Anaku – A Swallow Pivots on the Beach

Chinese Origins

Anaku (also known as Ananku) is a kata that has its origins in Xing-Yi (also written Hsing-Yi or Tsing-Yi), a Chinese martial art based on linear movement, and the current versions were influenced by Shuri-te, the name given to the native martial arts of the Shuri, Okinawa area.  This form is not very common in comparison to kata like Naihanchi and Passai, but it is very good for developing power and contains some vicious applications. In this article, I will provide some insight into this kata, which many karateka have not seen or practiced, in order to demonstrate the value that can be found in kata outside of your primary system.

One of the key features of the Shuri-Ryu version of Anaku (which is the version I will be using for this article) are the pivoting stances that give the kata its meaning of “a swallow pivots on the beach”.  There are four sets of pivoting stances in the kata where the practitioner shifts from kiba-dachi (horse stance with the toes pointed forward) or shiko-dachi (horse stance with the toes pointed outward), depending on the variation being practiced, into zenkutsu-dachi (front stance), and in the first two sets the practitioner also shifts back into kiba-dachi or shiko-dachi.  This shifting is very effective at teaching the use of koshi and driving with the legs, and other stance shifts found in the kata, such as from zenkutsu-dachi to hakutsuru-dachi (white crane stance) and back, or dropping from neko-ashi-dachi (cat foot stance) into kiba-dachi or shiko-dachi, make it a very good form for newer students to learn body mechanics.

Beyond its basic use of drilling body mechanics, form and technique, however, Anaku possesses some very effective bunkai.  In addition to the obvious moving, blocking and striking techniques, there are crashing techniques and several techniques for controlling an attacker which are likely carried over from the chin-na (siezing and holding) practices of Xing-Yi.  This article will discuss only a single set of application from Anaku but, as with any kata, karateka should study the kata and find the applications that work best for them.

Defense Against the Arm-Holding Puncher

The section of Anaku that we will be looking at starts at the 10th move in the Shuri-Ryu version of the kata, and the application (which is only one possible interpretation) is a response to someone holding your right arm down and trying to punch you.  This is an attack that is surprisingly common, as the attacker assumes you are right-handed (70% to 95% are right-handed, according to Scientific American) and does not want you to punch them in return when they attack you.  The technique works off of a concept called “crashing”, which is when you drive forward into your attacker in a way that is both defensive and offensive at the same time.

The first problem that must be addressed is the hand that is grabbing your arm, because it is occupying one of his hands but it is also occupying one of yours which will hamper your ability to defend yourself.  The 10th move in the kata consists of stepping forward while drawing both hands to the left side of the body (in the kata this is a te-uke, or receiving hands position, but in application would likely be done with clasped hands) then performing a simultaneous right chudan-uke (middle block) and left jodan-uke (high block).  This action, if performed while the attacker is grabbing your right wrist or forearm, will either cause the attacker to lose their grip or will twist their hand uncomfortably.  The left arm, which performs the jodan-uke, is both covering the head to defend against the incoming punch and striking at the attacker’s head or neck at the same time as you crash into them.  The strike may land, or it may not, but as long as you break the grip and deflect the punch, closing the distance in the process, then you have been successful.  The application for this works equally well if the attacker just grabs the wrist without punching, even if they do so with two hands.

The second problem that you have in this scenario is that you have gotten very close the the attacker in order to nullify the initial attack, but if your initial crash did not end the threat then you are still in danger.  An easy thing to do from here, utilizing the next moves in the kata, is to grab the hair (some improvisation may be necessary if they do not have enough to grab) and strike the face with tetsui-uchi (hammer-fist).  This can be done repeatedly, if necessary, in order to distract the attacker from continuing their assault and it may be enough to end the threat.

The third problem we face, provided the strikes to the face did not end the threat, is that we have acquired a dominant position against our opponent, but we are still engaged with them when our goal is to escape.  The next moves in the kata are to draw the hands to the right side of the body and rise up to hakutsuru-dachi, then drop forward into zenkutsu-dachi and punch low.  Since we already have a hold of our attacker’s head, we can utilize that while drawing our hands to our hip to pull our attacker in, and our hakutsuru-dachi becomes a knee strike. This can be a simple grab and pull on the back of the head, or it can be twisting the head by the chin and hair, and can even include crushing the throat (a chin-na technique) once you have done the twisting motion to pull them in.  The knee strikes can be done repeatedly, if necessary, and may be enough to end the threat on their own, but if it doesn’t this should result in the attacker being bent over forward, so that when we drop and drive down (the low punch) we force their head down.  This may cause the attacker to fall forward onto their head, but even if it doesn’t you have succeeded in putting them them in a position where you can finish ending the threat, disengage and flee.

Overview of Concepts

As with any kata application, this example is simply a collection of concepts and it may not need to be utilized in its entirety, or even in the same order, to be effective in self defense.  The basic concepts being applied here are grip-breaking by the use of leverage, tai sabaki (body movement/evasion), crashing (closing the distance aggressively), datum-set striking (holding/tracking the head while striking with the hammerfist), and head control (pulling and/or twisting the head in conjunction with knee strikes, and forcing the head down).  These exact same concepts can be applied in many different ways and against many different attacks–just like a textbook, the kata explains the concepts and techniques you can use to accomplish a goal, but you will likely only need one or two excerpts when it actually comes time to apply it, and they may not even come from the same section. The key is to recognize the concepts and how they can be applied so that they can be adjusted and drilled in a way that fits your own personal karate method.

Sequence

• Rei
• Yoi (cover, open)
• Step out to hachiji-dachi, lift hands to face
• Step out to left neko-ashi-dachi, left shuto-uke
• Step up to right neko-ashi-dachi, right shuto-uke
• Drop to 45* kiba-dachi, left chudan-ude-uke
• Right tate-zuki (shift to zenkutsu-dachi)
• Left tate-zuki (shift back to kiba-dachi)
• Step around and repeat to the right using opposite side techniques
• Step up to full-face kiba-dachi, morote gedan-uke
• Step forward to right zenkutsu-dachi, simultaneous left jodan-uke and right chudan-ude-uke
• Right sasae-tetsui-uchi
• Pull back to hakutsuro-dachi, right te-gatana
• Set down to right zenkutsu-dachi, right seiken-zuki
• Shift to 45* kiba-dachi, left chudan-ude-uke
• Right tate-zuki (shift to zenkutsu-dachi)
• Left tate-zuki
• Right mae keagi geri, set back to in-line left zenkutsu-dachi, right tate-zuki (kiai)
• Shift to right-facing 45* kiba-dachi and repeat using opposite-side techniques
• Shift to full-face kiba-dachi, left shuto-uke
• Step around in kiba-dachi, sasae-empi-uchi
• Shift to rear-facing left zenkutsu-dachi, left gedan-uke
• Step forward to right zenkutsu-dachi, right seiken-zuki
• Pull back to right neko-ashi-dachi, right chudan-ude-uke
• Step forward to shizentai-dachi, morote gedan-uke
• Right mae keagi geri, set down to right zenkutsu-dachi, left seiken-zuki with nagashi-uke cover
• Spin around to right neko-ashi-dachi, right shuto-uke
• Step back to left neko-ashi-dachi, left shuto-uke with shin-shin-taishe (dead breath)
• Step up to full-face kiba-dachi, morote gedan-uke
• Mudra
• Rei