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Kanji "Kata"	Kanji "Igata"

Ohtsuka sensei always emphasized the importance that kata would be " alive". He makes the example in his book of differiating Igata and Kata. Pots in his example that are made of  "Igata" are all the same. Martial arts may never become an "Igata". It is always "Kata". "Kata" is to express, like a mirror does, it changes with every action and situation. "Igata" is dead and has no purpose. "Kata" is alive and therefor can be utilized.

Suzuki sensei refers to six principles which are important executing kata. Nowadays kata and kumite are seperated according Suzuki sensei. They are considered two different parts within karate training.
He emphasize though that kata and kumite are not different and has to be trained with the same intention and purpose.
Kata is a fight where the adverseries has to be visualized. Other wise it is only a form.

Kata no roku gensoku; the six principles of kata according Tatsuo Suzuki sensei 8th dan Hanshi.
   

IKI TA KATA Kata has to be "alive". With the execution of kata one has to imagine the adverseries. Only then kata will get fighting value and a purpose. Otherwise kata will be nothing more than a kind of dance and thus not a fight and with that not karate. I NEN I nen stands for " kime, energy, force". Suzuki calls it also the 'power from inside'. This comes from the energypoint under the navel, the Seika Tanden (hara). A kata has to be executed with 'spirit'. CHIKARA NO KYOJAKU Kyojaku is synonimus for Goju, hard/soft. Chikara means energy. Execution of the techniques has to be done with the right exchange of tension and relaxation.

WAZA NO KANKYU
The timing of  fast and slow. There has to be an alternation in speed. The exchange of action and no-action, (sei to do), looking (watching), combination of techniques, make the rithm and the caracter of the kata.

KISOKU NO DONTO
The rythm of breathing. The right way of breathing is of great importance for the development of force and  stamina, especially in long kata for example Kushanku.

BARANSU
One should take care of  your balance in kata or in every fight for that matter. But kata itself has to be also in balance in its execution. The balance of breathing, technique, force, speed etc.

Other than in other styles of karate, Wado ryu doesn't emphasize on one specific meaning of kata techniques. Movement as used in fighting has more attention, with that it is keeping kata alive, keeping an open mind of what certain techniques in kata mean and how the 'kata' fight is developping.
Of course it is necessary to keep Seichusen and Enbusen together.
Enbusen means litterally perfomance line; enbu means perfomance, sen is line. So simply the line a person follows as he performs the kata.

Seichusen is a concept that is fundamental to Wado.
Seichusen ; sei-correct,chu-centre, sen- line correct centre line. This is the imaginary line that the attacker's punch or kick will follow as it goes towards the opponent. Conversely, this is the line that the defender must defend against because the attack is comming at him through this line. As long as you guard your seichusen you will not be vulnerable to the attack.

In a living kata seichusen and enbusen are one. As you move along the enbusen you defend and attack through the seichusen.
When you perform your kata, your seichsen must be as narrow as feasible. When you perform your kata, your movements must not be telegraphed, your body must move as one, without leaving parts behind (when you go, you just go) and when your body settles at the end of a movement, it never gets into a position wher your center of gravity forces you to be stuck to the floor (itsuki). All this makes for a living kata, ikita kata.
(taken from the website of Guseika USA)

The Meaning Of Kata

PINAN

Pinan means peaceful mind, spirit.
Pinan kata are not so old but widely trained amongst Shurite stylist such as Shotokan (Heian), Shitoryu, Shorinryu, Kyokushinkai and of course Wadoryu.
There are a couple of legends that want to give the origin of  Pinan Kata.
One says that a karate expert Ing Shu Ho originated Pinan. Also there was something similar to the Pinan called Chanan kata in Okinawa.
The other story says that Itosu Yasutsune (1830-1914), the teacher of  Funankoshi sensei and Mabuni sensei, formed the Pinan kata out of Kushanku kata.

PINAN NIDAN (watch kata)

This original second kata (still in name) is mostly trained first and before the original firt kata Pinan Shodan. This because the techniques are easier to learn for beginners.
The kata studies the basic movement in karate; lifting and descending of the body, forward moving and turning.
The stances practised in this kata are  "ma hanmi no nekoshi dachi", "zenkutsu dachi" and "shiko dachi".
Also a beginning with the principle of body evasion. Irimi (to enter) with tai sabaki (body movement).

