground as it shifts from one stance to the next. The benefits are explained as keeping the legs under the center of gravity as we move and to emphasize correct leg positioning for take-downs and throws in bunkai. Thanks for the video!

[@DrMathOfficial]

@1:34 "I refuse to show my feet on camera.....forr..............internet reasons, so..." LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahahahaha. Severely hilarious to me. But also very SMART and very NECESSARY, in todays world. Absolutely. Anyway, this is a very great channel. Especially for Goju Ryu, but even for martial arts in general.

[@robinGadams]

Sanchin stance is used in Heishu Kata only in IOGKF gojo-ryu, and not in the Kaishu kata. Its extremely important.

[@ulrikwildy9533]

I have been practicing Goju for 20 years, but briefly studied tong long (praying mantis) kung fu. Tong long kung fu, like goju, is close-in fighting. But tong long uses circular stepping when moving backwards only. This is to protect your feet from obstacles behind you, i.e. stepping linearly back can injure your heel if you hit a wall or furniture etc.

[@Moodymongul]

Interesting video. Its also worth noting that Sanchin 'type' footwork was done (around the globe) when walking in the dark. And in a number of Karate (and Kung-Fu schools), practice Sanchin footwork on a small boat (for stability training). I had wondered if this connects to the originators of Karate (and their history of fighting pirates in close combat, on boats). Peace.

[@Ronin.alacant]

I agree with Toguchi Sensei, good research

[@edwardstanulevich1764]

Good video. I've been working on this with a friend of mine in Shaolin kung fu. We use it in forms and drills and do it a little faster. Thrusting step and together step are still better for getting in and out of range. But circle step (huen ma) has it's place. I like it as an introduction to the idea of switching stances after landing a combo while moving out of range. Of course, in application it becomes much more linear, unless being used to set up a throw.

[@DrMathOfficial]

I would like to see a video on the comparison and differences of Goju, vs Shorin Ryu vs Shito Ryu. I already have some ideas on it, but still not a 100% clear understanding of it (of ALL of the exact differences).

[@ancientlight2572]

I noticed some kung fu styles use the proto-sanchin position more like hangetsu no dachi. Wider with shuffle style movements.

[@samtyler6202]

Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Shotokan said in one of his early books that the original purpose of sanchin dachi was to train people how to suck their testicles up into the abdomen to avoid them being damaged in a fight. he then goes on to say that aspect of the isn't taught anymore.

[@theoriginalchiguirex]

I was taught that the circular step is done, during a kata, when moving to a defensive position (stepping to do a block) and just step straight for attacks

[@DaveJones876]

People in Southern mantis use it for low kicks, throws or for crowding your enemy. They insist that it is for use in actual combat. Re square stances, Mike Tyson used a square stance in Peek A Boo boxing. So square stances can be useful..especially in situations where you may switch from striking to low kicks to grappling. Southern Mantis kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoLLdWOkqtxjfpY peek a boo boxing kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4CxkHmhoNVgZ68

[@TheArrgh]

Currently a BJJ practitioner, ex Judo/Sombo (the gym closed, I didn't really lose interest), but the most unique feature of anything I've done is probably the ginga from capoeira; it's probably one of the only martial arts I've ever seen where the basic footwork is fundamentally a stance switch.

[@bernardcastro5825]

I seen Shuai Jiao practitioners use this kind of stepping to attack the legs, to force their opponent back. Most likely to be used in combination with other leg techniques.

[@littlestoneliontraditional9838]

Interesting, I step like that in close fighting/sparing all the time sometimes to protect my balance other times to attack the other person's. Good video 👍👍 This step happens some times in the Pak Mei forms I practice. The two arts do seem to address alot of similar stuff, if I didn't already know about the connections to gung Fu like white crain and such I would have been looking for a connection to hakka arts for that reason. 🤘I walked it the other way. Goju interests me bc of it's so similar to Pak Mei yet it is importantly different. 😁

[@grasthube]

sanchin step posture is not a fight posture. is meant to train your leg muscles by keeping them contracted through torsion all the time

[@takitonmaru]

we love it bro

[@Tamales21]

The circle step looks cool. That's it. Boom. Next question.

