Shotokan Kata · Beginner (7th Kyū)
Step through all 20 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 — pair them with the written sequence below and your instructor.
Heian Sandan is short but it does not feel easy. Its first half drills simultaneous blocks — one arm blocking high while the other blocks low — from a rooted, feet-together posture. Its second half drops into the horse stance and delivers a fast run of stamping kicks, elbow strikes and back-fists to both sides, capped by a spinning finish. It teaches close-quarter fighting and body-shifting (tai-sabaki).
Created by Ankō Itosu around 1905 and renamed from Pinan to Heian by Gichin Funakoshi, it keeps its number in both naming systems: Shotokan’s Heian Sandan is Shitō-ryū and Wadō-ryū’s Pinan Sandan.
A text reference for the whole kata. It opens with paired blocks from back stance and feet-together stance, then moves into the horse-stance striking section.
| # | Technique | Stance / turn |
|---|
Naming varies by association (e.g. the swinging elbows in moves 12/14/16 as furi-empi or empi yoko-uchi; the move-9 spin as ~360° or 180°). The 20-count and kiai on 10 & 20 are the standard JKA form; some lineages insert a tate-shuto before move 18 for a 21-count.
Heian Sandan is your introduction to horse-stance fighting. Each links to a full breakdown in the techniques glossary.
Heian Sandan is close-quarter karate. Read its short, sharp movements as in-fighting and it comes alive.
One arm turns aside a punch while the other simultaneously clears a low grab or knee — a compact answer to being crowded, blocking two lines at once from a stable base.
The spear-hand strikes the throat or seizes an arm; the pressing hand controls; then you spin your whole mass into a hammer-fist — dealing with an attacker who has moved to your flank.
The stamping kick pins a foot or shin; the elbow drives into the ribs or head at grappling range; the back-fist snaps back to the face — a textbook close-range combination, drilled to both sides.
Kiba-dachi wants a wide base, knees pressed outward over the feet, hips down and back straight. Students stand too tall and lose the power the whole section depends on.
On move 9, turn around a still centre and keep your head level — don’t lean or let the arms fling you round. Spot the new direction early.
Both arms must arrive together with equal focus. The low block shouldn’t lag behind the high one — they are one technique in two directions.
The elbow is driven by the hip and the stamping foot landing together; without that, it’s an arm swing with no weight behind it.
At a green-belt (7th kyū) test, examiners want a strong, low horse stance held throughout the striking section, simultaneous blocks that truly arrive together, a balanced, committed spin on move 9, elbow and back-fist strikes with hip drive and kime, the two kiai in place, and an accurate embusen. Requirements vary by association — 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 Sandan performed at full speed by senior instructors, watch reference footage:
▶ Watch “Heian Sandan” 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 Nidan, see the full Heian series, or return to the kata library.