PINAN SHODAN  (watch kata)

This kata introduces the use of soto uke.

PINAN SANDAN (watch kata)

Defenses against grapping  from infront and from behind are taken as primary study point in this kata.
 

PINAN YONDAN  (watch kata)

Remarkable in this kata are the open hand techniques 'kakate' or 'grapping' hands. The adversary is being grapped in different ways and taken down by knee- or elbow techniques. Like Pinan Shodan is this kata nice to prepare for kata Kushanku.
 

PINAN GODAN   (watch kata)

The fast changes of positions in this kata can really suggest a fight against multiple adversaries. The kata is excellent to use in demonstration. A remarkable serie of techniques in this kata are three double hand-blocks in which the hands turn around eachother as twurling leaves in the wind. The technique is called in Japanese " kare ha" which "falling leaves" means. One of the many explanations is that the arm of the advesarie is trapped and twisted in the arms.
 

NAIHANCHI  (watch kata)

This is said to be Othsuka sensei favorit kata. He studied it further in depht with Choki Motobu, who is said to have influenced sensei heavily about this kata.

The kata is performed without any combination. All moves are apart. Very significant is  that all moves from the torso (hip) up are performed without influencing the steady horse riding stance, kiba dachi. Naihanchi is a Shuri-te kata. In Shotokan the name is altered to Tekki.

KUSHANKU

The name of this kata, Kushanku, is one of the oldest to be able to trace back. The name is taken from a chinese militair attache, Kung Hsiang Chung, who came to Okinawa in 1762 and taught his kempo to Tode Sakugawa.
Whether the story is true or not, it has lot of similarity to the Chinese system, nothern Shaolin, than other karate kata.

Kushanku is a kata full of various combinations, turnings, jumpings and even creeping. Most of the movements in Kushanku are already encountered in the Pinan kata.

Kushanku has a lot of varieties; Shiho Kusanku (shito ryu), Yara Kushanku (matsubayashi ryu), Kusanku Dai and Sho (shorin ryu), Kanku Dai and Sho (shotokan), Kanku (kyokushinkai), Kushanku (wado ryu).

SHEISAN

This kata was trained also in Naha and in Shuri and is the oldest still taught kata in Okinawa.
Stances trained are yoko sheisan and tate sheisan.
The first part of the kata is performed slowly with muscle tension in various of the techniques, the second part is preformed relaxed, combination of movements, quick and explosive. The sudden change is to train the control over the muscles for relaxation or tension. 

CHINTO

According to the legend Chinto was a Chinese sailor washed ashore on Okinawa and started to teach Kempo to Bushi Matsumura who created Chinto kata.
In shotokan this kata is also called Gan kaku, heron on the rock.This kata trains the importance of stability and balace and the countering when grapped by the adversary. 

Additional kata

BASSAI

Also an old Shuri-te kata. The meaning of the kata :" to push out of one another" as if  "the breaking of a fortress".
This can be interpretted as getting into the defense of the adversary.

WANSHU

Wanshu was the name of a chinese diplomat who was the inspiration of this kata. Wang Ji or Wanshu came to Okinawa in1683 were he lived in the Tomari area to do his diplomatc activities and to teach the self defense system of  " Shaolin white crane fist boxing".
Wanshu was supposed to be a large man whose specialty it was to lift the adversary above his head and then throw him to the ground and jump on him. This movements can still be found in the end of the kata.
The kata is also nicknamed "flight of the swalow".

ROHEI

Dance of the gods. The name Rohei in Okinawan translation means; vision of the white crane. This kata was already trained by Matstumura.

NISHEISHI

The name indicates the number 24.Like there are twenty four different self defense situations in this kata.
It is an old habit to name a kata to a certain number. Superenpai for instance that indicates to the number 108.

JION

Jion means Templeground, so one can say that the kata is formed in a budhist temple or by someone related to it. One says that this kata should be done in a calm, strong precise way, in the spirit of Budhist monks.

JITTE

(To be as strong as) Ten Hands is the translation for Jitte.It is a beautiful and strong kata that seems too easy for the essence of the kata.