[@GojuRyuPhilosopher]

I endorse this 100%

[@tokenstandpoint93]

My style is unique in that its is heavily revolved around full contact sparring. In my dojo teaches Sanchin Dachi but I have not been taught how to step in it. Does Uechi Ryu teach this type of stepping? I ask because that's the next karate style I want to learn.

[@MyJudoman]

Isshinryu does.

[@thesaljaber]

Uechi Ryu only uses Sanchin circular stepping. Not sure where you got that we only use it in Sanchin.

[@jimwalker5412]

Sorry to disappoint you, but Uechiryu also uses this stepping pattern

[@ryusuikarate]

Wait what? My first style was Shotokan which I learned in Germany under the DKV (one of two main organizations for karate here). We were taught to do this stepping pattern literally everywhere. In every kata, in every kihon. On the contrary now I'm interested to see how else you would step if not in this way. You will be hard pressed to find any karate school in Germany that does not teach this circular stepping. And as I said before I started in Shotokan. This channel keeps confusing me.

[@GojuRyuPhilosopher]

Huh that's interesting! I've never seen another style make common use of it, but then again I haven't yet been to Germany! Maybe it's more common there. The Shotokan schools I've visited or seen essentially slide the foot straight forward. You've given me a lot of interesting things to think about!

[@ryusuikarate]

@@GojuRyuPhilosopher They do? Huh. That doesn't fly past the 9th kyu test over here. But maybe we just do weird karate in Germany. I can tell you that transmission especially of Shotokan was very poor in the beginning. No real indoor students and most people learned from one teacher in halls with 300 students. I don't practise Shotokan anymore but switched to Shudokan (and a Dojo with a real lineage). They do many things differently ofc but what didn't change is the crescent step. Maybe that's because Sanchin and Tensho are in the Shudokan style. I don't know. Toyama will have had his reasons...

[@Ronin.alacant]

Yes, I started with shotokan too and we walked like that to "protect the groin"

[@takitonmaru]

also has to do with hapkido as well

[@ordep147]

i practice shoreikan goju ryu, and u?

[@edgardocarrasquillo9]

Does both Uechi ryu and Goju ryu share roots?

[@Samlaren]

Sort of, both have some roots in White Crane.

[@josef-peterroemer5309]

@@Samlaren and both are new Okinawan styles the oldest Karate style is Shuri-te (Shorinryu)

[@rasmusj3937]

Great videos - but I think perhaps they could be improved by slowing down a bit and allow the important points to sink in before moving on to the next. It almost appears as though even your breathing as been edited out.

[@matthews1082]

Where DID Sanchin come from, that's the real question you should be answering. It came from Southern Chinese Martial arts from coastal regions of China. This is relevant because this is the stance boat-men used standing on the deck of a small rowing boat! Try doing that on a moving bus next time and you'll immediately understand WHY they used Sanchin. Next, at close-quarter fighting, they try to close the thigh a little more so that the groin area is protected while the feet are still planted apart - in-fact some kung-fu styles went as far as to sink down a few inches to touch-knees completely in order to block a groin-kick, that's the bunkai. Next, try to stand at Neko-Ashi dachi, then straighten your back-leg while lowering your front foot into Sanchin position- and suddenly you have moved from defensive posture into offensive. That's the theory and practice of sanchin- everything else is something in between.

[@areitomusic]

Get that "wkf" nonsense out of your mind. It is clouding your perspective. Sanchin stepping IS combat. Its practice makes your leg muscles wrap around the bones, and especially the shins to cover the ridge along the front of the shin. It also trains your body in the pulling of the testicles. Another thing is that it keeps your centerline moving out of the way of a potentially dangerous strike. It is a slight evasion, since Goju Ryu techniques are done with both flanks equidistant from your opponent. Your body has to face forward because the techniques work this way. If one side of your hip is in front of the other, you have to engage it by bringing it forward in the event of an attack. ALL martial arts are developed by repetition. Sanchin manifests in everything when you are in an actual combative engagement. It is not obvious to you now, but as anything you do repeatedly, it just comes to your defense as a reflex. Trust it. It is there. Another very important thing is that Goju Ryu kata follow the precepts of the Kenpo Happo - Poem of the 8 Fist. "the feet must advance and retreat - separate and meet". This is the foundation of Goju Ryu footwork.