Shotokan Kata · Beginner (8th Kyū)
Step through all 26 movements. Each shows the technique, the stance, the direction you turn, and which side performs it. Use the arrows or press play. The figures are simplified schematics to show the shape — pair them with the written sequence below and, ideally, your instructor.
If Heian Shodan taught you to move — one clean technique per step — Heian Nidan teaches you to combine. Techniques now stack inside a single count: a block flows into a strike, a kick lands and the hands are already working. It is many students’ first real taste of karate’s density.
Like the whole series, it was created by Ankō Itosu around 1905 and renamed from Pinan to Heian by Gichin Funakoshi. Because Funakoshi reversed the first two kata for Shotokan, this form is Pinan Shodan in Shitō-ryū and Wadō-ryū — the “first” kata in those styles.
A text reference for the whole kata. Half is performed in back stance (kokutsu-dachi), half in front stance (zenkutsu-dachi), with two snap kicks along the way.
| # | Technique | Stance / turn |
|---|
Move names vary a little between associations (e.g. the opening upper block is called haiwan-uke or jodan tate-uke; the strike in moves 2/5 as kentsui or uraken). Sequence and count (26, kiai on 11 & 26) are consistent across sources.
Heian Nidan adds a lot to your vocabulary. Each links to a full breakdown in the techniques glossary.
Heian Nidan’s combinations read cleanly as self-defence once you stop seeing them as solo blocks. Here are common interpretations.
The upper block deflects a grab or high strike; the hammer-fist answers to the head or a seized arm; the side punch finishes to the ribs — all while rooted in back stance so you receive and return in one line.
A simultaneous defence in two directions: the back-fist strikes one attacker to the flank while the side snap kick drives off a second — Heian Nidan’s lesson in dealing with more than one opponent.
The inside block turns the attacker’s punch aside; the front snap kick breaks their base; the reverse punch lands with full hip rotation as they fold — the archetypal karate counter, drilled twice on both sides.
Kokutsu-dachi wants ~70% of your weight on the bent rear leg, both feet flat, front foot pointing forward. Students drift upright or shift weight forward and lose the whole stance.
The shutō-uke sequence (moves 8–10, 12–15) should snap crisply into each new angle with a settled stance — not smeared into a continuous sweep.
Lift the knee high first, then snap. Kicking from a low chamber telegraphs the technique and robs it of speed and recoil.
In the block-kick-punch runs, each element must finish before the next begins — with the hips driving the punch, not the shoulder.
At an orange-belt (8th kyū) test, examiners want the fundamentals of Heian Shodan carried into harder material: a correct sequence from memory, a genuine back stance held consistently, crisp knife-hand blocks, kicks with a high chamber and fast recoil, combinations whose parts arrive in order with clear focus (kime), the two kiai in place, and an accurate embusen. Requirements vary by association, so confirm the exact standard with your dōjō.
The illustrations on this page are study schematics — they show the shape of each move, not a real body in motion. To see Heian Nidan performed at full speed by senior instructors, watch reference footage:
▶ Watch “Heian Nidan” performances on YouTubeOpens a YouTube search in a new tab. Look for JKA / Japan Karate Association or established Shotokan instructor demonstrations for the most standard version of the form.
Or revisit Heian Shodan, see the full Heian series, or return to the kata library.