Giving Bassai Dai a makeover
I am not going to pretend to be the first one to do this. In fact- if you have seen more than one style of karate you'll find that different versions of a certain kata often exist in different styles (and some styles have kata that others won't). I decided, however, to adapt one of my favourite Shotokan katas so that it can be practiced in two of my other favourite martial arts- Shaolin Kungfu and Taijiquan. With each video I'll tell you a bit of how I experience each art: 1. Bassai Dai in Karate Mode: I was told that "Bassai Dai" is Japanese for "Storming the Fortress". It was my favourite kata in my Shukokai days and I like the Shotokan version as well. When I began learning karate I had to learn the basic blocks and punches. Each punch and block had its own Japanese name and also each stance. Stances and blocks/ attacks got combined later on, but the lessons for white belts were broken up into these bits which made the technique eas...