Hi there

I’m a new student and after last night training session (btw it was great) i tried to understand one thing. On the Taikyoku Shodan kata there is one particular move i fail to understand, and i would much appreciate any input on this, after the three punch there is a turn that does not seams natural, its done doing a 270 degrees instead of a 90 degree angle turn. What’s the story/history of this turn and what will it be called?
Cheers
Blas

Hi Byaselli
The long turns in Kata are not necessarily logical- you wouldn't turn that way in a fight situation. However, one purpose of Kata is to develop thye student's movement and balance, and to train the student to move in a certain way. After all, if you can do it the hard way, then you should be able to do it the easy way.

that make sense, thanks Steve.

What about the Taikyoku Sandan version, seems to be very similar to Shodan but with uchi -uke? Blocks instead?. is Taikyoku suposed to be one big kata divided into 2 parts? shodan and sandan?

There are acually three (possibly even more) Taikyoko kata. Sandan introduces the student to Kokutsu Dachi - the back stance, Uchi uke block, and punches of differing heights, and so, is a natural progression from it's two predecessors, both of which consist of only two techniques. The most difficult part of the kata is mastering the transition from one stance to another as you move.